Forget $15 martinis at new casino for recession-minded

Built on a hill with a dramatic view of the Las Vegas Valley, the M Resort features a television studio for live cooking shows, an on-site pharmacy, a rooftop restaurant, the world's largest mother of pearl ceiling and a modern design of inlaid wood and cantilevered glass.
But eye candy won't sustain the $1 billion M Resort, which started construction two years ago when Las Vegas was booming and opens Sunday amid a recession with no end in sight.
While competitors grew into corporate giants by taking on billions in debt and building luxurious properties, Anthony Marnell III was taking notes on the dark side of the spending spree.
He saw hotels with automated methods of communicating with customers. He saw gambler swipe cards, points programs and loyalty club kiosks proliferate. He saw rising customer service complaints. He saw gamblers upset by reduced-odds table games and slot machines. He saw outrage over $15 martinis and $90 steak dinners.
His resort, he said, would be different.
Instead of a giant hotel, Marnell would build fewer than 1,000 rooms -- about 400, in fact.
His company would be private, with one banker rather than a convoluted financing scheme with multiple loans and hundreds of lenders -- all the better for resolving disputes and working through economic challenges.
He would screen potential employees for friendly personalities and put them through weeks of training. He would remind them to interact with customers in a way that's required but rarely done at many casinos. Dealers must smile and greet potential players. Customers walking through the casino can expect a hello, or, if they look lost, a "May I help you?"
He would own and manage the resort's restaurants and bars rather than outsourcing them to third parties, as many properties have done over the years to cut costs or gain specialized expertise. He would create value-oriented menus rather than letting third-party operators set prices based on their profit margins rather than the casino's. He would offer free meals and drinks at any of his venues to any deserving gambler -- loyalty card points be damned.
And there won't be a $15 martini or a $90 steak anywhere in sight.
These aren't new ideas. They are as old as Las Vegas. So old, in fact, that they've become myth.
In reality, few casino owners know the names of their customers, even their regulars. Many don't spend much time walking their floors, chatting up employees and customers. They rarely hear and address complaints firsthand.
When the economy was booming, managers didn't have to try as hard to win over customers. Eye candy -- a new nightclub, show or restaurant -- was enough.
Good customer service is harder for big casinos to pull off, especially with companies cutting payroll and other expenses, Marnell said.
Customer service and value have become critical in the downturn. These concepts, Marnell said, will be key to the M Resort's survival.
"The casino owner's ego is always talking about 'mine's bigger, better and newer and you haven't seen it before,'" Marnell said. "People don't care about all this bigger and better stuff. They come here with their hard-earned money -- and every day they realize how hard-earned it is -- and they're going to spend it where they're going to get value. They want to know that they are going be taken care of, and that you're going to treat them like they want to be treated."
With growing companies forced to streamline customer relations, most gamblers these days don't get an audience with the owner or even the general manager, Marnell said. They enter a pin number in a kiosk that tells them whether they have racked up enough points in the casino pit for a free buffet or a show.
"That's not what service is about anymore," Marnell said. "Good customer service doesn't necessarily mean more people, it just means having the right people and continually motivating people along the way."
Jeff Voyles, a casino consultant and professor of gaming management at UNLV, says Marnell will have to deliver on his promises of high-quality customer service to succeed. While the margin for error in the casino business is smaller than ever, there's still room for a more entrepreneurial, less-corporate approach to casino management, Voyles said.
"Service in Las Vegas was bad to begin with. Now it's gone from bad to worse," he said. With business and tips down, employees have even more reasons "to put their heads down when they go into work."
Marnell has a golden opportunity to create a culture that values service over other goals, Voyles said.

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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