The company behind a planned Atari-branded hotel chain in Las Vegas and other cities unveiled more details and made big promises on Wednesday, saying the southern Nevada outpost “will bring an experience that has never existed in a market ready to evolve”.
Atari Hotels developer GSD Group released the renderings of the project and announced that the planned hotel chain will deliver an experience “inspired and built with classic and modern video game culture in mind.”
He also said that unlike other hotel properties in the Las Vegas area – a place full of massive casino complexes – Atari “will give guests the chance to explore and enjoy innovative hospitality innovations. , business opportunities and a revolutionary variety of entertainment options “.
Plans call for the hotel to have around 400 rooms and sport the Atari logo, or at least some form of it, on the side of the building.
GSD, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., Is looking to build the project near the Strip on 5 to 7 acres, aims to open it in late 2022 and is looking to include a casino, its partner Napoleon Smith III said in an interview. .
He declined to say whether the company is under contract to acquire a project site, adding that it will announce the location shortly.
“This whole hotel is designed to make the players feel at home,” he said.
Las Vegas has a long history of developers who kick off big projects and never follow through, including themed hotels, and to some locals the Atari concept may seem too familiar.
Smith maintains that there is a strong demand for a property focused on video games and noted that his group is “quite heavily funded by the private sector.”
He also said that the Atari brand “has such iconic nostalgia”.
The hotel chain’s plans were announced in January, before the coronavirus pandemic disrupted daily life and devastated Las Vegas’ tourism-dependent economy.
Las Vegas is expected to have the first Atari property. GSD sees it as a “big market” where people can bet on esports, Smith said.
According to Wednesday’s press release, GSD is also considering opening a site in Phoenix and has secured the construction rights for Atari hotels in Austin, Texas; Chicago; Denver; San Francisco; San José, California; and Seattle.
The hotels are expected to include game arenas, “retro-style” arcades and themed restaurants and bars, the company said.
Smith’s company has a licensing agreement with Atari, which was founded in 1972 and owns and operates over 200 games and franchises, including Centipede and Pong.
Contact Eli Segall at [email protected] or 702-383-0342. To follow @eli_segall on Twitter.
