Sunday, Aug. 13, 2000 | 3:24 a.m.
Guest rooms with crisp linens are waiting for their first visitors. Water is sparkling in the two pools with a sixth floor vantage point overlooking Paris Las Vegas' Eiffel Tower and the Bellagio's Lake Como.
But the disturbing clanging of construction still echoes throughout the Las Vegas Strip's newest addition, the Aladdin hotel-casino.
In less than a week the whirring of table saws is supposed to be replaced with the chimes of slot machines.
Among paint-spattered ladders and plastic-covered blackjack tables in the unique, three-tiered casino, one can see a handsomely appointed gaming salon taking shape.
But will it happen by Thursday? And how long will the guest-room linens wait before guests finally ruffle their creases?
Some have their doubts the $1.4 billion Arabian-themed Aladdin hotel-casino will be ready for public inspection when it opens Aug. 17.
When it opens, after construction cost overruns, amid infighting and possible labor strife, the much anticipated resort with the name that has been synonymous with Las Vegas since its original opening in 1966 will be the latest in a series of scheduled openings to remake The Strip.
The Rat Pack and the Mob are gone, along with the Dunes, Hacienda and the Sands, replaced by new icons like MGM MIRAGE, Park Place Entertainment and Mandalay Resort Group. It's corporate, it's clean - it's big business with a theme.
The Aladdin is the first and only megaresort to open here this year, the latest in a string of glitzy mega openings that include most recently next-door-neighbor Paris Las Vegas, which opened in December 1999, and was preceded by the Venetian, Mandalay Bay and Bellagio.
The next anticipated megaresort is Steve Wynn's vision for the corner where the historic Desert Inn hotel-casino now stands but an opening date has not been announced. Others await approvals, financing or a theme.
When the Aladdin opens its doors, this is the hand Las Vegas will play for a while as it competes with Indian casinos and others to keep its place as the pre-eminent gambling destination.
Aladdin executives hope to show everyone from guests with room reservations to their competitors to Wall Street gaming analysts that the newest theme megaresort is a winner.
"We have every expectation that we will be opening on Aug. 17 of this year," said Richard Goeglein, president and chief executive officer for Aladdin Gaming. "We are in and cooking in the kitchens."
The Aladdin shuns comparisons with the Venice-themed resort up the street that had only slightly more than 10 percent of its rooms available for guests on opening night May 1999 due to construction delays.
"Aladdin's opening will in no way be like the Venetian's," said the vice president of public relations Lynn Holt, referring to the Venetian's first night when only one restaurant was open and none of the shops unlocked its doors.
All six restaurants within Aladdin including the signature Elements and Tremezzo will be serving patrons opening night, Goeglein said.
However, all the rooms and their crisp linen will not see guests. While they will be ready for the hotel's debut, Holt said only invited guests will occupy rooms the first night.
"We will then release 500 rooms a night until we get to 2,600," he said.
That's not unusual for a hotel opening, said University of Nevada, Las Vegas, professor and gaming expert Bill Thompson.
"Most hotel properties do gradual openings," he said. "I don't think it's a problem if it's planned."
Construction began on the site immediately after the original Aladdin was imploded in April 1998.
"In a city that tends to implode its history, the Aladdin is unique," said Frank Wright, curator at the Nevada State Museum and Historical Society. "Aladdin is the first resort to rebuild and retain its original name. That link to our city's rich past is hard to find in Las Vegas these days."
A renovated 7,000-seat Theater for the Performing Art is all that's left of the original resort where Elvis Presley married Priscilla Beaulieu on May 1, 1967. Enrique Iglesias will follow in Neil Diamond's shoes by christening the theater this time around on Aug. 19.
Like the other megaresorts, the Aladdin wants to lull visitors into believing they have entered another world. It is surrounded by a mile-long Desert Passage themed shopping mall that leads shoppers from Morocco to North Africa, Arabia and India.
Unlike its neighbors, however, the Aladdin's theme is centered around the mythical tales in "1,001 Arabian Nights," rather than real-life cities.
The Aladdin provides reminders of its origins all the way to the magic lamp-shaped faucets in the bathrooms of the 2,567 guest rooms.
The illusion is perpetuated throughout the casino with Aladdin's 36-foot magic lamp capable of containing a wish-granting genie; the talon and nest of a giant Roc Bird, taken from tales of Sinbad the Sailor; and the world's largest indoor light board which creates a 130-foot "Enchanted Garden," with a constantly changing display of vibrant blooming flowers.
The Aladdin will benefit more from keeping its name than the new theme, according to Thompson.
"I think the association of a name with elegance is more important than a theme," he said. "Bellagio doesn't have a theme. People don't walk around thinking small, Italian village. People look around and say this is really neat or it's cheap and cheesy."
In addition to the 100,000-square-foot, three-story main casino, the resort will feature the London Club, Las Vegas' only European-style luxury gaming salon.
Because Las Vegas tourists visit three and a half casinos during an average trip, MGM MIRAGE executives are almost as excited as Aladdin employees because of the proximity of their Bellagio, Monte Carlo, MGM Grand and New York-New York resorts.
"We expect Aladdin to be good for the city," Holt added. "We will increase visitation to Las Vegas, not just to the Aladdin."
And Mayor Oscar Goodman says it takes five new families moving into town to service each new casino-hotel room.
"So it's great for the economic vitality of the community," Goodman said.
Aladdin's opening also is good news for investors up and down Las Vegas Boulevard, says Wall Street gaming analyst Jason Ader.
"The supply picture in Las Vegas has never been better, and with nothing in the pipeline, the companies should be able to further their profitability," he said
Ader, however, compared Aladdin's opening to the Venetian, which not only battled delays but labor unions.
The Culinary Union is threatening to picket the nonunion resort on opening night. The Aladdin was nonunion when it closed its doors in 1997. Aladdin will employ 4,000 workers.
"My sense is that the property will have a rocky start and it will be up to the management team to improve results," he said. "But the Venetian started out fairly rocky and now it is showing up in the top three places to stay on the Strip." The other two are Bellagio and MGM Grand resorts.
Ader said one indication that Aladdin is struggling financially is that it will have 1,000 used slot machines in the new casino.
"It will be apparent to investors and consumers that the property is under financial strain," he said.
Holt said the refurbished machines are from the original casino and look brand-new.
"It's becoming more and more of an industry practice," he said.
Aladdin Gaming, LLC, owned by the Sommer Family Trust and British casino operator London Clubs International, endured financial challenges.
Representatives of the London-based company have said they were disappointed that the company had to increase its ownership stake in the project - to 40 percent from 25 percent - after contributing $30 million last year to eliminate Aladdin's construction cost overruns. The two sides took swipes at each as recently as a July meeting of state gaming regulators.
Thompson also expressed concerned about the property's finances.
"The London Club and the other investor have never operated a big casino before," he said. "They need deep pockets."
But Goeglein says more important than deep pockets is the company's management staff, which he claims is one of the finest in the gaming industry.
The former CEO of Harrah's, Goeglein added that from a financial perspective, the Nevada Gaming Control Board would not have unanimously recommended the Aladdin to the state gaming commission for approval if its members were not convinced of the company's financial ability to complete and operate the new property.
"We have an extraordinary team of seasoned people that came from every major property here. Most of the senior executives have opened several Strip properties," he said. "Just because you have deep pockets doesn't mean you succeed."
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