Home » VT News » Harrods Las Vegas Gets Its Final Nails Done
Harrods Las Vegas Gets Its Final Nails Done
Years ago, at the height of the post-Wynn "planning a building" building boom - there were whispers *cough*Norm Clarke*cough* that
Mohamed Al-Fayed, owner of London's famous Harrods department store and father of Dodi Fayed (Yes, the Diana Dodi Fayed) was in serious discussions with MGM Mirage [before and after the Mirage acquisition, and Mandalay Resorts Group before they got eaten by MGM Mirage] concerning the development of a massive Harrods Las Vegas resort and casino. They even went so far as to produce a scale model that sat on display in the London store (above right).
Well, that was then and this is now. If the hyperbolic 'planning a building' boom hadn't sevened out of adjectives OR MGM's CityCentertastrophe didn't sink the company into a debt hole the size of Steve Wynn's much beloved China didn't already kill HarrodsLV, it was certainly this that did. Go ahead and give it a read, we'll wait.
Yeah, that's right. Al-Fayed has sold the store to the investment arm of the Qatari government. And while there hasn't been any explicit mention of the future of the Las Vegas project, we here at VT think the sale is the final nail in the Harrods Las Vegas coffin. We just don't really see the Qatari government following Dubai's lead and making the decision to sink billions of dollars into a misguided and poorly conceived project.
In other department store-casino related news, there has been no word yet on Steve Wynn's development of the Neiman Marcus resort and casino or Harrah's planned rebranding of Bally's into Sears Las Vegas (You laugh, but would you really put something like that past Planet Loveman?).
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Comments & Discussion:
medium to long term, id say the opposite is true. they might even come up with something good. perhaps raffles/fairmont hotels/residences as well.
buying harrods for $2.2B is just a part of their recent buying spree >
- $467mm for 40% stake in fairmont (+$105mm if they dont get x new contracts in 5 yrs)
- $275mm for raffles singapore
(if they continue on current track)
should also point out alwaleed has said they plan fairmont/raffles IPO in a few yrs
i can just picture the lawsuit that woud have been filed by Harrah's, saying that Harrah's and Harrod's are too close in pronunciation and that the latter should change it's name, ala the Plaza.
Call me a moron, but I actually prefer the faux Palace look and the ersatz Trafalgar Square in Vegas over all the modern glass and steel that has gone up lately. Sure, the town needs one Wynncore as a point of reference (so that's what good taste looks like?), but a strip full of Wynncore wannabes will just bore me to tears.
Here's hoping "theme" hotels are not dead.
It looks vaguely like the original Caesars Palace--hotel wings sweeping forward around a central feature. Not sure about the Flamingo pink in the postcard, though.
Actually, looking at that model, if you hung a little facade work on Bellagio...
I agree with Drake.
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