Tropicana Casinos and Resorts announced today that the company is changing the name of its property in Laughlin, Nevada, to Tropicana Express. The change, which aims to leverage the brand awareness of its legendary sister on the in Las Vegas strip, takes effect July 28 and will be ushered in with special promotions for visitors and a player event program. To mark the occasion, the Steel Drum Band, Caribbean Steel will play in Victory Plaza. A special concert with Bobby Vinton at 8:00 p.m. in the Pavilion Show Room will top off the celebration.
The name change from the current Ramada Express has been in the works since early this year when William J. Yung acquired Aztar Corporation, the previous owner of the Laughlin property. Since then, the new ownership has invested $11 million to enhance the guest experience with new rooms, restaurant, slots and entertainment, and refreshed marketing promotion.
"We want Tropicana to stand for a great time with great service at an affordable price," said Yung. "With the kind of service and product quality we have in Laughlin – best steakhouse, best Italian food, best accommodations – we have a tremendous base to build on. With the Tropicana name on the facilities and festivities, we hope to be able to accelerate the pace of our business growth."
The Laughlin casino and hotel are headed by veteran managers who are well known in the Laughlin community and the Nevada gaming industry. Casino GM Craig DeMarta has nearly 30 years of experience in gaming management and long time tri-state area resident and hotel GM John Maskovich has worked at many of the Laughlin casinos.
We were invited to the re-naming ceremony and I was really impressed with the offer that I received in the mail: 3 nights accomodations, a chip set valued at $200.00, a t-shirt or hat, tickets to the Follies and Bobby Vinton, 20 tickets for drawings for prizes every 15 minutes and drawings for 3 42″ plasma TV’s. The fine print said that the winners names would be posted at the players club and you need not be present to win, just check the board by 5:00 pm Monday. When we arrived we were given our show tickets, t-shirts and a chip set with 7 $5.00 chips. (My multiplication skills put the value of the chips at $35.00, not $200.00). Then we received a paper explaining the drawings. They were no longer drawing tickets every 15 minutes for prizes, you had to have your players card inserted into a machine and be playing and the computer chose a winner every 15 minutes. (This means that you DO have to be present to win). We decided not to stay at the Tropicana Express and we went back on Monday to see if we had won a TV but the names were not posted. We were told that they had all been claimed. (I would have liked to have seen some winner’s names). We have been going to the Tropicana in Las Vegas for 30 years and they have always been truthful about the offers that we received. I feel that the Tropicana Express was fraudulant when they changed the offer upon arrival. I was told that the mailers went out before they could be changed regarding the drawings and that the chip set WAS valued at $200.00 on e-bay.
Thanks for the opportunity to vent!
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