Maxim Magazine Gambles on Vegas Casino

As reported by the UK Guardian: "A theme hotel built around the brand of a lads mag might strike the more refined traveller as somehow tacky. But context is everything: the new Maxim Hotel and Casino, costing $1.2bn (£638m), will open in Las Vegas, where no hotel worthy of the name does not boast a replica of the Great Temple of Ramses, a half-sized Eiffel Tower, animated model dinosaurs, sequin-studded lion tamers or an artificial volcano.

"In such a setting, the latest venture by Felix Dennis, the maverick British publisher, may end up looking positively restrained. Even so, it will take the trend for 'brand extension' into relatively uncharted territory - an effort to turn Maxim's self-declared ethos of 'girls, entertainment, sports and stupid jokes' into a commercially viable 2,300-room hotel.

"Scheduled to open in 2010, the hotel would be 'upscale, aspirational but at the same time accessible', with a 'kickass pool area' and a vast casino, said Barry Pincus, the publishing firm's director of brand development.

"Under Maxim's licensing arrangement with the developers, Concord Wilshire, Dennis Publishing will receive an undisclosed sum of several million dollars, along with an annual fee and a percentage of the income from the hotel, but not the casino…"

2006-06-06