Paris enjoys good opening day

An estimated 35,000 to 50,000 people toured the Strip's newest megaresort, Paris Las Vegas, in its first 24 hours of operation, spokesmen for the $800 million French-themed hotel-casino said today.

"We're aware of all the little glitches and nuances that have happened and are working to correct them, but there were no major problems," said Ronan O'Gorman, vice president of hotel operations for the 2,916-room property that opened Wednesday night.

"We're all riding on the wave enjoyment of the past few days. Our citizens of Paris" -- the resort's terminology for its 4,200 well-trained employees -- "are very proud of what we've achieved," O'Gorman said.

The new resort posted a 77 percent occupancy rate last night, will fill 93 percent of its rooms tonight and be sold out Saturday as the Labor Day Weekend progresses, he said.

Also on Saturday, singer-composer Stevie Wonder will perform in the hotel's Paris Ballroom, which has seating for 7,000 guests available. A few tickets priced at $75, $100 and $125 were still available at midday today.

Months of training helped the new property's employees avoid many of the glitches that have afflicted other resort openings. The Paris management team, which includes several former hotel managers from the Four Seasons luxury hotel chain, is emphasizing attention to customer service to resolve any problems that do arise.

"We'll go up to groups of guests to ask how they've been treated," O'Gorman said. "If they're having any problems, we'll direct them to the appropriate people to resolve them."

The stock of Paris parent Park Place Entertainment was up 31.25 cents, to $11.375 a share, in slow pre-holiday trading today. Its gain mirrored those of other big casino operator stocks benefiting from investor expectations of continued increases in visitation to Las Vegas.

The shares of Mirage Resorts, Mandalay Resort Group, Harrah's Entertainment and MGM Grand -- all with major hotel-casinos in Las Vegas -- were higher in midday trading.

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