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Frontier to Close July 15,2007 See the Frontier Blog below for details.
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| The New Frontier: Our Opinion At A Glance | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| The New Frontier: Full Review | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Frontier was one of the first hotels on the Vegas Strip, and now after more than 50 years, its days are numbered. After languishing for years under ownership that refused to settle a crippling strike (the longest in US history), The Frontier was purchased and things were looking up for awhile. The new owner settled the strike immediately and started dumping millions of dollars into a major renovation of the property. However for the last couple of years the owner has been making very public statements about his desire to demolish the property and start over. Among the various plans at various times were a San Francisco themed hotel, a partnership with Donald Trump, and a possible deal with Harrah's. Now, the owner is planning to go it on his own and is deep in the design phase for a new multi-billion dollar resort ccalled Montreux that will feature several thousand rooms, a large casino, showrooms and other entertainment facilities, and perhaps even a giant Ferris Wheel. There is no official time table for the redevelopment but most expect the hotel to close in 2007. As far as the hotel as it exists now, one of the most significant upgrades is a makeover of the casino space. It used to be a rather frightening pinkish affair but now it is lighter and brighter with an Old West theme throughout. It's amazing what a fresh coat of paint and some new carpeting will do. The rooms also received makeovers a few years back. The mini-suites in the rear tower are generously sized and include a comfy living room area complete with sofa, chair, television, and mini-bar; a walk-in closet; a full bath; and a large separate bedroom with an additional sink, vanity, and television. They aren't the nicest rooms in town and could probably use another freshening but the chances of them spending any significant dought to upgrade the property when they are actively trying to come up with a way to tear it down are probably slim. There are a couple of restaurants and lounge areas including a Las Vegas branch of the famed Gilley's country-western bar/restaurant. The pool area is quite nice as well, if nothing terribly special. Prices are reasonable in comparison to other hotels on The Strip but they often charge more than the place is worth in my opinon. If they are asking for significantly more $100 per night you can find a better place to stay for the money. The Frontier is the type of hotel that you should consider if budget is your primary concern. If comfort, convenience, and a well-appointed room and facility are your main concerns you may want to look elsewhere.
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| The New Frontier Blog | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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From the Vegas4Visitors Weekly Update 6/18/07 Frontier to Close July 15, 2007 The oldest continually operating major resort on The Strip will shut its doors forever next month. The Frontier, which opened in 1942, will close at midnight on July 15 as the new owners prepare to demolish the resort to make way for a new one. Elad Group bought the hotel and, more importantly, the land it sits on for $1.2 billion and plan to build a multi-billion version of the famed New York landmark Plaza hotel. How many billions? They are currently arranging financing in the neighborhood of $8 billion to build a 3,500 room hotel plus at least 300 super-luxury residences, a casino, shopping, entertainment facilities, and more. Although there in no formal timetable set yet for the demolition of the Frontier and the construction of the Plaza, the smart money says the old building will be gone before the end of the year and the new one will start rising in 2008 with a 2011 opening date projected. By the way in case you’re wondering, on July 16 the mantle of “oldest continually operating hotel on The Strip” will officially pass to The Flamingo, which opened its doors in December of 1946. From the Vegas4Visitors Weekly Update 6/19/06 More Montreux Details The chief architect behind the Frontier, replacement Montreux gave a virtual tour of the planned resort to media types and it looks like despite the fact that it is named after a famous town in Switzerland, this will not be another theme resort. Instead Montreux will be yet another “upscale” hotel with the kind of sleek, contemporary look found in posh Hollywood or Manhattan hot spots. The hotel will feature 2,750 rooms, a 100,000-square-foot casino, over half a million square feet of retail space, an events arena, a third-floor pool deck overlooking The Strip, and a branch of the super posh Golden Door spa. In a Vegas first, some of the rooms will connect directly to the spa so guests don’t have to schlep past rows of slot machines for their facials. The front of the hotel facing The Strip will be lined with boutiques, restaurants, and clubs (some Jazz themed to honor the hotel’s namesake festival) while the southern edge of the property along Fashion Show Drive will get a Rodeo Drive strip of high-end stores facing the Fashion Show Mall. Oh, and don’t forget that giant Ferris wheel sitting right out front of the whole thing. Rising over 450 feet over The Strip, the enclosed, air-conditioned cars will give Vegas visitors a terrific view of the surrounding neighborhood. The whole thing is expected to cost about $2 billion when you add it all up. There is still no official closing date for The Frontier so therefore no opening date for Montreux but it is sounding like the former will close before the end of 2006 with an opening date for the latter in 2009 or 2010. From the Vegas4Visitors Weekly Update 6/6/06 Frontier to be Imploded in December… Maybe There was an interesting article on Forbes.com last week with the architect who is designing the replacement for The New Frontier. In it he stated, with a great deal of confidence, that the old hotel will be imploded in December to make way for construction of Montreaux, a 2,750-rooom resort with a Swiss village theme based upon the famous Jazz Festival town in Europe. Here’s the problem with the story… nobody else seems to know that the hotel is going to be imploded in December. In fact, nobody that I spoke to could even confirm when, or even if, the hotel is going to close this year, something you figure would have to happen before they blow the place up. Calls to the press department were not returned and conversations with other casino employees ranged from “Really? December?” to “No, I heard it wasn’t going to be until 2007.” One phone reservation agent put it quite succinctly by saying “We read about it in the papers just like everyone else.” Regardless of when the hotel will be closed and torn down, it seems the replacement is fairly well set in stone. Montreaux will reportedly have a 100,000-square-foot casino, a mall that opens up onto the Strip, the typical restaurants and nightclubs (some with a jazz theme to honor the namesake), and the typical spa and pool areas associated with a resort of its size. The centerpiece of the hotel will be the 465-foot-tall observation wheel out front, sort of a giant Ferris wheel on steroids, patterned after the London Eye next to the Thames. According to the architect in the Forbes.com report it will cost just under $2 billion to build and will charge room rates of around $200 a night when it opens in early 2009.
From the Vegas4Visitors Weekly Update 4/17/06 Montreux is a town in Switzerland most famous for its annual jazz festival and if Phil Ruffin gets his way it’ll also be the name of a Las Vegas resort. Ruffin, owner of the New Frontier on The Strip across from Wynn Las Vegas, dropped some details about his plans for the aging hotel’s replacement recently. The new resort would feature 2,750 rooms and suites and unlike most other recently announced projects it is not intended to be a super-luxury development. Instead, Ruffin plans to go after the upper middle market that these days are usually found at places like The Mirage, Paris Las Vegas, and New York-New York. There will be a big casino of course and all of the other accoutrement expected with a modern Las Vegas resort including a full array of restaurants, nightclubs, entertainment venues, shopping, and meeting space. The whole thing will be wrapped up in a package that will not be a Paris or Venetian style replica of its namesake but rather will evoke Montreux in other ways. Ruffin is even reportedly negotiating bringing part of the famed jazz festival to Las Vegas and will focus heavily on the musical style to get the point across. The biggest and most eye-catching detail about the new hotel, however, will be the giant Ferris wheel planned for the front. Long planned for Vegas at various locations, the 450-foot tall observation wheel will feature glass-enclosed, climate-controlled cabins much like the London “Eye” wheel that it is modeled after. Despite rumors of possible partnerships, including an extension of his existing deal with Donald Trump to build the now-under-construction Trump Las Vegas condo-hotel on the same property, Ruffin is planning to do the new hotel all by himself. The total cost of the resort is expected to surpass $2 billion and Ruffin says he plans to close the Frontier in 2007 and open the new resort in 2010.
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