Vegas Hotel News: Boyd offers to Buy Station, Hilton to Go Cosmo?, Marriott Expands

Last month, Boyd Gaming made a bold move and sent out a non-binding preliminary indication of interest to buy out several of Station Casinos assets.

Station Casinos, under the proposal made by Boyd, would retain ownership of Red Rock Resort, Palace Station, Sunset Station and 356 of undeveloped land in the Las Vegas Valley. The remainder of Station’s assets, including Green Valley Ranch and the newly-opened Aliante Station, would be acquired in exchange for $950 million cash from Boyd.

The offer was made after Station recently missed some bond payments and is now rumored to be on the brink of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

Station Casinos in regards to the offer, has declined stating it was not comfortable with the terms of Boyd’s proposal. But the company did send out another press release saying it has reached an agreement with the majority holders of loans and notes that would be due between 2012 and 2018 to give Station extended time to discuss the terms of its reorganization plan with said lenders.

Considering Boyd is having issues of its own with its mega-resort project Echelon, should they really be trying to take over Station Casino’s Vegas interests?

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On the heels of talks breaking off between Deutsche Bank and MGM Mirage over the much-troubled Cosmopolitan project, it appears Hilton Hotels may now be interested in stepping in with a new hotel concept.

Hilton has just unveiled plans to roll out a new luxury brand of lodging called Denizen Hotels and according to an article in the Las Vegas Sun, has had executives working at the Cosmopolitan hotel site, nestled between CityCenter and the Bellagio.

While it’s just speculation at the moment, having Denizen taking over the already in the works Cosmopolitan property would give the Hilton brand a prime-Strip location. Neither Hilton nor Deutsche Bank are commenting on the rumors.

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Marriott Vacation Club International (MVCI) says they plan to break ground this year on a third tower at their Grand Chateau timeshare resort on Harmon Avenue, eventually doubling the size of the resort with the addition of a fourth tower.  When done, the property will have a total of 895 villas split between four 37-story towers.

Despite the recession, Ed Kinney of MVCI says the Grand Chateau was the company’s highest-grossing property in 2008 with $110 million in sales with the two existing towers. When not in use, the timeshare units are rented out on a nightly basis to vacationers.