I’m always looking to highlight unique success stories in the casino industry, especially properties that have prospered by providing more value to their customers. Not less.
There’s the standard-setting Barona Resort and Casino in San Diego. “Every Player’s Paradise,” the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa in Reno. The small, quirky, player-worshipping Emerald Island Casino in downtown Henderson, NV. And several others that I believe are out there doing right by their casino customers. But now I think I’ve discovered the most interesting, impactful, and instructive casino success story of all – the Plaza Hotel and Casino in downtown Las Vegas.
The Plaza opened in 1971. Not many casinos make it to 54 years old without being demolished at least once. But the Plaza has survived all of the following in its five-plus decades of existence: a once decaying downtown; a booming Las Vegas Strip that gobbled up much of the business; multiple changes of ownership and management; significant new first-class casino competition, especially with the Strip-like quality of the Golden Nugget and Circa; an awkward physical location at the foot of Fremont Street, squeezed by railroad tracks and industrial facilities; no valet parking and self-parking a healthy hike from hotel check-in; and other limitations, challenges, historical handicaps, and unfair perceptions that no single casino hotel has ever had to overcome all at once.
Yet over the last decade plus, the Plaza has not only survived, but thrived and grown. Through recessions. Through a pandemic. Through changing business and market conditions. So much so that the Plaza is now seen as a vibrant place to experience in Las Vegas. To eat at the wonderful Oscar’s Steakhouse, paying homage to the former mayor of Las Vegas, Oscar Goodman. To gamble outside at the Carousel Bar, the only place of its kind. To play some of the loosest video poker games in the country. To play single “0” roulette, receive 10X odds on craps, play the most liberal electronic craps games available and blackjack games that ALWAYS pay 3-2 for naturals. To have an incomparable sugar high on one (or more) of the 72 doughnut varieties at Pinkbox Doughnuts. And so much more.
I had to learn more about this 54-year-old relic called the Plaza and how it has achieved so much when others have struggled. So I stayed there for two nights over the 4th of July and I had the opportunity to chat with the corporate CEO, Jonathan Jossel, and the Plaza GM, Sue Ascanio. Here’s what I learned.
Risk-taking leadership
Plaza CEO Jonathan Jossel was born in South Africa and at the age of six moved to England. He came to Las Vegas when he was 23 and by 28 was the youngest CEO in the gaming industry – ever. Jonathan grew up as a gambler, betting on horses and sports in an environment where the only roulette game was single “0” and the only blackjack game paid 3-2. He credits his experience as a casino player in a profitable, British, “player-value” environment for his approach in taking over the reins at the Plaza. That and a downtown Las Vegas that already had to take a value approach to compete with all of the bells and whistles on the Las Vegas Strip.
Jonathan Jossel is a risk taker (and knew he had to be) with an older downtown casino. He tried many different casino promotions, a few of which failed miserably. But he learned. Before it was a thing, he partnered with casino influencers, especially Brian Christopher, the first real influencer with a huge online following. He not only pioneered and puts on a 4th of July fireworks show for all of downtown (I saw it and it was spectacular!), but from May to September he started a weekly Friday fireworks show as well, just to create a little more buzz at the start of the weekend. While no one uses bingo as a marketing tool anymore, Jonathan has utilized the only bingo room downtown to create a monthly “Super Bingo” event for 800-1,000 players, which has become one of the most profitable of all the Plaza’s activities.
But leadership isn’t just about creating and trying stuff, it’s about finding, developing, and motivating an executive team. Jonathan now has that team, some of whom may never have considered working at the Plaza before. His GM, Sue Ascanio, is a talented and experienced casino executive (and a woman!) who has led casinos for some of the top companies in the business.
Listening to customers
The executive team at the Plaza is obsessed with listening to their customers. They have a weekly happy hour on Thursdays from 4 to 5 p.m., where three Plaza directors host any hotel guest who wants to attend and have free beer and wine while they share their thoughts with executives who want (and need) to hear it. The team uses these happy hours to improve, get to know their customers, and (hopefully) start the process of building “customers for life.”
Jonathan Jossel himself believes that “10,000 hours with Plaza customers” makes for a real casino executive. All Plaza customers have Jonathan’s personal cell phone number (and boy do they use it!). He and his executive team know most of Plaza’s top customers by first name. Now that’s customer research by relationship building!
The gaming proposition
I’ve already mentioned the Plaza’s gaming value that runs counter to the squeeze of most Las Vegas resort casinos nowadays. But just add it all together – 99.5% video poker, 3-2 blackjack, single “0” roulette, 10X odds on craps, Super Bingo, $500 free play bonuses for a royal flush at the Sand Dollar Bar… and on and on and on. The Plaza is succeeding in posing the powerful question to real casino gamblers: “Why would you play anywhere else?”
Bottom line
Whether you’re a casino executive or a casino player, don’t take my word for it, go experience the Plaza Hotel Casino in downtown Las Vegas for yourself. Having now spent some time there, let me suggest these things to you. Get $10 of free slot play with your coupon from the Las Vegas Advisor. Go to the happy hour at Oscar’s Steakhouse on Friday night and buy one, get one. Definitely see the Friday night fireworks. Have a fresh-made iced tea at the bar, each made with a single tea bag. Earn 100 slot points and get your free show ticket. Get free parking (now a dinosaur in Las Vegas!) just by having your Plaza parking ticket conveniently validated. Check out the cool rooftop-pool area. And you have to get ONE Pinkbox donut.
Thanks, Plaza Hotel and Casino, for showing our industry how to be successful by finding out what our guests and players want, then giving it to them. Exactly.
