Fontainebleau Las Vegas has lost two more executives, three of whom have been gone for weeks
The Fontainebleau Casino in Las Vegas has only been open for a month, but the Las Vegas Strip casino resort has already lost three top executives.
Multiple media outlets reported that chief operating officer (COO) Colleen Birch and chief marketing officer (CMO) Shane Smith left the newly formed Sin City hotel last week. Her departure follows the Dec. 30 departure of Vice President of Casino Operations Michael Clifford.
Birch and Smith voluntarily resigned from their positions. This is Birch's second tenure at Fontainebleau after a brief stint as director of revenue management in 2008.
Ground was broken on the venue in February 2007. However, the global financial crisis hampered the completion of the project. Financier Carl Icahn bought the unfinished building in 2010, which had sat abandoned for seven years. In 2017, Icahn quadrupled his $150 million investment by selling the building to real estate developer Steven Witkoff and an investment firm called New Valley for $600 million.
Dramatic changes in management contributed to this eventful history
The aforementioned leadership trio’s stay at Fontainebleau Las Vegas was short-lived. Clifford began working at the luxury hotel in February 2023 and has since held positions at Resorts World Las Vegas, Wynn Palace in Macau and held various roles at MGM Resorts International.
Birch joined Fontainebleau in November 2022 after 13 years at Cosmopolitan. She left the Las Vegas Strip hotel shortly after Blackstone sold its rights to MGM.
Smith's LinkedIn profile shows he has worked at Fontainebleau for about a year.
Some industry observers and Las Vegas insiders believe the departure of three top executives in less than a month looks bad for the newly formed integrated resort.
The chaos comes as the $3.7 billion resort reportedly struggles to attract top bettors. While the Fontainebleau's talent and enviable selection of trendy restaurants are undeniable, Sin City rumors suggest the hotel's gaming floor is often sparsely populated. The casino is housed in the tallest building in the city and has 1,300 slot machines and 128 gaming tables.
The legend of Fontainebleau continues
Fontainebleau Las Vegas is a collaboration between the Koch brothers and Florida real estate developer Jeffrey Soffer. He owns the Fontainebleau venue in Miami Beach and wants to make the Las Vegas venue a reliable venue on par with Miami's iconic venues.
One of the issues that may confuse Fontainebleau Las Vegas is its location on the north end of the Strip, where some casino hotels have struggled to establish themselves.
Furthermore, before Fontainebleau debuted, this part of the Las Vegas Strip was already packed with luxury venues, with Wynn and Encore dominating the scene. The newcomer, which opened before Fontainebleau, has struggled to take market share from Wynn Hotels.
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Source: www.casino.org
