Financial & Travel Musings

Las Vegas is very much the land of niche hotels. Whereas in other places, it’s the location of the hotel that’s the most important factor in deciding upon a particular hotel, in Las Vegas it’s the attractions of the hotel itself that generally make the decision as to where to stay.

Thus you have a very wide range of differing entertainment mixes open to you depending on which hotel you go for. The most famous is probably Caesar’s Palace is probably the most famous but that’s only because it’s been around so long and more modern s like the resorts like the Stratosphere hotel are always fighting hard to attract your business so the entertainment options on offer can often be stronger than in the more established hotels.

The choice is truly massive with many aiming to attract the family market these days and thus having all kinds of things specifically for the kids whilst others aim at couples or golfing or whatever. That’s not to say that you can’t stay at one place and take in the entertainment at another because that’s exactly what many people do.

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Trying to change the perception of a hotel chain is fraut with dangers. For one thing, unless the number of customers is extremely low, you obviously don’t want to lose any of the existing customer base.

Even upgrading facilities is something best not taken too lightly. Surely not? If it’s an upgrade that doesn’t affect the price that you need to charge, then go for it. The problem is that almost all upgrades do affect the pricing structure. For instance, one really successful little restaurant chain that we generally aimed for ourselves is in the process of a major facelift. I stress “facelift” becase the offerings haven’t changed dramatically though the naming of the items on the menu has taken a distinct lurch upmarket which has been accompanied by a doubling to trebling of all prices on the menu. Net effect is that a restaurant that used to be packed pretty much all the time now has very few people eating there.

So, it’s with some tripidation that I see the hotel reservation promo over at Econolodge to accompany their new look. Still, at least they’ve heaps of market research muscle behind them so it should go really well for them.

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With the housing market in the doldrums, it takes something special to really attract a buyer at the moment and that’s where using more unique pieces in your home can make all the difference.

Obviously you need the place to be clean and tidy both inside and out. However, beyond that where you can really score is through using settings that make your place stand out from the crowd. Clearly you don’t want to be spending a fortune on these but you don’t need to. For example, vessel sinks come in around the $500 mark but are something that will really make your vanity unit stand out from the sameness of most store bought installations.

Outside you should look towards more durable pieces. For example, whilst the plastic chairs might be cheap and work well, it’s much more appealing to get something in a wrought iron style.

These little improvements won’t cost a lot but can make the difference in being able to sell your home.

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