Lake Las Vegas businesses anticipate benefits after hosting Super Bowl teams

Ryan Matthey
·3 min read

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The Chiefs and 49ers are expected to call Lake Las Vegas home starting this weekend through Super Bowl Sunday, but the area didn’t always have this hosting potential.

The community that’s over 20 miles from Allegiant Stadium is described as “the valley’s best kept secret” by Simply Vegas Relator Melinda Zolowicz, who says its exclusivity already brings celebrities to the 320-acre manmade lake half an hour from the Strip.

“We protect the people who want privacy,” Zolowicz said standing on a piece of undeveloped waterfront property she is selling there Tuesday morning. “It’s just a different world. It’s not even Vegas.”

But, it’s no secret that Lake Las Vegas owners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with debts over $500 million as the Vegas housing market crashed in 2008. Multiple hotels shut down operations, homes were foreclosed, and the general public broadly viewed the community as a ghost town.

“During, you know, the bust, it just was dead,” Zolowicz said. “The golf courses were browned.”
Over 15 years later, that narrative has changed.

It’s now boasted as a robust water sports destination near Las Vegas with lake and mountain views that have driven homeowners to increased development on the valley’s edge. New boutiques, restaurants, and other businesses have since moved into the MonteLago Village at the lake’s southern entrance too.

It’s also driven the NFL to station its two Super Bowl teams and multiple pre-game press conferences there for a week. The 49ers are assigned to the Hilton at the southern tip of the lake, with the Chief positioned further north at the Westin.

The whole lake is positioned for the spotlight.

  • Inside Mimi & Coco Bistro, a French Mediterranean restaurant directly next to one of the host hotels, at opening Tuesday morning. (KLAS)
    Inside Mimi & Coco Bistro, a French Mediterranean restaurant directly next to one of the host hotels, at opening Tuesday morning. (KLAS)
  • Outside the Hilton Lake Las Vegas, the hotel accommodations for the San Fransisco 49ers throughout the week before and on Super Bowl Sunday. (KLAS)
    Outside the Hilton Lake Las Vegas, the hotel accommodations for the San Fransisco 49ers throughout the week before and on Super Bowl Sunday. (KLAS)
  • Outside the Westin Lake Las Vegas, the hotel accommodations for the Kansas City Chiefs throughout the week before and on Super Bowl Sunday. (KLAS)
    Outside the Westin Lake Las Vegas, the hotel accommodations for the Kansas City Chiefs throughout the week before and on Super Bowl Sunday. (KLAS)

“Maybe it’ll create a little more legitimacy and other business owners will see this as a viable location to build their business,” Zolowicz said.

Those are the same sentiments of Giuliano Giudice, who’s assistant manager for the French Mediterranean Mimi & Coco Bistro in the MonteLago Village. He says most of his customers are “regulars” living in the area.

“Most of the people in Vegas, they don’t know about this place,” Giudice said outside the bistro Tuesday morning, speaking of the difficulties in attracting new customers outside developed city areas.

Even though the players will not be allowed to patronize businesses like Mimi & Coco amidst public appearance obligations and training, the people they are traveling with aren’t. Beyond them, Giudice is looking to new people visiting after seeing the lake on TV.

“All the families and the staff members, they’re going to be able to do whatever they want (while at the hotels). So, we’re hoping maybe they’re going to stop by and come visit us,” Giudice said. “Even if these people are not coming during the Super Bowl, at least more people start to know that this place is over here.”

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.