2011 Speedweek Rooms

[Stan Back]

. . . unless it's a rain-out -- then you're screwed.

[fastman614]

. . . unless it's a rain-out -- then you're screwed.

And as much as I hate to say what I am about to say..... I am going to say it..... in the early 90s.... (93 and 94) ..... speedweek was rained out..... and in 1995, the casino operators, who had been screwing Bonneviile racers around and stating the SAME rhetoric as the new generation of managers is now saying..... told the officials..... "we missed you!"..... THEY FOUND OUT HOW MUCH BUSINESS WE RACERS AND OUR EVENT GENERATED FOR THEIR HOTELS/CASINOS THAT WEEK BY OUR COLLECTIVE ABSENCE!

I serious rainout is what the hotel operators need to bring them back to reality!

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Speaking of selling n-needed rooms here on landracing.com's Forum -- remember that each and every year we run a thread specific to that -- usually titled something like "Speedweek '11 rooms available".  And there are usually quite a few folks offering/seeking rooms, too.  Look for that topic to begin by July -- maybe sooner.

[seatacartist]

It is interesting to note that the Burning Man celebration held at Black Rock has somewhere near 45,000 people camping (and no that isn't a typo). Granted it is much more coordinated than Speedweek when it comes to facilities but, it is also BLM land. BLM permits camping. We need not camp in the pit area, it could be an area separate from the pits. It would make sense for the SCTA to look at this both as a way to accommodate the racers and make money as someone else had mentioned. Entry fees would just be included in camping fees. A win win situation and it would generate a lot of money both for the SCTA and SAS.

Casinos, like gas prices will never go down it's all about the $$$ 

[Stainless1]

nobody said the BLM does not permit camping, the bend in the road is BLM land, the land up the hill is BLM land, the BLM just does not premit camping on the salt. 
If you wanted to camp at Black Rock you could, it would just be a longer drive than from the Bend.
 

[1212FBGS]

[/quote]

And as much as I hate to say what I am about to say..... I am going to say it..... in the early 90s.... (93 and 94) ..... speedweek was rained out..... and in 1995, the casino operators, who had been screwing Bonneviile racers around and stating the SAME rhetoric as the new generation of managers is now saying..... told the officials..... "we missed you!"..... THEY FOUND OUT HOW MUCH BUSINESS WE RACERS AND OUR EVENT GENERATED FOR THEIR HOTELS/CASINOS THAT WEEK BY OUR COLLECTIVE ABSENCE!

I serious rainout is what the hotel operators need to bring them back to reality!
[/quote]

that was before they started busing in blue hair gamblers from Salt Lake city... they don't need us or want us anymore... if we get a rain out they'll do TV and radio spots offering discounts to gamblers to fill the rooms... they'll make more money that way

[fastman614]

that was before they started busing in blue hair gamblers from Salt Lake city... they don't need us or want us anymore... if we get a rain out they'll do TV and radio spots offering discounts to gamblers to fill the rooms... they'll make more money that way

[/quote]

I don't disagree that the thinking of the casino operators is pretty much as you say..... The big places are pretty much all owned by Las Vegas or Reno area based hotel/casino operators.... I just know that, at other times of the year, the rooms in Wendover are very LOW PRICED!.....

Pasted in from Peppermill Casinos website:

1980: Peppermill Opens Small Casino and Motor Lodge
In 1980, with the opening of a small casino and motor lodge units, the Peppermill entered the gaming arena in northern Nevada.

1983: Peppermill Adds Western Village in Sparks, NV and Rainbow Club in Henderson, NV
In 1983, Peppermill Casinos, Inc. broadened its base by adding Western Village in Sparks, NV. After several renovations and a 1994 expansion, the Western Village now offers 280 rooms, three restaurants and more than 27,000 square feet of gaming space.

Also in 1983, the company expanded to southern Nevada. Peppermill Casinos, Inc. acquired the Rainbow Club Casino. The Rainbow Club in Henderson, NV is a popular neighborhood casino with a  24-hour restaurant and 8,800 square feet of casino space.

1984: Peppermill Expands to Wendover, NV
Peppermill Casinos, Inc. expanded to Wendover, Nevada, in 1984.

Present:
Today, the Peppermill operates three casinos in Wendover.

And pasted in from Bloomberg Business Week (the company does NOT seem to have a corporate website):

Company Overview
Generation 2000, LLC provides property development and management services. It primarily owns and operates hotel, casino, and other entertainment properties. Its properties currently include Pahrump Nugget Hotel & Gambling Hall, Hacienda Hotel and Casino, and Wendover Nugget Hotel & Casino. The company is based in United States.


As I said.... maybe we racers don't gamble but A LOT of spectators and tourists come through Wendover during Speedweek- specifically because Speedweek is on- and many of them DO GAMBLE! (And I, personally, have been know to stay at some of the casino operators' other properties.)

Maybe if A LOT of us wrote to these owners and explained that we are people who do travel elsewhere too and that we either will or won't stay in their other properties if we get treated as shabbily as we do by the Wendover management during Speedweek.... (and we know that during World Finals, the prices are at reality levels)

Maybe let them know that if the prices at Wendover were realistic, we would be inclined to stay in The Hacienda.... or the Pahrump Nugget (we could all go and visit Dr Larry Mayfield).... or the Peppermill in Reno or something.... maybe if 20,000 customers said this.... they might figure out that the number of lost sales could be 10 times that (because, statistically, irritated customers tend to be negative to at least 10 people whereas satisfied customers tend to be positive to 4 people)...

It is something to think about.

[maguromic]

I agree with Kent, the casinos really don’t want us there.  Our company does business with about 90% of the casinos on the West Coast, and I have had conversations about the high room prices during Speed Week with many of the management and the pretty much they all say the same thing. The casinos run on an aggregate model (a percentage of the restaurants, spa, gaming, room service and other) of revenue per square foot, which goes down when we are in town.  The rooms (in Las Vegas, Reno and Wendovor), at less than a hundred dollars a night are subsidized by the casinos and they expect a return of $300-$400 per night in revenue for that room.  As racers we don’t spend enough money to make them like us.  In the end the only thing that matters to them is revenue per square foot that can be generated, and till that number changes we will be held hostage. Tony

[alvycolt45]

I'll chime in here with my 2¢.

For the record, I am not a racer, but I do live in Wendover and have attended the speed events for the past few years.  I do not work for a casino but I know plenty of people that do.

So here's my third-person point of view on some of the comments posted in this thread:

1.  The high hotel rates are simple supply and demand, the supply of rooms in Wendover is fixed and during Speedweek the demand is very high.  I just checked the http://www.wendoverfun.com/main.html website and many of the rooms are already sold out.  So someone is willing to pay the price and as long as the rooms sell the prices will be high.

2.  The casinos are not the only hotels in town.  I don't hear anyone complaining that the Utah-side hotels are cheating anyone by raising their rates during Speedweek.

3.  The only reason the casinos and their hotels were built in Wendover is because it's just over the state line from Utah.  The hotels were built for the gamblers.  Speedweek is only 1 week a year and no hotel would survive, let along provide such nice rooms/amenities, if Speedweek was the only draw to the town.  Without gambling you'd all be fighting over the 100 rooms at the Best Western every year.

4.  Speedweek is not the only time that room rates are raised and rooms are hard to find.  On holiday weekends or when the concert hall has sold-out shows, even the gamblers have to shell out extra money to get a room in town.

5.  It's true that the casinos and their employees don't view the salt racers as ideal customers.  The perception is that they don't gamble as much as the normal casino guest.  This means less profit for the casino and less tip money (wages) for the dealers and cocktail waitresses.  Also some racers track salt all over the place which adds to clean-up costs.

6.  The Peppermill company is the biggest player in town owning the Rainbow, Peppermill and Montego Bay.  But they are still a very small gaming company when compared to the big players in Vegas.  It is family owned with the goal of any other business -- to make a profit.  And the recession of the past 3 years has made them tighten their belt.

7.  The business that do benefit the most from Speedweek are the local restaurants and stores.  The biggest winner is Smiths Food.  Speedweek is their biggest volume week.  Maybe they should built a hotel for you.

8.  There is free camping available.  If it is wet and "the bend" is a little sloppy just go up the hillside to the North where it's always dry.

9.  If you feel the room prices are too high during Speedweek, then plan to attend a later event that doesn't attract as many people.  BUB, World of Speed and World Finals are great events and are not nearly as crowded.  In fact I'd say that BUB is my favorite crowd.

10.  I find it ironic that racers have no problem blowing a $1000 engine for one or two trips down the speedway but complain about spending a couple hundred bucks for a very nice hotel room in the middle of nowhere.

11.  If you want better rates then gamble.  The system is to get yourself a Players Card which tracks your gambling and the more you gamble the more perks you get.  Gambling doesn't necessarily mean you have to lose a lot.

Sorry if this is long winded, and I'm not trying to provoke a flame war, I'm just trying to provide a different view on this subject.

See you on the salt, August can't get here soon enough. 

[Bob Drury]

    First of all, to the best of my knowlege the "Big Three" are never sold out, as they only let us reserve around 50% of thier available rooms and every year people show up without Bonneville shirts and seem to get rooms (not reserved rooms).
  The first robber baron was the fine gentleman who owns the Days Inn and what used to be the State Line Inn.  He started the 5 day minimum with no refunds for any reason trend. The "Big Three" soon followed, although only demanding a three day non-refundable robbery.
  The fact that these fine folks are taking our cash up front and immediatly scoring a instant profit months before they may or may not provide any goods or services is called USERY in plainspeak, and not legal in most transactions.
  Think about it, in a rainout, they keep the entire amount and provide absolutly nothing in return.
  One more cute trick is that if the person making and paying for the reservation does not show up, not even their spouse can use the rooms.  They demand picture I.D. and THE VERY credit card you used to pay with and have been making payments for the non delivered goods or services for five months.
  Folk's, DO NOT LEAVE THAT CREDIT CARD AT HOME BECAUSE THESE FINE FOLKS DON'T GIVE A RATS ASS  ABOUT YOU OR YOUR PROBLEMS.  THE MANAGMENT IS THERE TO FLEECE YOU ANY WAY THEY CAN.                                   

The folks who work for these  merchants of oppertunity are in most cases simpathetic to our plight, and the small local bussiness' including Smith's bust there butts tending to our needs  but  they have no say in the Room industry.

  I am not going to say that your job or the casinos would not be there Today, but if it wasn't for the salt flats, Wendover would have died after WW II.
  And if it wasn't for the SCTA, Riley Industries and now Intrepid would have you living near a big stinking muck hole where all of us, you included , can still chase our dreams but not for much longer if we don't get some local support in stopping the salt removal.
  Then, lets see how many days a year the 1300+ rooms are filled.  And lets see how many more jobs are lost in Wendover because of it.
  It is a known fact that last year the "Big Three's) reveues were down over 25%  for the year before Speedweek, and without the revenue we provided would have had a worse year than they did.
  Last year the casinos and their restaurants reeked of smoke  which is a sure sign of reduced maintanence, the coffee shops and buffet's in the casinos were understaffed, the casino convenience stores closed early, and if you wanted a morning cup of decent coffee, you had to go elsewhere (except at the Nugget, which sofar has bucked the trend of the others).
  The Nugget, although a bit shopworn , went out of their way to give us good service, clean room and a no problem early cancelation policy.  Dawn,their reservation manager ran a staff that actually seemed to not only care about their jobs, but the customers too.
  I can only imagine that the employees of the spendier establishments must be very fearful of their jobs, because even at the Houses of ill repute in Wells the CUSTOMER ALWAYS COMES FIRST.
  That doesn't seem to be the policy at the other hotels in the twin cities of Wendover.

[Seldom Seen Slim]

I don't know if I'd call it "cheating" by raising rates on the Utah side of town, but it sure does happen.  We'll be at the Quality Inn this year, staying in a block of rooms.  The reduced price for the block is $110/night.  I just checked on line and find that for a stay in early March (picked that date out of the sky) is $58.46/night, though I'll admit that's the senior citizen price.  I know that Motel 6 raises their price way the heck up during Speedweek, too.

I certainly don't blame the motel operators for bending to the laws of supply and demand - but rather am investigating whether or not the Utah lodging places raise rates for Speedweek.  If that wasn't the point you were trying to make -- well, sorry, and never mind.

[desotoman]

alvycolt45,

Very well said.

Tom G.

[Bob Drury]

  Tom, I respect your opinion and have no beef with the nameless Wendoverian, nor do I dispute the rights of the Hotel/Casinos to deal with "supply and demand" pricing.
  It is more about their underhanded dealing with their clientell (that be us) and the outright hostillity of their management staff in dealing with the racers.
  I don't know if you have ever raced at Bonneville, but when you are paying a grand a room for five days for you and your crew, a little respect and courtesy would and should be present.
  In the last eighteen years I have stayed at most of the Hotel/Motels in Both Wendovers, and in the last five or six years seen a dramatic change in attitudes, ammenities and treatment of guest's at most of them.  
  Even during Speedweek, I have never seen more than half of the crap tables or slots being used.
  I do not believe they would let us have 600 rooms if they really thought they could fill the places with "monied" gamblers.  I would even venture to guess that their revenues for food and drink are much higher when we are there, as we recieve no comps as most gamblers do.

  Although I am seldom in a casino during the day, I have noticed that what I would guess to be the majority of gamblers appear to be older "nickel droppers" who arrive on busses from elsewhere.  

  My guess would be that very few big pocket gamblers spend time in Wendover, and that the casinos ought to be thankful for the revenues we create.    Bob

[jdincau]

I don't mind them raising the rates, whatever the traffic will bear is an American tradition. What I don't like is the pay in full ahead of time with no refunds for early departure. I can see a two or three night minimum to keep the looky lous out, but the whole week is robbery. Oh I forgot robber barons is an American tradition also.

[Ron Gibson]

At SW, I was at the crap table where a guy was bragging to the pit guys that he was there for a golf meet and his suite and all meals were comped. That while charging us outrageous rates.

The old Bonneville cafe used to have different price menus for speed week as I'm sure others do.

What the traffic will bear.

Ron