Meeting News - February 2, 2009 - (Page 24)

Insider Report: Gaming Destinations Liberace Immortalized Thirty years ago, the Liberace Museum opened on a modest corner lot on Tropicana Avenue. Creating a museum was, on the one hand, Liberace’s way of sharing his lifetime collection of costumes, jewelry, pianos, and cars with the public. On the other hand, it was a way to generate scholarship funds for the Liberace Foundation for performing and creative arts. More than $5 million has been raised to date. “Liberace started the foundation in gratitude for having been the beneficiary of a scholarship,” said Darin Hollingsworth, president of the Liberace Museum and Foundation.“Everything we do here supports his philanthropic mission. We have reserved our museum for donors and sponsors. Donors at the $5,000-and-above level get to use the venue for one evening—with food, beverage, and all other charges on top of that.” The Liberace Museum and Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so contributions may be tax deductible. The museum has two buildings, referred to as theaters: Liberace’s we encourage the host to use just the costume and cabaret rooms, because if you divide a small group between the two theaters, you don’t get the warm, fuzzy critical mass. If the event is purely a meetand-greet reception, both buildings work well.” Another option is to include Carluccio’s Tivoli Restaurant (Liberace’s Tivoli Restaurant back in the day), which adjoins the museum and still has the “Mr. Showmanship” aesthetic, including a fully mirrored lounge and a bar that is an actual oversized piano with a lid. Liberace’s rhinestone piano in the costume room and the mirrored piano in the cabaret space are kept tuned, and, when arranged in advance, guests are allowed to play them. There are photo ops at the pianos and at life-size Liberace figures, which can be specially positioned for events. “We also really enjoy hosting groups for tours, lunches, and live cabaret performances,” said Hollingsworth. “Lots of visitors [think] they’re going to laugh it off as a campy experience but soon become fascinated by the Liberace mystique. We believe we’re his greatest encore performance.” —Joy Anderson The Liberace Museum glitters for groups. pianos, stage automobiles, and a timeline of his life and career are in one; the costume and jewelry collections and cabaret theater are in the other. “Because we don’t have a full kitchen, seated dinners don’t work very well, but receptions with heavy hors d’oeuvres are perfect,” said Hollingsworth.“Our ideal group size is under 200, particularly if the host has any type of program. The cabaret room can seat 120 and accommodate up to 170 standing. If it’s an event for 100 or less, Steve Wynn Begins His Encore, and the House Wins The new $2.3 billion casino resort opens on time and is on track for bookings There’s no doubt that veteran Vegas entrepreneur Steve Wynn has opened his Encore casino resort in the teeth of a ferocious economic hurricane. But such is the faith that normally skeptical meeting planners have in the Wynn legend that almost every conference room at the new $2.3 billion property was booked for the Consumer Electronics Show—just two weeks after the resort’s opening date. Their faith was rewarded when the resort opened on schedule and meetings went off without major hiccups. Encore Las Vegas, with just over 2,000 rooms, will fit many groups. Room prices are surprisingly competitive for a high-end property, currently starting at $159 a night. At over 700 sf, each guest room is actually a suite, featuring a pillow-top luxury bed, marble and limestone finishes, a steam shower and separate tub, and an L-shaped sectional couch for curling up with a laptop computer or watching the winking lights of Las Vegas 24 MeetingNews February 2, 2009 and the Strip through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows. The resort has 60,000 sf of meeting space, including a grand ballroom, while the adjacent Wynn Las Vegas offers 223,000 sf. Encore also offers a beautifully appointed, 61,000-sf, fullservice spa and salon with 37 treatment rooms and four couples suites. Planners might want to negotiate a group rate for amenities like the fitness center. At $40 a day, it closes each night at 8 p.m., so delegates will have to schedule accordingly or miss out on a workout. Attention to detail is a Wynn signature. For example, Wynn’s wife, Elaine, not only helped bring in high-end shops like Chanel, Hermes, and the shoe sanctuary Instep, she designed all the uniforms of Encore’s employees herself. And, the resort will spend $1.2 million on fresh flowers this year. Then, there’s the restaurant Sinatra, a monument to Frank Sinatra and to Steve Wynn’s relationship with the Sinatra family, with floor-toceiling paintings of the late legend, as well as his Oscar and Grammy awards. Specializing in traditional Italian dishes such as osso bucco, Sinatra bakes its bread and rolls on the premises. Other restaurants at Encore include steakhouse Botero, which houses three of Wynn’s Rubensque Fernando Botero paintings and sculptures, and the French-inspired steak and seafood house Switch, with the possibly disorienting “dinner is theater” ability to switch ceilings and walls. Less-expensive, three-meal-a-day dining is offered by Society Cafe. Encore’s seven bars make it convenient for delegates to find a watering hole when not in meetings. Victor Drai’s nightclub, XS, is available for buyouts, like just about everything else at Encore. The club, which can handle 2,000 to 3,000 people, has huge glass windows that look out on to Encore’s “European” (the Las Vegas euphemism for “topless”) pool. —Michael Goldstein www.meetingnews.com http://www.meetingnews.com

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