“Our local slot customers wanted to be where the cool kids were,” said Gray, who worked for the Maloofs when the Palms opened.

Station is attempting to market the Palms as a hybrid property - an off-Strip resort catering to out-of-town visitors as well as a locals hangout where Las Vegans can mix with the occasional VIP. Gray explained that the transition is still a work in progress with even more changes coming through the late first quarter or early second quarter of 2019. Now, almost exactly two years to the date from when Station Casinos acquired the Palms for $312.5 million, the public is getting its first look at the first phase of transformation resulting from a $620 million property-wide renovation. The Fertittas were minority investors back then. It’s all part of the strategy to return the Palms to its glory days of when it first opened by the Maloof family in the early 2000s. “That’s what art is supposed to do as well. “We think it makes sense because the gaming industry and the entertainment industry is fun and it creates an energy, it creates an emotional response,” said Jon Gray, general manager of the Palms. and Steve Wynn has done it in his resorts, most notably Wynn Palace in Macau. MGM Resorts International has placed art throughout its National Harbor property in suburban Washington D.C. It’s one of dozens of art pieces scattered throughout the hotel and casino - some of them commissioned, and some of them on loan from the personal collections of Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta.ĭisplaying art in a casino isn’t a new concept. The shark, encased in three pieces in steel and glass cases filled with formaldehyde, is a triptych art piece by Damien Hirst who was at the property for the unveiling and the opening of the bar that he designed. Erik Verduzco Las Vegas Review-Journal thought you only found card sharks in casinos.ĭon’t be alarmed when you’re confronted with a 13-foot tiger shark prominently displayed at the Unknown, the Palms’ new center bar that opened Thursday night. An art piece spelling out Palms outside of the hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Thursday, May 17, 2018.

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