GAMAL AZIZ: THE WIZARD OF VEGAS
By Yasmine Shihata
Gamal Aziz (January 2002). Photographed in his office at the MGM Grand Las Vegas for eniGma
Secret celebrity marriages, 24 hour partying, spectacle and excess, not to mention showgirls. There’s a town in Nevada that has long been the destination of choice for those wanting to kick up their heels and live a little. Yet it’s hard to believe it was once a seedy hangout for eccentric thrill-seekers and Mafioso with cash to burn. Las Vegas has cleaned up its streets and gone from all-night Elvis wedding chapels to world class dining and entertainment ventures (not that you still can’t find an Elvis to seal your wedding vows, but that’s the fun of Vegas…).
Vegas’ renovated façade came about with the help of a few things; glitz, glam and Egyptian-born Gamal Aziz, in particular. Recently appointed by the Mirage Corporation as the chief operating officer of the MGM Grand Hotel, Aziz is one of the experts behind Las Vegas’ classy new image. Owned by the same company that runs the famous American movie house Metro Goldwyn Meyer, the MGM Grand is the largest hotel in the world and one of the most luxurious mega-hotels lined up along, Las Vega’ most famous street, ‘The Strip’.
Aziz took the MGM Grand’s four emerald towers (emerald like the famous emerald city of the MGM movie The Wizard of Oz) through an $85 million renovation: transforming the Grand Tower’s 4200 rooms into replicas of MGM Studios bungalows during the Golden Era of Hollywood. The refurbished hotel interior is now an Art-Deco paradise that evokes the memories of the silver screen stars of yesteryear. Aziz also oversees operations at The Mansion, the exclusive complex of private Tuscan villas on the premises. The Mansion’s villas are up to 12,000 square feet and are available to guests by invitation only. The Mansion is very elite and discrete, and has hosted the likes of Madonna, Mike Tyson and Sadé.
Raised in Egypt with a degree in business from Cairo University’s Faculty of Commerce, Aziz spent a few years in London and Paris before moving to the United States. Enigma’s Yasmine Shihata pulled back the curtain on this rapidly rising businessman to find out exactly what it takes to be the wizard behind the new MGM.
How did you get your start in America?
Well my brother had already been living there for a few years, and he had been trying for years to get me to leave Europe and go to the US. I finally gave in and got a job at The Plaza in New York; a beautiful hotel on Fifth Avenue facing Central Park. I started in restaurant management there, then moved on to become assistant Director of Food and Beverage at the hotel. I stayed in New York for a while then moved on to the Westin hotel in Washington D.C, which is run by the same company that owns The Plaza. After Washingfton I had the chance to work at The St. Francis in San Francisco, where I lived for four years.
Do you enjoy the heavy travelling your job entails?
I have always loved to travel. I left Egypt for a while when I was 16 and lived in London; and this experience stirred up a passion in me for travel. Travel is the main reason I chose to study at the Faculty of Commerce. I knew that it would get me a job that would entail a lot of travelling. Yet when I got to America, I had a bit of a problem. I was horrible with geography, and when I was offered different positions, I didn’t think anything existed outside of New York!
How did you land in Las Vegas?
When the call came to move to Vegas, I started at Caesar’s Palace hotel. They were building a new tower with 200 rooms and five new restaurants. Two years later I found myself at the Bellagio, a spectacular theme hotel that cost nearly $2 billion to build. As the time there was a merger between the man who owns MGM and the owner of Mirage Corporation. They then decided to promote me from Senior Vice President to Executive Vice President of MGM. As EVP I oversaw the entire operation with the exception of casino operations. I stayed there about 10 months and a few months ago I got prompted to President and Chief Operation Officer. It was something I always wanted to do, yet these kinds of positions are usually very hard to reach because of the great deal of responsibility they bring with them.
What is it like running a billion dollar empire?
Running a hotel is like running many corporations in one. Food and beverage, entertainment, casino operations; the MGM Mirage’s hotel does around 20 to 70 million dollars a year. Multiply that by 15 and you get the operations of the MGM Grand. My job has always been ensuring the comfort and entertainment of our gusts; now it’s on a much larger scale. My focus has changed too. I want to create a memorable experience so that people not only come back, but they recommend it to other people as well. Our motto, ‘City of Entertainment’, is something I feel very strongly about. Once our guests comes into the 140 acre MGM the feel like they are in a huge space. It’s my job to make sure they feel comfortable in every inch of it.
Can you explain the popular idea of theme hotels in Las Vegas?
Las Vegas is really known for theme hotels. You have the Paris hotel, the New New York hotel and the Luxor hotel, which is also magnificent. It’s built in the shape of a pyramid and light shines from the apex straight into the sky like a beacon, making it very visible. But a theme hotel is more than just a place to lay your head at night. The whole idea behind a theme hotel is to create an experience for the guest from check-in to check-out. It’s a place where you stay and have very few reasons to venture outside the building. That’s how involved the experience has become. Take the MGM for instance. When you walk into the MGM, there are a lot of pictures and move memorabilia because that’s our theme. We expand on that theme and have bars, clubs, theaters and attractions such as the Lion Habitat and CBS Television City, which is a fully interactive experience for our guests. There’s a diverse shopping experience from luxury goods to souvenir items. We also have 15 of the best restaurants around. This is what I actually look forward to doing. I really like creating an environment people don’t want to leave.
What’s the largest influence you have had on Las Vegas?
I feel my influence began with my work at the Bellagio hotel. The Bellagio is a state of the art the marble sculpture. Everything there is spectacular. Can you imagine taking a piece of land in Las Vegas and putting a lake with a gorgeous water fountain right in the heart of the Strip? It’s amazing!
When I was there I felt it was a magnificent property that needed to be matched with a magnificent set of restaurants. It is until today probably the most impressive combination of restaurants assembled in one building. This is where I feel I truly helped change Las Vegas. At Bellagio I showed that food and beverage is important and something that can make money. Food and beverage at Bellagio made $200 million in the first year and $240 million each subsequent year. This was revolutionary in Las Vegas because before that, food and beverage was something that you gave away.
Is Las Vegas experiencing a culinary revolution as a result?
Yes, this is one of things I am most proud of. I was able to assist in changing Las Vegas from a food standpoint by bringing in some of the world’s greatest chefs, like Julian Serrano who is a five star chef. That’s a remarkable achievement, because Las Vegas’ food has long been known to be the $2.99 all-you-can-eat-buffet stuff. We also have the help of star chef Michael Mina, the creative force behind Aqua, a very successful restaurant in San Francisco. At age 28 he was classified as ‘America’s Rising Star Chef’ and now at 33 is one of the top chefs in the world. It’s talent like this that is changing the face of Las Vegas’ dining scene completely.
Has your target customer changed as a result?
The clientele has definitely become more sophisticated as a result. People want the best in ingredients, quality and service. They are willing to go out of their way to make sure they get that. A good example of that is our Picasso restaurant. The waiting list is three months long! It is a very refined place, with a beautiful view of the lake, and $30 million dollars worth of original Picasso’s on the wall. We’ve got really creative people helping us create the perfect environment for the guests we serve. Take Tony Chi for instance. He’s a highly sought after international interior designer who helped me achieve the look I wanted in my restaurants. In the end though, it’s all about the food. I pride myself on taking the same track as master chef Alain Ducasse – using only the best ingredients in our food. And this is costly, because when you try to buy something that very few people produce, everyone is competing for quality. But our guests don’t mind paying because they know what they’re getting. They have discriminating taste and wouldn’t settle for less from us. We would not settle for less from ourselves.
In a town like Las Vegas one actually gets the feeling that if there were any place on earth were magic is real and dreams are larger that life, this would be it. Gamal Aziz is the kind of man with the right ‘larger than life’ vision to make this town even more spectacular. And at MGM, Aziz has found the perfect platform to demonstrate his expertise.
