In the past few weeks, I’ve been lucky enough to have some very good conversations with people in the casino business that, I hope, have translated into good writing about the business. Here’s the first, a Green Felt Journal column about the challenges that Ramesh Sadhwani is taking on at Caesars Palace. From Vegas Seven:
Ramesh Sadhwani, who in September was named the hotel’s vice president of operations, might be the man to help Caesars recapture the title.
He’s certainly got a championship resumé: 15 years with Four Seasons, living in several countries and managing a number of five-star properties; five years as senior vice president and general manager of hotel operations for Wynn Las Vegas and Wynn Tower suites. Sadhwani knows top-tier hospitality, both in its broad international context and its specific Las Vegas spin.
On paper, he’s the first guy you’d want on board to run your five-star hotel. What doesn’t come through on paper, though, is Sadhwani’s genuine enthusiasm for the business of other people’s leisure.
What is difficult to convey is the genuine warmth in Sadhwani’s voice as he walked me through his decision to join Caesars which, within about five seconds, made his passion and his friendliness–two qualities essential for anyone in hospitality–immediately apparent. It’s usually just about impossible to build a rapport with someone who you’ve got 20 minutes to interview over the phone, but with Sadhwani it happened pretty quickly. He was upfront about the challenges he’s facing at Caesars and very specific about what he’s planning to do there.
It’s always refreshing to talk to a consummate professional like Sadhwani, who knows his business back-to-front and is so confident in his knowledge that he doesn’t have to roll out pre-stamped corporate boilerplate; he can just talk about his job. If you wanted to go into the hotel business, I can’t think of a better teacher.
In the column, I tried to draw on some of the history of Caesars Palace to show where it’s been, which certainly has a bearing on where it’s going.
As one of the best-known casinos in the world, I think it’s better for Las Vegas as a whole when Caesars Palace is doing well. And, despite some questions I’ve got about the Nobu tower concept, I have a lot of faith that Sadhwani’s going to deliver a Caesars Palace that, from a hospitality standpoint, is in the Vegas elite.