After four decades working as a barber in the Riviera, Neil Scartozzi first found out that the historic hotel-casino might soon close when one of his clients heard about it on the radio.
Scartozzi didn’t believe it when the client told him. Reality began to sink in the next day, though, when he saw the sale mentioned on television while at work in his Celebrity Club barber shop.
He thought it might not pan out, that perhaps the sale would fall through. But as more time passed, the truth became undeniable: The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority was buying the 60-year old Riviera for $182.5 million, with plans to demolish it in order to make room for more convention space. The hotel closes May 4.
Scartozzi said he was disillusioned, because it felt like his long history with the hotel was never taken into consideration. He thinks management could have treated him — and others who own businesses inside the Riviera — better during the sale process.
“Not a single executive came down here, shook my hand (and) said, ‘Thank you for your 40 years.’ Nothing. They pulled the rug out from underneath all of us within a two-week period,” Scartozzi said in an interview this week at his shop. “They should have said something and prepared us. At least tell us that negotiations were taking place, and at least that there might be a sale — at least give us some kind of a warning.”
Eventually, he received a letter informing him of the sale and the hotel’s closing date. While Scartozzi is disheartened that his 40 years of service are apparently “not even worth a cup of coffee,” he’s eager to put the Riviera behind him.
“I’d leave tomorrow if I could,” he said. “I don’t like it here anymore.”
A Riviera spokeswoman said hotel management wasn’t available for comment.
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Greg and Marina Welch inside the Riviera Royale Wedding Chapel.
Just steps away from the barber shop, Greg and Marina Welch run the Riviera Royale Wedding Chapel. Like Scartozzi, the first time they heard about a possible sale of the hotel was from a client, and it wasn’t confirmed for them until they saw news reports.
“Even though we’ve been here a short time of nine years, we’ve heard many rumors that the place was sold, and it never happened,” Greg Welch said. “But now, this time, it has.”
Still, they had only good things to say about hotel management, who Marina Welch described as “beautiful people.” She said working at the Riviera has felt like being part of a family.
The realization that they would have to move on from that family was hard to face.
Greg Welch described a “crushing feeling” that hit him when he knew the Riviera was actually going to close. His wife felt a similar sense of loss for the hotel she loves, a place that’s become like a second home.
“It hurts a little bit; it’s kind of sad,” Marina Welch said of the closure. “But at the same time, at least they didn’t go with bankruptcy — they go with a bang when they leave.”
The Welchs have had to refund a lot of money to couples who had reservations for after the hotel’s closing date. But they’ve had good business from couples who want to get booked before then; those people want to be a part of history before the Riviera is gone, Greg Welch said.
The chapel owners are even using the closure as an opportunity: They’re taking bids for the hotel’s last wedding. The winners will get married on May 4 at 11 a.m., one hour before the Riviera shuts its doors for good.
Then, the Welchs will have to bid farewell to a chapel they’ve worked hard to keep afloat, despite intense economic turbulence in recent years. The chapel took a big hit because of the recession, meaning the Welchs were no longer able to employ the florist and the wedding coordinator they had before.
Business had begun to turn around lately, though.
“We tried to stick it out to get back to the good times,” Greg Welch said. “Now it’s starting to get better, and now they’re going to close. It’s just forces that are beyond our control.”
Greg Welch said he’s trying to stay optimistic about the future.
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The Riviera, in Scartozzi’s view, has declined over the years, fueling his dissatisfaction. He said the hotel has suffered from bad management, estimating that of his 40 years there, about 25 were productive.
“The rest of it was just a bunch of crap,” he said.
As the decades progressed, the hotel began to focus too much on conventions, and it started attracting a less expensive clientele, he said. Scartozzi described the newer Riviera patrons as the type of crowd that “brings their own coolers up the stairway like they’re going to a park to have a picnic.”
He called that “baloney.” It’s a far cry from the old days.
“The guys who used to come in here wouldn’t even go to the swimming pool until they got a manicure or a pedicure, ‘cause if they met a girl, they wanted to have clean hands and feet,” he said. “Guys that would come here with new sport coats and suits that they couldn’t wait to wear that night to go out. Those were the glitz and glamour years.”
Even though things have been “crappy” for Scartozzi for about 15 years now, he said he never left the hotel because he was established there, and he was loyal to his regular clients.
Plus, he does have fond memories of the Riviera. He’s been a barber for many famous people, including Dean Martin, Liberace and MC Hammer, who he still shaves. He loved what the Riviera used to be.
Scartozzi’s appearance harkens back to an older Las Vegas. His style is Wayne Newton-esque, and he says he wears a suit or sport coat to work every day. He doesn’t even own a pair of jeans.
He feels out of place and unsupported at the Riviera now. The times have changed, and he wants to move on.
“This wouldn’t happen to me at Caesars Palace, or the Wynn or Bellagio. I’d fit right in,” Scartozzi said. “But at the Riviera, I’m a clown show.”
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While Scartozzi and the Welchs have very different perspectives on their time at the Riviera, they’re equally optimistic about their future prospects.
The Welchs are exploring their options, trying to determine if they’ll end up at another hotel, or if they’ll open a free-standing chapel. Greg Welch said they have “lots of leads.”
If that doesn’t work out, the husband and wife duo could fall back on their music skills.
Before owning the chapel, they were both musicians — he plays the guitar, and she’s a drummer. Greg Welch was once the manager of a band Marina Welch played in; after they got married, they formed their own. They played in various spots around Las Vegas and other parts of the country.
“If we can’t find another place to go, we might end up going back to playing music, which we love,” Greg Welch said. “It’s what brought us together.”
Scartozzi is also looking into becoming a barber at another hotel; he said he has “a few offers.” That will take some getting used to, since it will likely mean working as an employee for someone else, whereas now he reports to no one.
“It’s just going to be different, when you work by yourself for 40 years, to play by other people’s rules,” he said. “But I’ll adapt. I’ll adjust.”
In any case, it won’t be anything like working at the Riviera. And Scartozzi, for one, is happy about that.