Lumiere Place

midcoaststl · PostDec 20, 2007#12762007-12-20T14:24+00:00

Was there and I agree that it is a very vegas feel. Of course it is not going to be like the big ones out there, but overall you do not feel like you are in STL. Sleek was pumping out good music and I can't wait for this to open.

Slots were tight and it was extra crowded due to the lines for the cards. We walked to the president got a card and walked back.

I think it looks great and it will be a great addition. I was at sundeckers before the opening and it was packed. on my way home 12:15 it still had a crowd but smaller than when we first got there.

Anyway, i have some friends coming in town from chi this weekend for illini vs mizzou, they always go gambling after the game and some drinks, so I am really excited to steer them away from the president and to lumiere!

mattonarsenal · PostDec 20, 2007#12772007-12-20T15:07+00:00

I was at sundeckers before the opening and it was packed.

That can't be, according to some here the casino was going to suck the life out of the Landing.

Anyway, if you have an existing card from the President will that work at Lumiere Place or do you need to get a new card from either the President or Lumiere Place?

thewayofthearch · PostDec 20, 2007#12782007-12-20T15:50+00:00

I was coming down 70 at about 1100 last night and the hotel and glowhawk get framed perfectly, and looked really cool.

Lotta extra people and cars all over for a Wed night...

southsidepride · PostDec 20, 2007#12792007-12-20T15:52+00:00

I think Lumiere has more potential to bring its customers to surrounding establishments than the other casinos do. Ameristar for example brings in older gamblers who focus mostly on the gambling.

Sure they might grab a meal or catch a show at one of the restaurants/bars in the complex, but they won't feel the need to venture down to old town St. Charles for a more authentic experience (also most of the other food/drink options in old St. Chuck are a mile or more away at the end of Main St.)

With Lumiere you have folks going to a higher end destination in the center of the city. They are less likely to have those blinders on and will want to step outside to see what else is around. And if the drinks get too pricey or the crowd too pretentious they may want to hit a more divey joint like Sundeckers to end the evening.

jmmnq6 · PostDec 20, 2007#12802007-12-20T15:53+00:00

I was really impressed... It was very crowded, but the tables were easily accessible and there were plenty of open chairs. I liked the multiple table areas and the general flow of the casino. Very diverse crowd also... This is going to be great for the landing...

stlight · PostDec 20, 2007#12812007-12-20T16:01+00:00

Is there a pedestrian walkway from the hotel/casino to the landing? Was it operational last night....can't wait to check this place out. I might reschedule some of my frequent trips to vegas...cheers!

dweebe · PostDec 20, 2007#12822007-12-20T16:05+00:00

STLight wrote:Is there a pedestrian walkway from the hotel/casino to the landing? Was it operational last night....can't wait to check this place out. I might reschedule some of my frequent trips to vegas...cheers!

There's plenty of work to be done. Probably not ready until springtime.

markinlondon · PostDec 20, 2007#12832007-12-20T16:55+00:00

It looks like there is a nice entrance/exit facing the landing on the southeast corner of the casino. You could see the entrance/exit clearly from west side of the big parking lot in the heart of the landing. Should be easy to walk right out of the casino and over to the main bars/restaurants around the landing.

I've got friends coming in from LA and Chicago this weekend. We are going to check out the casino bars and then hit some other bars on the Landing. If the casino wasn't there, we would be going elsewhere. Another net gain for the non-casino businesses on the landing!

Alex Ihnen · PostDec 20, 2007#12842007-12-20T20:08+00:00

From today's P-D story:

Being there Wednesday night meant a chance to be part of something new for some of the gamblers who made the trek downtown.

"There's really no good reason," said Cory O'Bryant of St. Louis. "I figured it would be the next hotspot for a month at least."

What an idiot (IMO). I doubt that Pinnacle will let the casino be a hot spot a month. Of course to many in the area they will think just that because the stories about the casino will trail off and the only mention of it in the press will be when the first car break-in happens or if a restaurant in the complex closes (inevitable). This place will attract many from outside the city on a regular basis. It's much more upscale than anything else on the Mississippi/Ohio/Missouri rivers.

tb1000 · PostDec 20, 2007#12852007-12-20T21:45+00:00

Pinnacle's stock price has done well today with news of the opening. Interesting comments from the Goldman Sachs analyst.

Goldman Sachs (nyse: GS - news - people ) analyst Betsy Gorton said opening night festivities at Lumiere Place on Wednesday convinced her that the local community may be very excited about the casino. She said the complex is unique, with distinctive interior and exterior designs.

"We think Pinnacle's property is truly differentiated in the St. Louis market," she said in a client note. "It reminds us of how Borgata is unique in Atlantic City and as the word gets out we expect it to draw from a more diverse/larger customer base." Borgata is owned by Boyd Gaming Corp. (nyse: BYD - news - people ) and MGM Mirage (nyse: MGM - news - people ).

Gorton added that investor expectations for the casino are "very low," and the stock could rise if Lumiere Place attracts more customers than anticipated or if investors focus on the casino's distinctive features. She rates Pinnacle shares at "Buy," with a price target of $35 per share.

Gorton has the stock on the Americas Buy List, a portfolio of recommended stocks.

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/12/ ... 63269.html

b777stl · PostDec 20, 2007#12862007-12-20T22:36+00:00

I plan on going this weekend to check it out. I called over this morning and got a very friendly operator who told me that parking is free today (regularly $5 in the garage) if anyone is interested in heading down tonight. Not a gambler, but the Burger bar and Peet's Coffee & Teas look neat

MattnSTL · PostDec 20, 2007#12872007-12-20T22:39+00:00

Free parking? I wonder if it has to be validated, because the football crowd will take advantage of that if it is completely open.

little egyptian · PostDec 20, 2007#12882007-12-20T22:45+00:00

Grover wrote:From today's P-D story:

Being there Wednesday night meant a chance to be part of something new for some of the gamblers who made the trek downtown.

"There's really no good reason," said Cory O'Bryant of St. Louis. "I figured it would be the next hotspot for a month at least."

What an idiot (IMO). I doubt that Pinnacle will let the casino be a hot spot a month. Of course to many in the area they will think just that because the stories about the casino will trail off and the only mention of it in the press will be when the first car break-in happens or if a restaurant in the complex closes (inevitable). This place will attract many from outside the city on a regular basis. It's much more upscale than anything else on the Mississippi/Ohio/Missouri rivers.

I agree with you Grover that this is going to become a destination for the lower Midwestern region of the U.S. I don't know of another casino that compares with its urban location and high class atmosphere. The only casino that comes to mind is Harrahs in Joliet, but Lumiere will be that hands down. This thing could turn out pretty well, who knows. Though I am not sure I am ready to put another one on the Bottle District property just yet (it is about the right size...).

MattnSTL · PostDec 20, 2007#12892007-12-20T22:57+00:00

The Bottle District is too far from the river to have a casino. What I am hearing from pretty solid sources is to expect a boat in a moat to replace the Admiral on the property that Pinnacle owns east of Lumiere.

tb1000 · PostDec 21, 2007#12902007-12-21T01:39+00:00

From the website (there are many others on the site):

jlblues · PostDec 21, 2007#12912007-12-21T02:24+00:00

MattonArsenal wrote:
I was at sundeckers before the opening and it was packed.

That can't be, according to some here the casino was going to suck the life out of the Landing.

Anyway, if you have an existing card from the President will that work at Lumiere Place or do you need to get a new card from either the President or Lumiere Place?

Yes, the bars were packed before the opening, but not after, at least none that I saw, and I'm sure there were at least 50,000 people on the Landing for the opening - way more than on any average weekend night. I think the jury is still out on whether Lumiere Place will help the Landing. It could have been designed in such a way that integrated it with the Landing, and if they had, I think it would have helped business there, but they chose not to do that, for obvious reasons. I still find it hard to believe that gamblers are going to go to Lumiere, load up on cheap alcohol and food from all of the various restaurant and nightlife options in the casino, and then decide to go to a bar or restaurant on the Landing. Perhaps if Lumiere proves to be so tremendously popular that you can't get in to any of those places in the casino, it will have a spillover effect, but I think that is unlikely.

Re: Player Cards: The old President cards no longer work, for either casino. You have to get a MyChoice card, which works at any of Pinnacle's properties.

tb1000 · PostDec 21, 2007#12922007-12-21T02:29+00:00

There are also going to be people who just want to go to the casino for a bit, gamble a little bit of money, and then go out. Since they are around the bars at the Landing they just might stay in that area.

We'll just have to wait and see.

jlblues · PostDec 21, 2007#12932007-12-21T02:43+00:00

STLight wrote:Is there a pedestrian walkway from the hotel/casino to the landing? Was it operational last night....can't wait to check this place out. I might reschedule some of my frequent trips to vegas...cheers!

There is an entrance to the casino on Second Street as close as you can get to the Landing, but most gamblers and casino nightlife patrons will be using the free 1,200 car parking garage in the complex itself, the free parking lots directly east of the casino, or the ped tunnel under 70, so I don't think that will help the ped traffic into the Landing itself. They could put up very large signage in the casino saying 'Laclede's Landing This Way', but again they chose not to do that.

And they really need to spruce up the area under the MLK bridge between the casino and the Landing, it is very dark and foreboding, and the sidewalks are all dirty, broken, and covered with broken glass, ice and snow. I'm really surprised Pinnacle didn't hire someone to clean off the Landing sidewalks, most people had to walk on the streets becasue the sidewalks were so nasty and covered with ice. Couldn't they find the cash to do a bit of cleaning and put up a little bit of lighting south of their $500 million casino???

PostDec 21, 2007#12942007-12-21T02:45+00:00

TB1000 wrote:Interesting comments from the Goldman Sachs analyst.

Goldman Sachs (nyse: GS - news - people ) analyst Betsy Gorton said opening night festivities at Lumiere Place on Wednesday convinced her that the local community may be very excited about the casino. <snip>

I want her job.

MattnSTL wrote:Free parking? I wonder if it has to be validated, because the football crowd will take advantage of that if it is completely open.

Yes it does, but anyone can walk into the casino and have their ticket validated, which is actually a pretty clever strategy to get people into the casino. BTW, I asked in Lumiere where I could get my parking validated and one of the greeters said, "right inside the casino".

So, to get your ticket validated you have to have a MyChoice card and enter the gambling area. Clever bastards.

MattnSTL wrote:The Bottle District is too far from the river to have a casino. What I am hearing from pretty solid sources is to expect a boat in a moat to replace the Admiral on the property that Pinnacle owns east of Lumiere.

God, I hope not. [-o<

Alex Ihnen · PostDec 21, 2007#12952007-12-21T02:51+00:00

jlblues wrote:
STLight wrote:Is there a pedestrian walkway from the hotel/casino to the landing? Was it operational last night....can't wait to check this place out. I might reschedule some of my frequent trips to vegas...cheers!
There is an entrance to the casino on Second Street as close as you can get to the Landing, but most gamblers and casino nightlife patrons will be using the free 1,200 car parking garage in the complex itself, the free parking lots directly east of the casino, or the ped tunnel under 70, so I don't think that will help the ped traffic into the Landing itself. They could put up very large signage in the casino saying 'Laclede's Landing This Way', but again they chose not to do that.

And they really need to spruce up the area under the MLK bridge between the casino and the Landing, it is very dark and foreboding, and the sidewalks are all dirty, broken, and covered with broken glass, ice and snow. I'm really surprised Pinnacle didn't hire someone to clean off the Landing sidewalks, most people had to walk on the streets becasue the sidewalks were so nasty and covered with ice. Couldn't they find the cash to do a bit of cleaning and put up a little bit of lighting south of their $500 million casino???

I think the Landing would do well to make their shops/streets inviting, but you don't seriously expect a business to put up a big sign saying, "hey, instead of spending you money here you could go down the street" do you? I think all-in-all the casino is relatively open to Lacleded's Landing. Of course most people will drive to the Casino and not go any further, but there is good access for those who will - IF, as you state, the sidewalks can be make clean and be well lit.

jlblues · PostDec 21, 2007#12962007-12-21T03:03+00:00

Grover wrote:I think the Landing would do well to make their shops/streets inviting, but you don't seriously expect a business to put up a big sign saying, "hey, instead of spending you money here you could go down the street" do you?

If, as Pinnacle has stated inumerable times, their strategy really is to capitalize off of the synergy of the casino with the Landing nightlife - you know, that the-whole-is-greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts thing - then, yes, I do.

brickandmortar · PostDec 21, 2007#12972007-12-21T14:40+00:00

The Burger Bar has their menu is the Menu of Menus pullout in this weeks RFT. For those prices these had better be the best damn burgers on the planet and/or chewed for you. One burger topped out at $60

innov8ion · PostDec 21, 2007#12982007-12-21T15:22+00:00

^ Here's the Mandalay Burger Bar menu which must be similar if not exact: http://www.usmenuguide.com/burgerbarmenu.htm

Rossini $60.00

Kobe beef, sautéed foie gras, shaved truffles, Madeira sauce, on onion bun

Named after a XIX th century Italian composer whose love for fine food was legendary. The preparation always includes foie gras, truffles and a rich brown sauce, in this case, Madeira.

dweebe · PostDec 21, 2007#12992007-12-21T15:23+00:00

innov8ion wrote:^ Here's the Mandalay Burger Bar menu which must be similar if not exact: http://www.usmenuguide.com/burgerbarmenu.htm

Rossini $60.00

Kobe beef, sautéed foie gras, shaved truffles, Madeira sauce, on onion bun

Named after a XIX th century Italian composer whose love for fine food was legendary. The preparation always includes foie gras, truffles and a rich brown sauce, in this case, Madeira.

SubZero has a Kobe beef burger that's like $28.

innov8ion · PostDec 21, 2007#13002007-12-21T15:39+00:00

^ So did/does Balaban's. Do they have comparable accoutrements to the Rossini? For what it's worth, I'm guessing the $28 burger doesn't contain truffles or foie gras.

Lumiere Place

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