COLUMN: Gaming Chips

     Hoteliers Marriott International and Four Seasons Hotels, which have plans to build Strip properties, are ranked 27th and 28th in Fortune magazine's current listing of the 100 best companies to work for in America.
      Marriott is building a 1,500-room nongaming hotel that will bear the Marriott label next to the MGM Grand, and is negotiating with MGM Grand to build a neighboring 500-room Ritz Carlton. The 1,500-room Marriott is expected to be completed by late 1999.
      In early December, Marriott opened a 278-suite Marriott Suites hotel at 325 Convention Center, near the Las Vegas Convention Center.
      "(The) Mormon-led company maintains strong ethical tone and rose to top of hospitality industry without operating a casino," Fortune writes of Marriott in the publication's Jan 12 issue. "Set up 24-hour hot line to answer questions from employees having family and personal problems. Spearheaded establishment of 24-hour child-care center for children of low-income hotel workers in Atlanta."
      Four Seasons is scheduled to open a 400-room hotel at Circus Circus Enterprises Inc.'s Project Paradise. The hotel would be owned by Circus Circus and operated by Four Seasons. Room rates would be among the most expensive along the Strip, ranging to $250 during the week.
      Of Four Seasons, Fortune quotes one Four Seasons employee who writes: " `I'm treated like a five-diamond hotel guest. ...' Special perks include free meals in the company cafeteria, tailored uniforms cleaned and pressed daily, and free nights at any Four Seasons in the world."
      Who topped Fortune's list of 100?
      Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, the airline with the most flights to McCarran International Airport.
      "Why is Southwest No. 1?" asks the magazine. "Listen to a typical comment from the more than 100 we received from enthusiastic employees? `Working here is truly an unbelievable experience. They treat you with respect, pay you well and empower you. They use your ideas to solve problems. They encourage you to be yourself. I love going to work!'"
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      TRIVIA TIME: What has been the fastest growing form of revenue at Las Vegas Strip resorts since 1990?
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      MOTOWN NEWS: The interim superintendent of Detroit schools recently met with the alumni members of an inner-city Detroit high school who feared that their alma mater will be relocated if MGM Grand Inc. builds a planned casino across from the school.
      Eddie Green told alumni members that there were "no plans and no discussion to do anything with the school -- not sell it or move it," Cass Technical High School Alumni Association Chairman Ray Litt told the Detroit Free Press.
      MGM Grand was recently given the support of Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer to build a $700 million complex with 800 hotel rooms and a 100,000-square-foot casino. MGM Grand would operate one of three casinos in Detroit, which gaming industry analysts say could generate as much as $1.5 billion in annual revenue -- or an estimated 25 percent of the revenue generated annually on the Strip.
      The first permanent casinos could open by 2000, with temporary casinos possibly operating before then.
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      TRIVIA ANSWER: Entertainment and retail revenue was up an estimated 180 percent along the Strip between 1990 and 1996, according to figures compiled by Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. Room revenue jumped 140 percent during the period, while gaming revenue increased 87 percent.
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      POTPOURRI ... The Asian financial crisis did not cut into casino play at Caesars Palace and the Las Vegas Hilton during the New Year's holiday, sources said. In fact, December was a record month for gaming revenue at Caesars, sources said, coming on the heels of the opening of the resort's 1,250-room Palace Tower and the addition of the latest phase of The Forum Shops at Caesars.
      Meanwhile, slot play and baccarat play at the Las Vegas Hilton was "as good as ever," with Hilton executives increasing their marketing efforts to lure casino players, according to a knowledgeable source.... Caesars Palace is tinkering with the lighting that illuminates the newly opened tower. Caesars executives believe the tower, which is a part of a $700 million renovation and expansion project, looks better in the daytime than it does at night, when the lighting leaves too many shadows on the structure.
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      QUOTABLE: "If this doesn't signify grass roots, I don't know what does." -- Nevada Republican gubernatorial candidate Kenny Guinn referring to a state financial disclosure report that revealed that casino operators gave Guinn at least $1.02 million of the candidate's $2.4 million campaign war chest.
     Gaming Chips is written by Review-Journal writer Dave Berns. Reach him by e-mail at Dave_Berns@lvrj.com or by telephone at (702) 380-4543.