LV link to Miami going high tech

The reopening this fall of the historic Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach may set the stage for the late 2009 unveiling of the $2.9 billion Fontainebleau Las Vegas.

Fontainebleau officials are focused on opening the South Florida resort, which has undergone a $1 billion remodeling and expansion. Now, executives are starting to unveil some of their plans for the north Strip hotel-casino, which is expected to top out at 63 floors by October. The property will have 3,800 rooms, including more than 1,000 condominiums.

Howard Karawan, the chief operating officer for Fontainebleau Resorts, said he expects the Fontainebleau Las Vegas to be one of the most technologically advanced resorts on the Strip. An announcement is planned in a few weeks about a deal with a well-known technology provider that could enhance in-room offerings.

Karawan said the Fontainebleau's 150,000-square-foot casino will be fully outfitted for server-based slot machine technology. Even the pool deck will welcome technology. Fontainebleau has commissioned the design of new pool lounges that have pockets to keep wireless telephones and iPods dry but accessible.

"Our whole environment, from lobby on, is being designed to create something spectacular that will become an experience that makes the Fontainebleau a must-see resort," Karawan said.

Karawan said the Las Vegas project will get a boost from the reopening of the Fontainebleau Miami, home to legendary entertainers during the 1960s and a setting for the James Bond film "Goldfinger." The resort will be center stage later this year as host of the 2008 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, which will be televised on CBS.

The hourlong special might allow Fontainebleau to drop hints about the Strip development.

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The $450 million question, as Boyd Gaming Corp. CEO Keith Smith put it, was whether the Nevada State Education Association had enough signatures to place a proposed 44 percent gaming tax increase on the November ballot.

We'll never know.

Representatives of three casino companies struck a deal with the teachers union to support raising the hotel room tax to 13 percent to help fund education. In exchange, the teachers dropped the ballot measure.

Other casino industry leaders didn't think the teachers had enough signatures to qualify the initiative and were flabbergasted their rivals struck a deal.

"I'm in the gambling business and my firm belief is they did not have the signatures," MGM Mirage Chairman and CEO Terry Lanni said. "Why else would you trade $450 million for $150 million?"

Howard Stutz's Inside Gaming column appears Sundays. E-mail him at hstutz@reviewjournal.com or call 702-477-3871.