Vegas News & Reviews from VegasCasinoInfo.com

Stratosphere "Select" Room Review and Pictures

2012-01-19T18:15:00.000-08:00

The last night of the trip was at the Stratosphere in a "Select" room, which is their most recently remodeled room. As a long time veteran of the Stratosphere going all the way back to it's opening, check-in often is the worst part of the stay at the Strat. Fortunately this trip, that wasn't the case and I was immediately helped and on my way to the room on the 17th floor in minutes. The room is decorated in dark red, brown and beige and screams "Vegas" but isn't over the top. The space is a decent size and the choice of furnishings worked to fill it without feeling cramped. It was a top to bottom remodel with all new furniture including a flat-screen TV, decent lounge chair, small table and desk area. The bathroom was included in the remodel with a new granite vanity and tile flooring. Aside from the oddly mismatched, uncomfortable desk chair and the plain white generic shower/tub combo; the rooms was pretty nice, especially for what they are usually asking for them.

Downstairs there has been quite a bit of work as well. The valet is now by the front door, where it should be, and the entire casino floor has been redone. In terms of machine spacing, the casino may be the most spacious in Vegas as well as the darkest. It definitely has a different vibe than most other Strip casinos. For restaurants, there is really only 4 restaurants plus a few quick bite places. Dinner at the 50s-themed diner Roxy's (Open 24/7) was pretty good coffee shop fare and the menu is affordable. The service was fast enough that I only had to suffer through 1 song by the singing waiters! They also have a middle of the road buffet, a slightly above average Italian joint and the Top of the World restaurant in the tower. The place has an amazing rotating view of Vegas with prices to match. The food, while excellent, is a notch below the best in town.

Overall, it was quite an enjoyable stay at the Strat. The remodeled rooms are certainly a big upgrade and fairly nicely done especially for a place that isn't trying to be Bellagio. Compared to the stay at the Flamingo 2 nights earlier, the Stratosphere is the winner hands down. The major downside to the Strat has always been the location and with the closing of the Sahara, there is now nothing within walking distance. If your plan is to walk the Strip your entire stay, it not the place for you! The bottom line is... If you want a nice, moderately priced room with just about anything you could want from a Strip resort and can deal with the location issue, definitely consider the Select rooms at the Stratosphere.

Stratosphere Select Room Pictures

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Four Queens Review and Room Pictures

2012-01-19T18:14:00.000-08:00

It was Day 2 of the trip and it was on to downtown and the Four Queens. Although I frequently find myself downtown during my trips, I don't often stay there and never before at the Four Queens. I don't have any great expectations of any hotel downtown except for the Golden Nugget but after the train wreck at the Flamingo the night before, it would be hard to be disappointed. I checked in at 2PM and there wasn't anyone in line at the front desk. In just a few minutes I was up in my room on the 18th floor of the South Tower, the furthest from the Fremont Street Experience. The room had been somewhat recently remodeled though a little sparse on the furnishings. In addition to the king bed and night stands was just a small TV Stand/Dresser, desk and 2 chairs. Like the "Fab" rooms at the Flamingo, the bathroom looks to have been untouched in the remodel. Overall, the room was pretty decent for a $30 hotel room. The bed was comfortable, the carpets and furniture in good condition plus a nice flat screen TV with HD programming. The main knock on the room was the hideous multi-colored decor that screamed 1990 Las Vegas. The bathroom also suffered from a similar issue. While all in perfectly good shape, the tile vanity and shower felt dated. Also, I oddly ran out of hot water towards the end of my shower which shouldnt happen in a 700 room hotel!

The rest of the place is a fairly typical downtown hotel with all that goes along with it, good and bad. The casino isn't the largest in the world but within 50 feet from 4 other ones. The Fremont Street Experience is right out the front door; great if you want to see it, not so much if you want to sleep between sundown and midnight. The collection of restaurants won't be mistaken for MGM but there is a decent coffee shop and the classic old school Vegas gourmet room, Hugo's Cellar.

The stay at the Four Queens was better than I was expecting and actually a much better experience than at the Flamingo the night before. The hotel itself was pretty decent for what it is and if you prefer to be downtown then you can't go wrong with one of these rooms. Personally, the lack of amenities like a pool rule it out as a regular stop for me but if you just want a good, solid room at a great price, the Four Queens is a great way to go.

Four Queens Room Pictures

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Flamingo "Fab" Room Review and Pictures

2012-01-02T20:32:00.000-08:00

The first night of the trip was at the Flamingo in one of the newly renovated "Fab" rooms. After about a 15 minute wait, I get to the front deak and am told that they don't have the view room I had booked and have to settle for a pool view. It's kind of hard to believe considering it's the Tuesday before Christmas but no problem, its just one night. However, this is just the first of the disappointments over the next 24 hours. I proceed to the far elevators near the buffet and find only 1 of 8 working with about 25 people waiting. After about 10 minutes, they get a second one running and finally make it up to the room on the 17th floor.

The first thing that hits you as you walk into the room is the flamingo pink scattered about the room. In a 2 queen room there was a single night stand, small TV Stand/Armiore, desk and work chair plus a funky, pink polka dotted lounge chair. The new flooring, at first glance, appears to be wood but is really just linoleum. They placed a black and pink throw rug on the floor in front of the beds but it had no backing it and slide around. It actually was a little dangerous after a few drinks! The bathroom appeared to have not been renovated at all with old ceramic tile floor and even still have the old-school tissue holder/bottle opener/razor disposal unit built into the wall. There is just a single sink and a shower/tub combo.

Even putting aside the fact that they completely ignored the outdated bathroom, this has to be the worse "remodel" I have ever seen in my life. The night stand, armiore and desk were all old and beat up (see room pics.) The 1980s headboards remain above the bed and if they weren't going to change the wallpaper, they could have at least cleaned it. Really all that remodeled was the floor, bedding and a new flat-screen TV. Outside of the room, the Flamingo experience wasn't much better. The hallways leading to the "new" rooms haven't been repaired in ages with torn and stained carpet and I think that room service tray from next door may still be there. The elevators never were fully working and the ones that were working were filthy. One had a completely busted control panel that barely stayed closed. Perhaps I have been spoiled staying at the latest and greatest Vegas has to offer but if this was my once in a lifetime trip that cost me top-dollar, I know I wouldn't be planning my return trip to Vegas anytime soon. In a town that should be all about top-notch hospitality, this was quite frankly an embarrassment. It is not confined to Flamingo either. This is my second stay at a Caesars Entertainment property in the last month and Rio was in a similar state of disrepair. This company spends big bucks constantly ripping up their casino floors to add and remove restaurants but have completely ignored basic routine maintenance. You can add every trendy tropical themed restaurant in the world but your guests are subject to a disgusting experience, they are not coming back. It's plain and simple but it wouldn't be the first time an MBA running a casino didn't see the obvious.

Flamingo Fab Room Pictures

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Riviera Remodeled Standard Room Review with Pics!

2011-12-19T16:25:00.000-08:00

Day 2 of the trip was planned literally minutes before I got in the car for the drive to Vegas. Being a Saturday during NFR, only place half decent place in town under a $100 was the Riviera. As an added bonus, it also happened to be the last of major Strip hotels that I have yet to stay. I checked in around 1PM, which was fast with no wait and I was up to my room in the Monte Carlo Tower in just a few minutes. I was on the 12th floor, looking north towards Encore and Wynn in a recently remodeled room. All new furniture included a table a two chairs by the window, 2 small dressers plus a vanity area. The bathroom has also been redone with stone through-out but is a typical old-school Vegas bathroom with a single sink and tissue dispenser embedded in the counter. There was also a safe, mini-fridge, iron/board and blow dryer in the bathroom.

Everything in the room was still in good shape with no major damage or stains and the new decor was certainly nice enough but the furniture was all on the small side. The room was slightly larger than a normal room and as a result, the somewhat sparse furnishings left an empty feeling. The under-sized 32" TV didn't help the matter combined with the underwhelming table and chairs and 2 dinky dressers. The bed was also new, firm and comfortable. The only real issue with the bathroom was the showerhead placed for a midget. I'm hardly the tallest guy in the world and it barely worked; if you are over 6 foot, you would be completely screwed!

Downstairs, a decent amount of money has been spent renovating the casino floor and they have done a nice job. I always remember the casino as being a bit depressing but the make over has definitely cleaned that up. They have a new sports book and added restaurants along with new tables and machines. The ABC Store in the lobby is nice plus with very affordable room supplies.

All in all, my stay at the Riv was pretty good. The remodeled rooms, while certainly can't compare with the Aria or Cosmo, are nice enough for an older hotel and the public areas are much improved from the past. It still has a pretty weak collection of restaurants and the pool area leaves something to be desired but the biggest downside is probably the location. Being on the north end of the Strip, the only thing in the immediate vicinity is Circus Circus with a sizeable walks to its other closest neighbors, Las Vegas Hilton and Wynn/Encore. If you want a just a decent room at a decent price and have a means of transportation, the renovations have made the Riviera a more appealing option than ever. However, if you want to be in the middle of the action, plan on seeing Vegas on foot or want to party at the pool then you will definitely want to look elsewhere.

Riviera Remodeled Room Pictures

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VegasCasinoInfo becomes LondonCasinoInfo!

2011-09-24T07:38:00.001-07:00

My apologies for a lack of news and updates over the past week because for a short while, VegasCasinoInfo became LondonCasinoInfo after a whirlwind 5 day trip to Europe which also included a day trip to Munich (without a visit to Oktobefest, damnit!)

Central London actually has quite a few very small casinos scattered about, most not much bigger than a store front. I only had time to check out one throughly, the Palm Beach casino at the Mayfair Hotel, which I was told was one of the more "exclusive" clubs in town. For starters, you have "join" the casino which includes scanning your passport and taking your picture. You are given a card which holds your money when you cash out of a machine. There were about a grand total of 20 slot machines, most from a company I never heard of and the rest ones I would never play in Vegas. I burned through my 10 pounds of free slot play pretty quickly at .50 a pull, which was your only option, no line or credits per line choices. There was also about 15 or so video roulette machine as well. For table games, there were about 20 tables in the place. mostly single zero roulette but a couple of 3-card poker tables and a few Blackjack table offering something called "21+3." Those were constantly busy even with a 25 pound minimum bet so I didn't see what it was all about. Roulette was 2 and 5 pound minimum and after a little wait to get on the smaller limit table I actually had a decent run for a while, playing for almost 2 hours and walking away with my 40 pound buy-in. They were building a new Baccarat room and also had a small poker room with 3 or 4 tables.

The vibe was definitely much different than anything in Vegas. The dealers were mostly female, wearing full length black dresses and a "Smart dress code" was enforced so there wasn't any flip-flops and tank tops walking around. The crowd also seemed rather deep-pocketed. I was betting 8 or 10 pounds a spin but was still the low-budget guy at the table with others regularly throwing around 40 or 50 pounds or more at a time. The other major difference from Vegas is the complete indoor smoking ban in London which also applies to the casinos. This was a little surprising to me because it seem the entire city smokes and there was always 10 or 15 people choking down Marlboros just out the front door of the casino or any other place where people gathered for that matter.

It was definitely interesting to see how things are done in other places. I had a good time during my short visit but if this casino was amongst the best London has to offer, I don't think Vegas or Macau are too worried! For a guy who loves to gamble, it's nice to have somewhere to go for a little action but with all there is to see and do in London, I certainly wouldn't put their casinos at the top of the list of "must sees" on your trip.

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Las Vegas Room Offers and Promo Codes

2011-09-14T18:43:00.000-07:00

In the on-going effort to constantly offer new, useful Las Vegas information, VegasCasinoInfo.com is happy to announce a new feature to the site - the Las Vegas Hotel Room Offer Page.

Each day, I get quite a few email offers in my inbox from various casinos around town, most of them just from signing up on their mailing list (Click Here for links to all of the casino's signup pages.) I normally can't use many of them due to my painful process of planning where to stay so I figured I would share them with other and hopefully save people a few bucks. I have been posting them on Twitter for some time but wanted to get them to the much larger audience of the website. I also will be posting the offers that I receive as an affliate of MGM Resorts which are usually short-term offers but come fairly regularly. I hope you enjoy this new feature!

Las Vegas Hotel Room Offer Page

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Plaza Grand Re-Opening Review with Casino Pictures

2011-08-29T23:04:00.000-07:00

The first 2 nights at the Plaza's re-opening was quite the interesting experience. I had found out about the "soft opening" date on short notice since the announced date was September 1 so I put together the trip in just a few days. Apparently I wasn't the only one surprised by the opening, the hotel wasn't quite ready yet either...

I arrived at the completely unfinished valet area near the bus terminal, which is the opposite side of the place from the lobby. It was about 6PM with an almost empty lobby but still had to wait a few minutes due to chaos behind the counter. Once I finally made it to the desk, the clerk struggled to find me a single king smoking like I had requested so I offered to take a double if that would help but still was asked if I could wait a few minutes in the lobby for her to check on the room. While I was waiting, an irate customer started yelling at a manager about problems with her first and second rooms. I have now done 4 grand opening in the past 2 years and the one thing I have learned is that if you want perfection, stay away from a new hotel! I soon returned and was given a double on the 7th floor of the South Tower, which is back over by the valet entrance! She told me that the South Tower was the only one open and I later found out there were only 75 rooms open in it. On the way to the elevators, I surveyed the casino which was about 2/3 finished and they made good progress on the rest during my stay. Getting into the elevators, I noticed what would become a theme of the stay... They remodeled about 90% of the place but the remaining 10% seems odd!. The 3 of the 4 elevator walls, the floor and ceiling were brand-spankin' new but the front wall was untouched, covered in scratches with cracked floor buttons. Same situation in the room hallway; it was almost completely redone but old wooded doors remain.

Inside the room, just about everything has been remodeled. The carpets and furniture are all new as is the bathroom with new tile and fixtures through-out. There is also a decent sized flat-screen TV with abundant HD programming. The room is done is dark brown and beige and is a nice if not minimalistic design. It is most certainly an major upgrade from the old room! One major downside is that the bathroom suffers from the "Gaughan Design" where the bathroom is at the far end of the room and doubles as the closet which leads to a very cramped space. It only has a single sink vanity and you could barely close the door when using the toilet. The other major complaint is that there isn't an outlet ANYWHERE near the work desk! I ended up pulling a power strip from elsewhere in the room and strung it across the floor. Definitely not a work-friendly design. The room also was participating in the "soft opening" as there were no linens on the bed except for a sheet and it didn't have simple amenities like soap or a pen. I assume this will be fixed before September 1st.

The rest of the place is definitely a work in progress. I don't know how much will be ready to go by big Grand Opening but it won't be the entire hotel for sure. The only restaurant open was the coffee bar. Hash House A Go Go looked nearly done and they said it would open next week. The food court only has a SUbway which was nearly open and a McDonald's that didn't look like it would make it by the 1st. Oscar's Steakhouse in the dome over the entrance is completely torn up and looks months away from opening. The main bar was open but the "Swinger's Club" lounge looked like it needed a lot of work but had a whole crew busy on it so it might make it for the opening. The sports book bar also looked very close to done. In the casino, the entire table game pit was open as was about 2/3 of the slot area. The sports book still was under construction and probably wouldn't be done on time. The pool area and tennis courts were a total mess and I wouldn't expect to see those done before next summer.

Of all the openings I have attended, this was definitely the roughest of the bunch. It just didn't seem like they were ready to open the doors and still might not be come September 1st. They obviously knew it as they made zero efforts to attract any crowd inside at all. If you looked at the place from Fremont Street, you would have never known it was even open. Pre-opening issues aside, the work that has been completed while not over the top is pretty nice, especially considering what the Plaza once was. The remodeled rooms are a huge upgrade but still can be had at affordable prices and the casino is now a place you actually might want to linger. The Plaza will never be confused with Aria or Cosmo but definitely becomes one of the top choices downtown overnight. I look forward to a return visit in a few months to see what the finished product is like and how much of that "unremodeled 10%" still remains.

Plaza Casino and Lobby Pictures

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First Look at the Grand Re-Opening of the Plaza Hotel

2011-08-24T20:25:00.000-07:00

I wanted to get the rooms pics posted so I won't go into great detail right now but here is a quick summary of what I have seen thus far...

Its a VERY soft opening with virtually zero restaurants operating with the sole exceptions being the coffee bar and Subway. Everything else comes next week.
A large part of the casino are still under construction as are a few bars.
The room remodel seems pretty nice for the most part with a few small issues that I will point out in my full review. Cosmo spoiled me last year!
There was zero full-pay video poker in any of the 8 or 10 machines I checked at the .25 and dollar levels.

Its definitely not the opening of City Center by any stretch of the imagination but it's still pretty cool staying at any place on the first night. Look for public area pictures and the full room review soon!

South Tower Room Pictures

Sunset Station Review with Suite and Pool Pictures

2011-08-13T11:46:00.000-07:00

After waiting to the last minute to book this trip, it was surprisingly difficult to get rooms near the Strip for my last 2 nights. The first night, I got lucky at Hard Rock and ended up with a comped room. For the second night, I decided to book online at Sunset Station. I have never stayed out there before so seemed like a good time to cross it off the list. Station Casinos now offers an interesting feature when booking a room, you can offer to take an upgrade at a discounted price at the time of the booking if it's available at check-in. It was $20 for a junior suite, normally $50 more than a regular room or a full suite for $50, which is $200 more. It's almost like doing the front desk "$20 trick" upfront! Since the room was comped, I said "What the hell!" and offered to take either one. When I arrived at Sunset, I had totally forgotten about this until I was about to walk up to the desk. We start the process and he mentions that my room is comped. He then says that he can upgrade me to a suite for free. I ask if its a Junior Suite and say no, a full suite. Nice! It's a cool feature but its even better for free.

The suite was on the 4th floor at the end of the hallway and is gigantic. Considerably larger than the 1BR suite at South Point that we have become used to. As you enter the room, there is a large, marble-covered bar which leads to the dining area. Next to that is the a seating area with 2 couches, a large coffee table fronted by a big flat-screen TV. There is a half bath off the seating area as well. The master bath was also enormous with dual sinks seperated by a makeup area, a large jacuzzi tub and stand alone shower stall. The bedroom, which was small compared to the rest of the room, was the least impressive part of the suite but did have a very comfortable bed. While the suite clearly was a bit on the older side, everything was in very good shape and nicely decorated if not a bit tacky for my tastes. I ended up hanging out quite a bit in the room and really enjoyed it. The seating area made a great place to do a little computer work while watching the big TV.

Downstairs, Sunset Station is the quintessential Station property with the standard line-up of restaurants; Italian, Mexican, Steak, Buffet and Food Court and locals amenities like movie theater and bowling alley. One of the few differences from other Station places is a Hooters restaurant. The pool area is one of the larger ones for a locals casino with plenty of space to layout with not a lot of company. One of the changes for the better around town recently was the decision to dump the Coco's Restaurants and go back to in-house coffee shops at the Station hotels. I applaude this decision and had a great late-night breakfast at the Grand Cafe. I also enjoyed a quick bit at the bowling alley snack, which was very tasty. Im not a bowler but love their snack bars! As for the casino... Ugghh! I had the worse run of the trip at Sunset and had one of the worst sessions ever. I literally walked away from the machine at one point shaking my head, wondering how I could have lost so much so fast. Fortunately, I had done fairly well up to that point so that cushioned the blow a little. When multi-play video poker goes bad, it goes BAD! Aside from the distaste from getting my ass handed to me, Sunset Station is actually a pretty nice place to play. The drink service definitely could have been better though.

By far, the largest issue I had with Sunset Station happened at 6:15AM when I was awakened by a guy with gas-powered grass blower directly under my window. I dealt with it for a few minutes before going downstairs and absolutely exploding on this poor landscaper. I followed it up with a trip to the front desk where the clerk said that she couldnt really do anything about it. Really? The vendor YOU ARE PAYING is waking your guests at 6AM. I think you can have a little chat with them! Aside from the horrible wake up call, I enjoyed the stay at Sunset for the most part. The free upgrade was very nice and the room was great. The casino and hotel has just about anything you would expect from a Strip hotel except for the Strip. I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again for a night but anything longer than that would probably be a bit of a bore. If you need to stay in Henderson, you won't be disappointed but you certainly also aren't going to get the "Vegas Feel" like you would out on the Strip.

Room Pictures
Pool Pictures

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The week in Vegas News - August 8

2011-08-08T05:53:00.000-07:00

Highlights of the top news stories of the week...

This week, Hooters Hotel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy under a pile of debt. The filing wasn't unexpected and in fact, surprising that it took this long. This place is the poster child for the bad investments that companies made in the glory days a few years back. The debt load is over $175 million but even in its best years, it wasn't making more than $10-12M a year profit. What competent lender would lend almost 20 years of profit to someone? The people behind these loans deserve to lose their shorts for violating the most basic rules of lending and common sense for that matter.

In a follow-up to last week's story about "disorder" on and around the pedestrian bridges, Clark County commisioners are to set up a panel to look at ways of curbing the proliferation of street performers and vendors that have sprung up on the Strip. While that's nice that they are discussing the problem, how about simply putting more cops and hotel security out there now? Seems pretty easy and can be done without some panel of bureaucrats taking months to do anything.

Caesars Entertainment, formerly Harrah's, has received the green light to start construction on "Project Linq." The $500 million project will create a shopping, dining and entertainment plaza between the Flamingo and O'Shea's. The highlight will be a 550 foot tall "Observation Wheel" with 28 cabins each holding 40 people. Also as part of the project, a desperately needed facelift to the facades of the Imperial Palace and O'Shea's. Kudos to Caesars for taking the plunge on the first major construction project in years on the Strip.

Lastly, there were a few interesting articles about Vegas weather and its water supply. Early in the week, the LV Sun ran a piece about the Southern Nevada Water Authority's never-ending quest for more water. This was ironically followed later in the week with a story about the near-record amount of run-off coming down the Colorado from the Rockies causing a 20 foot rise in Lake Mead from the record lows last year. Finally, while much of the nation has been baking under a massive heatwave, Las Vegas has actually been experiencing a "cool" summer.

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Monte Carlo Review and Room Pictures

2011-08-04T06:01:00.000-07:00

The first night of my recent trip was in a standard room at the Monte Carlo. I have stayed there a couple of times a few years ago and enjoyed it and have spent a decent amount of time there recently while staying at Aria and Bellagio. They have updated the room slightly since my last stay so it was time for a return trip to see how things have changed in the past year and or two.

I arrived on a Sunday around 2PM and the lobby was absolutely packed. It took well over a half hour to get checked in. There are individual lines for each desk clerk but with the amount of people waiting, the system quickly fell apart. They definitely need to improve their queue process when there are large crowds. After finally making it to the Front Desk, I was given a 2 queen bed room on the 14th floor overlooking the back of New York-New York. Not the most spectacular view but I have had worse in Vegas. The room is pretty standard with a desk, 2 chairs, a nightstand and an armiore/TV stand. The room itself is largely unchanged from my last stay in December 2009. The only real difference is the TV and armoire have been replaced with a flat-screen TV and smaller armoire and new linens are on the beds. The bathroom is also unchanged with a single sink and combo tub/shower. The fact that the room is virtually unchange really showed in the room I had. The chairs and desk were pretty beat up. The walls had many scuff marks on them including a huge one right between the 2 beds. The carpet is getting a little tired as was the hallway leading to the room. The bathroom is also unchanged with a single sink and a combo tub/shower. The biggest complaint, however, was the horrible TV service provided on those new flat-screens. Not only isn't it in HD, it was barely even watchable through all the fuzz. I know they don't want you in your room but not even being able to catch the local news is pretty weak. With all that said, the room wasn't really terrible - pretty much inline with most other older, mid-priced joints in town. I guess I have just been spoiled staying at all the newer places on the Strip!

As for the rest of the resort, they are billing themselves as "Affordable Luxury." I guess it sounded better than "Slightly above average!" There is a good collection of decent but not over-the-top expensive restaurants including longtime Vegas favorite, Andre's and The Pub microbrewery plus a large food court for quick eats. The pool area is a step above most but not quite top 5, sort of like a "mini" Mandalay Bay with a lazy river and wave pool but on a smaller scale. The casino is about what you would expect on the Strip with limits much more affordable than its neighbor, Aria. I did play a little machine play and did OK, milking the drink service which was definitely hit or miss depending on location.

All things considered, the stay at Monte Carlo was perfectly average for an average Strip hotel. The room, while a little disappointing to me, was on par with what I have gotten at similar places like Luxor, Flamingo and Bally's on recent stays. The older mid-range places are starting to show their age and the economy has caused them to defer maintenance longer than they normally would have in better times. Like I said, I have become a little spoiled lately staying at Cosmo, City Center and Bellagio so when I stay in an older room, I definitely notice it. None of the issues I had were deal-breakers but if the cut-backs on everyday maintenance continue for much longer, it's eventually going to take it's toll.

Room Pictures

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The Week in Vegas News - August 1

2011-08-01T21:09:00.000-07:00

On Monday, the LV Business Press reported on the topping-off of the Harmon Corner shopping complex next to Planet Hollywood. The 110,000 Sq.Ft, 3-story enclosed shopping center will be anchored by a Walgreens drug store and will have 16 other shops. Started in February, it is expected to be completed before Christmas. It's good to see construction continuing on the Strip and the place looks to actually have places regular people shop like Walgreens and a Panda Express fast food joint. It's in a good location as well, at the foot of the pedestrian bridge from Cosmopolitan and City Center. This one looks like it might have what it takes to avoid being another skeleton on the Strip.

Speaking of the Strip bridges, the county is FINALLY looking into ways to "curb the disorder" on and near them that has sprung up in recent months. The Strip has always been plagued by "porn slappers" handing out cards but lately it has exploded into people peddling bottled water and trinkets and others dressed as Disney characters hawking pictures to tourists. There also seems to be a lot more questionable people loitering about, particularly at night.

It's about time the county and hopefully the casinos start to address this problem. If a guy in his 30s who grew up in New York feels a bit worried about his safety, how does a couple in their 60s from the Mid-West feel? In all my years of going to Las Vegas, I never questioned my safety but in the last few trips it has happened more than once on those bridges at night. There is often a casino at the end of the bridge so its incumbent on them to make sure they are safe. If my livelihood was affected by what happened out there, I would put extra security on even if for nothing but appearences. Show a little force and the problem will solve itself.

In the week's financial news, Las Vegas Sands (owners of the Venetian and Palazzo) absolutely crushed it with revenues up 48% over last year, almost entirely on growth outside of Las Vegas and the US. Meanwhile, Boyd Gaming (The Coasts, Orleans, Sam's Town and 3 downtown casinos) who is heavily dependent on Las Vegas, had essentially flat revenues with the LV Locals segment down slightly over last year.

Lastly, a couple of "only in Vegas" stories... Ever wondered what it takes to do the laundry at the MGM Grand each day? Not many places have to wash the sheets and towels of 6,000 rooms! The scale of things in Vegas and the MGM in particular is simply incredible.

The LVRJ also ran an interesting piece on how everyone is using creative marketing to keep business alive during the Great Recession and Las Vegas' 32 Nudie Bars are no exception. Free drinks, buffets and half price lap dances are all the rage these days to get people through the door. Good stuff!

Visit VegasCasinoInfo.com's News Wire for all of the latest Vegas news.

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Hard Rock Hotel HRH Tower Review

2011-07-24T19:27:00.000-07:00

Despite being to Vegas over 80 times through out the years, I never once stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel. With their recent expansion, it was finally time to end my Hard Rock virginity. I arrived around 2PM and there was no one waiting at the HRH Tower check-in desk. I hand the clerk my license and credit card and he starts typing away. After about 30 seconds, he tells me that he doesn't see a reservation for me. I told him that I made the reservation through their website online but it just dawned on me that I never saw an confirmation email. He says that not to worry, that there were rooms available but at what cost. I told him I was quoted $120 and he winced! He says that since I am a "Rockstar Club" member he will call them and see if they can help me. After about 5 minutes on the phone with them, he tells me that he has good news and they were going to comp the room based on past play! Very nice... I was ready to pay $120 and I ended up with a room for free! Kudos to the Hard Rock. A very nice way to start my first stay ever at the Hard Rock. Here is a lesson that I will apparently never learn, ALWAYS confirm your reservations!!!

After getting through the reservation fiasco, I was in my room in a matter of minutes and what a room it was. The standard room in the HRH Tower is a mini-suite with the sitting area seperated from the bedroom room by the entertainment center with a large flat-screen TV on each side of it. As you enter, there is a wet bar along the hallway which leads the sitting area. The couch was a large sectional that was quite comfortable and made for a great place to hangout. The TVs are at least 42" and unlike the night before at the Monte Carlo, they actually have HD programming! The room doesn't have all the wiz-bang technology found at places like Aria or Cosmopolitan but does have a DVD player and cool music system that is controlled by a touch screen embedded in the wall near the desk, which is a nice little feature. You can attach your I-Pod or pick from a pre-selected list of music. The bed was large, comfortable and gave a great night sleep and the bedroom also has the same size TV. The bathroom is huge with dual vanity, big, deep tub and a separate shower stall. It is nicely done, covered with stone through-out. The one feature that definitely stands out is the wall separating the bath from the bedroom, it's nothing more than a sheet of glass! There is a curtain that you can close but it's from the outside so you better really like the other people in the room if you plan to shower!

Outside of the room, I really like the new and improved Hard Rock Hotel. Before the expansion, I pretty much despised the thought of even going to the place. It was always absolutely packed, often with 20-something assholes, which bothered me even in my 20s! The casino was just too small for the crowds they would pack in there. With the addition of the HRH Tower, the casino has at least doubled in size. The same type of crowd still hangs out there but at least you now have room to get away from them. I also like the atmosphere in the casino now that its more spread out. As you would expect, the music is better than most other places; mostly 80s and 90 rock and metal; the drink service was good at all times and there is just a cool, classic feel to the dark decor of the casino. The downside is that they recently pulled out most of their better video poker machines which makes putting through big time play much harder to do.

Also with the expansion, they have added a handful of new restaurants but my only meal was at the coffee shop, Mr. Lucky's 24/7. This is becoming one of my favorite coffee shops in Vegas. You aren't going to find many bargains but the room is nice, the service is good and the food has always been great. This time was no exception. I had just a burger but it was delivered in less than 10 minutes and was great. Its not quite as good as the Burger Bar at Mandalay Place but definitely excellent for a coffee shop. I have been dying to try "Johnny Smalls," an entire restaurant dedicated to appetizers and small plates but it's not the type of thing to do alone. That is on the list for the next trip.

By far, the most famous part of the Hard Rock has to be the pool area. Everyone knows about the "Rehab" party on Sundays so much so that there is even a reality show about it. I was quite eager to finally check it out after all these years and it didn't disappoint. The area is enormous with at least 4 different pools including the now ubiquitous topless pool interconnected by nicely wooded trails. There are also several hot tubs scattered about, even a few cabanas with private ones. It probably has one of the biggest outdoor gambling spaces in town with 2 different swim up blackjack areas and a good sized casino space. There were quite a few cool features like many shallow sunbathing areas and the glass pool on the second floor Sky Bar with holes in it looking down to the bar below. The entire area is just very well done. It might just be the prettiest pool in Vegas. One thing that was striking, however, was that the place seemed way too large for a hotel of Hard Rock's size. It was noon-time on a Tuesday in July and 75% of the place was completely closed, leaving just one pool open and even that one was hardly crowded. Even if the Rehab party really does pack em' in, it all seems like serious overkill for the other 6 days a week. With that said, the Hard Rock pool definitely is top 3 in Vegas, on par with Mandalay Bay and MGM.

It was a great night at Hard Rock overall from getting the unexpected comp room to having some decent play in the casino. I ended up not even leaving during the entire stay! I'm looking forward to staying there again soon with the wife for a few nights to really get a chance to enjoy the place. One night alone just didn't do it justice.

Room Pictures
Pool Pictures

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Weekly Vegas News Roundup

2011-07-18T17:51:00.000-07:00

There was quite a bit of news coming from the Strip this week...

What a terrible week for the folks over at City Center. It started out with news that Eva Longoria's nightclub in the Crystals Mall closed after filing bankruptcy. That news was immediately followed by a report that the unfinished Harmon Hotel tower was unsafe and could collapse in the event of an earthquake. The company was given until August 15 by Clark County to come up with a plan to fix it or tear it down. To wrap up a banner 5 days, it was reported on Thursday that an outbreak of Legionnaire's disease occurred at Aria, infecting 6 patrons between late June and early July.

The nightclub closing is not a big deal, those places come and go regularly and the rent for that joint had to be through the roof. I don't know how any of those places survive in that mall. The on-going saga of the Harmon, however, just blows my mind. A half of billion dollar mistake caused by incompetence and gross mismanagement from MGM to the contractors to the county building inspectors. How does so many different groups, with such extensive experience building large structures, screw up so monumentally? I hope someone's head got lopped off for this epic failure. The Legionnaire's disease outbreak is unfortunate but at least it doesn't appear to be all that serious with everyone fully recovering but it's the kind of news Las Vegas doesn't need right now. MGM is really trying hard to get out in front of it, putting up a "facts" page to put their spin on it and even buying up a good chunk of the Vegas Google ads to advertise it. I don't think it would stop me from staying there but I'm glad I don't have a reservation right now!

In other Vegas news this week, one of the men who built the modern Las Vegas, Terry Lanni, passed away this week at the age of 68. He was the longtime head of MGM and oversaw the company's growth from 1 casino to more than 15 including the purchases of Mirage from Steve Wynn in 2000 and Mandalay Resorts in 2005. I am not at all a fan of the massive consolidation of casinos into just a few hands, something Mr. Lanni played a huge role in, but you have to admire someone who built something so large and in the process made Vegas the town it is today. His actions may have came with a price but at the end of the day, I don't believe that the Strip would be what it is without the vision of guys like Terry Lanni. R.I.P.

Lastly, there were a couple of nice fluff pieces that were interesting reads. A story in the LV Sun about some of the projects that never happened and another in the R-J about the few places still running coin operated video poker and slot machines.

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Another Trip in the Books

2011-07-15T14:23:00.000-07:00

Just back from 3 excellent nights in the City of Sin with stays at Monte Carlo, the new HRH Tower at Hard Rock and finished up in a suite at Sunset Station. It was my first stay, believe it or not, at both Hard Rock and Sunset. Its been a long time since I was able to add 2 new hotels to my list in the same trip. A couple of thoughts and observation from the trip...

Happy Hours are all the rage. Every place in town seems to have one now and it's not limited to restaurants and bars, they even have one at the lingerie shop at the Flamingo!
Speaking of the Flamingo, they are finally doing something with the long, useless hallway that extends from the casino to Margaritaville and turning it into the Margaritaville Casino. I swear the Flamingo has to be the most frequently changed hotel in Vegas!
It was a banner trip for property maps. 15 new maps to go with the 10 from the last trip that I still need to post will make for some busy days on the scanner ahead. I will start getting them posted this weekend. Look for the "first class" Harrah's map. It is a classic! Photocopied with hand-written changes... Nobody knows how to squeeze an extra penny like the folks at Harrah's, err, Caesars Entertainment!

In addition to the slew of maps, look for reviews plus room and pool pictures from all 3 hotels over the next few weeks.

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Treasure Island Strip View Room Review

2011-07-06T22:42:00.000-07:00

The last night of my stay was in a Strip view room for at Treasure Island. I received a "One Day Sale" email and it indeed had some decent rates. $39 for a regular or $59 for Strip view. Those email signups really pay off sometimes! I haven't stayed at TI since my second trip to Vegas when I was still dirt poor and only had a bed to sleep in because the guy who rented the room didnt come back all weekend! I am no longer broke so I sprung for the extra $20 for the view and ended up on the top floor with awesome view of the Mirage volcano and center Strip.

I arrived around 1:00PM and checked in almost immediately with only about a 30 second wait in line at the Front Desk. The elevators are little bit of a haul from the front desk but closer to just about everything else. The room was a fairly standard newer Vegas room. In a twin queen room there is a combo armoire, desk TV Stand plus another chair and small table. It had been somewhat recently remodeled and everything still looked pretty good, there were no major carpet stains and all of the furniture was in good shape. The bed was the exception as it was pretty saggy. The bathroom has a combo tub/shower and a single vanity. It was also remodeled with stone tile and counter top, although curiously, it looks like they failed slap a coat of paint on the front of the vanity. It looked beat to hell!

Treasure Island itself is probably the smallest of the major Strip casinos in terms of area with everything pretty close by. There is a handful of restaurants including all the Vegas standards; steakhouse, coffee shop, Italian, buffet. There also a Gilley's BBQ, complete with mechanical bull! I only ate at the pizza place and it served up an halfway decent slice at 11:00PM. The location is pretty good as well being across the street from Venetian and Palazzo with a monorail over to Mirage next door. The pool is certainly not in the Top 10 in town but serves it purpose if all you need is sun and water. No review of TI would be complete without a mention of the slutty pirate show, Sirens of TI. Well here it is... I haven't seen it, I have zero desire to see it and I will go out of my way to avoid it. Standing in a packed crowd of people who have been in the Vegas heat all day along with a few pickpockets just to see scantily-clad dancing pirates does not appeal to me.

All in all, my stay at Treasure Island was fairly positive, especially for the price. It has everything you could ask for in a mid-priced Strip hotel in a good location. Like its neighbors, you aren't going to find any good plays at the tables or machines but thats to be expected. Otherwise, TI is a good option for most people especially Vegas virgins and partiers.

Room Pictures
Pool Pictures

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The New and Improved VegasCasinoInfo.com!

2011-07-04T20:20:00.000-07:00

After almost 6 solid months of work, the completely remodeled VegasCasinoInfo.com is finally here! This launch marks a major new period for the site, bringing it to a whole new level on par with any other Vegas site on the Internet. The most obvious change is the entirely new interface including a super-sweet new logo inspired by the "other" famous Vegas sign. In addition to the new look and feel, there are a number of other changes as well.

VegasCasinoInfo.com has existed in one form or another since 1997 largely without any advertising aside from Google ads, it became time to finally add banner advertising to the site. After long thought about how do to it right, I have decided to team up with MGM Resorts, who own 11 hotels on the Strip, to bring their latest room offers directly from the source instead of some unknown 3rd party room reservation service. I have always advocated booking rooms direct due to better cancellation policies and serving MGM's ads made it possible to reinforce that thought.

Quite a few other things have been added or updated as well...

There is now a Las Vegas Newswire on the left side which provides links to the latest Vegas news stories from a variety of sources and is updated throughout each day. Get you Vegas news fix all from one place!
All of the hotel room and pool slideshows have been redesigned for easier navigation and a better experience.
A complete update of hotel amenities and restaurants was completed.
A new weekly newsletter with the latest site news and reviews, a recap the week in Las Vegas plus latest unpublished room offers and other exclusive deals.
Ramped up the social media presence so you can now follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Blogger.

It has been a privilege to run this site over the past 13+ years and I look forward to this new, exciting era for VegasCasinoInfo.com. A huge thanks to the many frequent guests over the years and welcome to all new visitors who hopefully become frequent guests. Although much has changed, one thing that has not is the reason for why this site exists, one guy's love for Las Vegas. I read and reply to every comment so if you have any thoughts about the site or otherwise, that are even vaguely Vegas related, please feel free to contact me or comment below. As always, thanks for visiting VegasCasinoInfo.com!

Visit VegasCasinoInfo.com for the complete guide to Las Vegas Hotels and Casinos. Property maps of every major casino, 100s of pictures and a ton of other info all without annoying ads!

Cabana at Mandalay Beach!

2011-05-27T20:35:00.000-07:00

With having to do a lot of work travel lately, I was seriously in need for a long overdue trip to Vegas. This one was 4 nights; 2 at THEhotel at Mandalay Bay, 1 at Boulder Station and the last at Treasure Island. I choose THEhotel because I usually have some sort of offer, the rooms are nice and what better place for some pool time? Boulder Station was on the list because it's been almost 10 years since I last stayed there and the rooms have finally been remodeled. It's been even longer since my last stay at TI, going all the way back to 1995!

The highlight definitely was getting a cabana at Mandalay Bay. We aren't usually cabana people but we decided to splurge on this trip and there is no better pool in Vegas. Having a "home" made staying out there all day easy, it was great to be able to retreat to the shade for refuge from the Vegas sun. It had all the amenities you would expect from a nice cabana including the stocked fridge, TV, safe and comfy furniture. The service was also incredible with a dedicated waitress plus a host that would handle anything else you need from inside the hotel from getting Starbucks to placing bets at the Sports Book! This is where they earn the prices they are charging for these things. Sadly, we are low-maintenance people and didn't even use our host all day. It was a definitely nice experience and felt great to be the "beach king" for the day but it was expensive especially when it was just the two of us. The best way to do the cabana thing is if you are with a group of people. You get all the benefits of the cabana while splitting the cost between 5 or 6 people making it a much more cost-effective way to go.

Reviews with room and pool pics for Boulder Station and TI along with a new batch property maps will be posted in the coming days and weeks. I am also feverishly working on a new version of the site that will be rolled out soon with a new look and features. It will be a busy couple of weeks at VegasCasinoInfo.com!

Visit VegasCasinoInfo.com for the complete guide to Las Vegas Hotels and Casinos. Property maps of every major casino, 100s of pictures and a ton of other info all without annoying ads!

Cosmopolitan Las Vegas Room Pics!!

2010-12-15T16:21:00.000-08:00

We are here, checked in and VERY impressed by everything we have seen so far. The place is just stunning! From the ever changing pillars in the lobby to the 3 story crystal chandelier, everything is absolutely gorgeous.

The room is as nice as everything else we have seen. We are on th 68th floor of the "Eastside" Tower (closest to the strip) and have an incredible view of City Center and everything south. The room is filled with all of the whiz-bang technology found in ARIA and I will do a full review shortly but the one cool feature of the room is a large cutaway in the wall between the living area and bathroom. Pretty interesting... I will also get full public areas pics posted later this evening. For now, enjoy pics of a Cosmopolitan Terrace Suite.

Cosmopolitan Room Pictures

Golden Nugget Review with Room and Pool Pictures

2010-12-12T20:08:00.000-08:00

After getting a late check out from the Flamingo, we moved downtown for a night at the Golden Nugget. We were booked in Carson Tower room and used the "best rate guarantee" that I posted about a few weeks ago to get the room for $36 after they matched and took off 10% extra. We arrived at the back valet for the new Rush Tower and asked at the empty front desk if they could check us into the Carson Tower. She did and we were on our way in just minutes. Avoiding the main valet and front desk is definitely the way to go at the Golden Nugget.

We were in a double on the 12th floor overlooking the Plaza and immediately upon walking into the room, everything just felt much nicer than what we had the night before. In addition to the beds were 2 comfy chairs and a table, a large flat screen TV and a make up desk with mirror. While the decor wouldn't be something I would put in my house, it was all clean and in good condition with no stains or damage anywhere. The beds also were quite comfortable and gave a great night's sleep. One downside is that the bath room was on the small side having only a single sink and a combo tub/shower.

The Nugget is far and away the biggest and nicest place downtown so it is usually busy but while we were there it seemed even more so. The tables were full despite mostly $10 minimums and more than once a machine I wanted was in use. Nevertheless, drink service was good during the few hours I played in the casino. The one meal we ate in-house was at the Sports Book Snack Bar. We both enjoyed our sandwiches although they were slightly pricey but Mom's $3.99 shrimp cocktail was disappointing, consisting of about 5 small shrimp with a little sauce in a cup filled with lettuce. I also hit the 24 hour Starbucks which I always do when downtown because of the patio on Fremont Street, its one of the best people watching spots in all of Vegas no matter the time of day!

Without a doubt, we greatly enjoyed our stay at the Golden Nugget much better than the Flamingo. With the remains of Steve Wynn's touch still all around, you can tell it's a step above your average Strip grind joint. There was just a greater attention to detail and lot of little touches that you'll find at the more expensive hotels like the better amenities in the bathroom, slippers and robes in the closet and nicer linens. For the price, there are few places in town that can compare. Kudos to the Landry's people for keeping the place up all these years. Staying downtown is a nice change of pace from the Strip but staying at the Golden Nugget still gives you that feel of being at a top notch place uptown. There really is no reason to stay anywhere else when on Fremont Street.

Room Pictures
Pool Pictures

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Bellagio Suite Review and Pics

2010-08-31T21:22:00.000-07:00

The final night of the annual late summer trip was in a "partial lake view" Bellagio Suite located in their Spa Tower. We arrived around 1 PM and quickly were at the Front Desk. At the time I had made the reservation, there weren't any full lake view suites available, which are in the original tower, so I asked if there were any at check-in but they were still sold out. The clerk assured me that where my room was located, on the 28th floor towards the south end of the building, I would have a great view. Sure enough, we couldn't have asked for more. A full lake view plus views of The Cosmopolitan going up. In fact, it might have been even better than a room in the original tower due to being set back further from the Strip. As a bonus, it was $50 cheaper!

The Spa Tower is a little bit of a walk from the front desk and casino but is near the Convention Area and City Center monorail station. There was excellent security at the elevator at all times with a person checking keys and a key required to select a floor once in the elevator. I have noticed that to be slipping (or nonexistent) in many places recently and it was good to see at Bellagio. Once we got to the suite, it did not disappoint. It is a true suite with separate living room and bedroom plus a "his" bath with steam shower and a "hers" with a large Jacuzzi tub. There is also a half bath off the entry way. The room is decorated in dark neutral colors and is much more pleasing than the look of the older suites. It is loaded with all the latest bells and whistles like motorized drapes, 4 flat-screen TVs, DVD and IPod players. There is also plenty of other little touches; scales in each bathroom, robes and slippers in the closet and full toiletry supplies including razor, shaving cream and toothbrush. The couch was very comfortable and the bed provided the best night sleep of the trip. All in all, it was everything we expected from Bellagio.

Outside of the room, our feelings towards Bellagio change considerably. After checking in, we wanted a quick bite to eat. Your fast dining options are limited to one: "Snacks." Yes, that is the name of their snack bar and it isn't mentioned in the 28 page Dining Guide that is in the room. While it was quite possibly the best snack bar food we have ever had, $28 for a BLT, mini pizza and a Coke is ridiculous, even in a casino. A similar issue arose at dinner time. If your are not in the mood for 5-star dining, which is aplenty, your options are once again limited. It was late and we wanted room service as we enjoyed the fountain show from our suite. A quick look at the menu yielded very little that couldn't be called pretentious. We ended up jumping on the monorail over to Monte Carlo and ate at The Pub.

The quality of the room, the experience of the fountains from above and the beauty of the public areas make Bellagio (along with Wynn) the best Vegas has to offer. It's hard to not love the place. However, the total pretentiousness of the environment (afternoon tea and caviar in the lobby bar) makes it hard to relax and enjoy yourself. We are rarely top chef diners or turndown service people so those amenities are of little use to us and the ones we do use are not there. Having to leave for a simple casual meal or Starbucks makes shelling out for the luxury impractical. The quote to sum it all up came from Lisa... "We are paying for the inconvenience!"

If you are looking for a full-blown, money is no issue, luxury Vegas experience or are a $1000 a hand player; there isn't much that can top Bellagio. However, there are a lot of other hotels with nearly the same luxury but without the over-the-top budget or attitude. We were happy that we splurged for the one night in an awesome room especially since it's been almost a decade since we last stayed at Bellagio. But now it's back to many more nights at places like Mandalay Bay and South Point, which are much more our style, until our next stay in another 10 years!

Click Here for Suite Pics
Click Here for Pool Pics

The long-awaited Planet Hollywood and Flamingo maps have been posted on the Property Map page along with an updated Caesars Palace map showing the new pool area and mothballed Octavius Tower.

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VegasCasinoInfo.com Delivered!

2010-07-28T23:23:00.000-07:00

Another new feature has been added to the site, the VegasCasinoInfo.com mailing list. Add your name and you will be notified instantly when new updates are made to the site. It's something that is long overdue but I have put off because of people's concern about Spam. With the amount of new things that have been added recently combined with several trips planned in the near future made now the right time. In conjunction with the mailing list, I have also put up a no-BS privacy policy to try to put some of the Spam fears to rest and make it crystal clear that nothing other than the occasional site update email will come from signing up. So join in and look for the best Vegas news, reviews, commentary and pics delivered right to your inbox.

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Tropicana Remodel Room Review and Pics

2010-07-17T14:47:00.000-07:00

Night 2 of the trip was spent at the Tropicana in a Paradise Tower room on a $40 rate off an email offer from them. The valet is always fast at the Trop and there was only a 2 minute wait at the front desk. Unlike the previous day at the Tuscany, when I arrived to check-in at 1:00 PM my room was ready to go without a hint of charging me for it! That is one trend I really hope doesn't catch on. The Paradise Tower is the one closest to the Strip and has been recently remodeled as part of the Tropicana's $250M expansion and refurb. I was on the 17th floor with a nice view of Excalibur, Luxor and Mandalay Bay. The rooms are brand-spankin' new and the remodel was well done. The orange and ratan look isn't something I would put in my house but works well with the "south Beach" theme they are going with. One interesting thing about this remodel that is different with most others is that it appears that they went as far as to have ripped down walls to rebuild the bath, bringing it up to the standard of new rooms. There was a nice sized flat screen TV with high-def programming and the best feature was large day bed by the window which was perfect to hang out on.

The public areas of the place were somewhat torn up during my stay. They are adding to the front of the building, pushing it out closer to the Strip and the main entrance is a construction zone. One thing that you notice immediately when you walk in the front door is how bright the casino pit now looks. It used to be kind of dark and dingy. Large parts of slot area are still a work in progress and walled off. The pool area, once the best in Vegas, was also supposedly redone but it didn't seem that much different from my stay last summer. Lastly, they are touting a remodel of the Island Tower to be done this summer, which is way overdue. Those rooms were looking rather tired a year ago.

The changes extend to the restaurants as well. The buffet looked closed for the long-term, which isn't a huge loss, while the Steakhouse should be re-opened shortly. They also have closed their 24 hour coffee shop and replaced it was a snack bar, the South Beach Cafe. I ate lunch there and while it certainly wasn't a bad sandwich; it's pricey, the menu is limited and it just doesn't offer what the classic Vegas coffee shop used to. Another Vegas casual dining travesty!

Considering what I paid for the room, I couldn't have been happier with it. $40 for a fresh, new room in a very good south Strip location is hard to beat. I love the fact that the new owners are dumping money into the place, trying to compete with the big boys all around them. Fresh blood is just what the Strip needs to keep the MGM and Harrah's on their toes. The room was well done and the casino looks much improved. They have a huge property to work with that was stolen out of BK so will be interesting to see what the final product becomes. But for right now, if you are willing to deal with a little construction, you will be hard pressed to find a better deal for a nice room on the Strip.

Click Here for Room Pics

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Tuscany Suite Review and Room Pictures

2010-07-13T23:49:00.000-07:00

I spent 1 night of my recent trip in a "suite" at Tuscany Suites on a $19 rate I found by using TravelAxe which I booked directly through the hotel website. It turned out to be a classic tale of "if it's too good to be true, it probably is!" I arrived at check-in at 1:30 PM and was told that check-in was at 3:00. Sure, it always is but I can probably count on one hand the number of times I couldn't check-in at 1:30 and all of those were because the room wasn't ready. I asked the desk clerk if the room would be ready at 3:00 and she said "Oh, its ready now but if you want to check-in early, it will be a $12 charge." That is on-top of the $7 resort fee which paid for virtually nothing that you wouldn't expect for free at any Vegas hotel. At first, I balked at this obvious scam to jack up my bill but realized that an hour an a half of my life, especially in Vegas, was worth the $12! Unhappily, I now paid $38 for my $19 room and was on my way.

Though the rooms are called suites, they are really oversized rooms with a seating area, kitchenette and small dining table. Their website shows a freshly remodeled room but my room was very similar to one I stayed in 5 years ago. Yet another reminder of why I built this website in the first place!!! While the room hasn't been remodeled in a while, it was still in surprisingly decent shape. There were no major stains or furniture damage and the bed was comfortable without any sagging. Like the room, the bathroom was also larger than a normal in Vegas with a seperate shower and bath but only a single sink vanity. The kitchette was more like a wet bar with just a coffeemaker, fridge and sink. The biggest issue I came across was that the walls seemed rather thin and I heard ever door open and close.

Any review of the Tuscany would be incomplete if it didn't discuss the hotel's setup. The place is unlike any other hotel I have stayed at in Vegas as its a series of 3 story building spread over a fairly large area with the casino, restaurants and lobby in a seperate building at the front of the property. The nice part is being able to park very close to your room, if you don't come back after midnight. The bad part is the outdoor walk to the front. It isn't very far even from the back buildings but I ended up having a late dinner at the coffee shop and went the wrong way down a very dark walkway that was definitely a little sketchy. It is also something to keep in mind in the summer and winter because you will definitely be exposed to the elements.

Overall, my feelings on the Tuscany are rather mixed. The $12.00 screw job at check-in and the questionable website pictures didn't start the trip off right but the room was most certainly worth the $38 it ended up costing me. There is also something to be said about the convenience of having your car 30 seconds from your room. Given that, it's decent location and the price, the place definitely has appeal to a certain niche of traveler. However, for the average person looking for the classic Vegas resort experience, it would be a big disappointment.

Click Here for Room Pics

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The New Website Is Here!

2010-07-05T11:01:00.000-07:00

After many hours of banging away at the keyboard, the new version of the website is finally here! At first glance, there doesn't appear to be much change but nuts and bolts are completely new; a complete re-write of the code top to bottom.

While the look of the site is largely the same, there are a quite a few cool new features:

Hotel Planner - A unique tool to help you pick the perfect Vegas hotel.
Restaurant Finder - Another homegrown tool to find a restaurant based on location, cuisine and style.
Buffet Info - Links to price and specialty night information for every buffet in Vegas
Spa Info - Links to service and price info at many spas across town.
Hotel Offer Sign-Ups - Links to sign up to receive hotel email offers.
Pool Pictures - Not as extensive as the room pics but still a decent collection.
Ask VegasCasinoInfo.com - Read answers to other's Vegas questions and submit your own.
Completely updated entertainment and hotel amenity information for each hotel.
Consistant look and feel through-out.

Hopefully everyone finds the new features and tools useful additions to the site and as with all things new, there is bound to be a bug or two. Don't be shy... please let me know. As always, thanks for visiting VegasCasinoInfo.com!!!

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Excalibur - "Crown Jewel" of the MGM Resorts Empire!

2010-05-10T18:53:00.000-07:00

For the first two nights of the trip when I was solo, I decided on staying at Excalibur; largely due to the price and to check out the newly remodeled "widescreen" rooms. I actually booked a Widescreen Deluxe, which is slightly larger with a seating area for an extra $10. I arrived to a very short line at check-in (Sunday at 6 PM) and was told that the Deluxe rooms were only on the 1st and 2nd floors. I would rather be a little higher up so I asked what my options were. I was given a Widescreen "View" room, which also a $10 upgrade. I dragged my stuff up to the 10th floor and sure enough, the key doesn't work. Thus begins my fun at Excalibur Excalibur! Back down to the casino to call the front desk and they tell me they will send maintenance to the room. Back up to the 10th floor and 20 minutes go by... I give up and go back to the front desk where they give me new keys. Back to the room where the maintenance guy shows up as I do. The lock is toast and he replaces it quickly but says the door is jacked up and engineering will have to come back and fix it. Fine whatever... I take a few pictures of the room and the view, which was definitely worth a $10 upgrade over an Excalibur "non-view" room. The remodeled rooms are considerably nicer than the older rooms with better furnishings, completely redone bathrooms and of course the widescreen TV, minus the high-def programming.

After unpacking, I proceed to take a shower to wash 4 hours of desert off of me and this is when the real nightmare starts. As I am getting in the shower, I notice a few stray hair on the floor of the bathroom that definitely aren't mine. Im a little skeeved out but I deal it. I start to shower when I look down in the stall and notice quite a few more hairs. F&$%ING GROSS! I actually threw up a little, it was that disgusting. I quickly get out, dry off and promptly call downstairs to be moved! In my 75+ trips to Vegas, never once have I asked to change rooms until now. To top off the disgustingness, as I am on hold waiting for the front desk, I notice a little cocaine straw under the writing desk. Awesome! The "Guest Services" person was understanding enough and after clicking and typing for a little while, tells me that she will upgrade me to a suite for the rest of the stay.

So I pack up and head down to VIP check-in (and bypass a now large line at the front desk) to get my new keys. Its a 1 BR suite on the top floor and it actually is a pretty nice room all things considered. It an actual suite with a dining area, seating/TV area and half bath in the living room and a large master BR/bath with jacuzzi tub. Before settling in, I do a top to bottom inspection and am satisfied with the cleanliness. The only issue with the room was that the tub was looking a little tired (but clean!) and the remote was missing in the bedroom.

Needless to say, I didnt spend a whole lot of time at the Excalibur. The only meals I ate there was at Starbucks and Krispy Kreme but ended up staying quite a bit in the "neighborhood," which is the what MGM refers to Excalibur/Luxor/Mandalay Bay. I made my now regular trip to the BUrger Bar in Mandalay Place which was excellent as always and had drinks at Aurora in Luxor. There is quite a bit between the 3 hotels with a huge collection of restautants, clubs and bars.

Obviously, I was completely disappointed with my stay at Excalibur. I certainly wasn't expecting the Bellagio experience and actually love the whole cheesy medieval theme but I was expecting something far more than I received. I have never gotten a room that disgusting at a Motel 6 and the problems extended beyond the rooms. The elevators are horrendously slow, the public areas are totally worked over and the service was much less than top-notch everywhere I went. The place has seriously descended to the level of Circus Circus but at least there, I was fully prepared for what I was got and ended up even being pleasantly surprised! At Excalibur, that wasn't to be...

Click Here for Room and Suite Pics

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Luxor Tower Room Review and Pics & New Casino Maps

2010-04-24T10:13:00.000-07:00

Out of the blue a few weeks back, I got a big glossy mailer from Luxor with a very good offer in it considering I have barely played a dime there in the past few years. MGM/Mirage seems to be sending free rooms for just about all of their hotels if you play in any of them. The deal included 3 nights in a tower room though I only used 2 plus $50 in food and $75 slot credits. With an offer like that, it's pretty hard to pass up.

Even though I have stayed at Luxor quite a few times over the years, it has always been a pyramid room. This time was in the slightly newer tower section between the main hotel and Excalibur. While a bit larger, I didn't really notice it to be all that much different from a pyramid room aside from a nicer bathroom and no slanted glass to bang my head on. It's a standard mid-90s issue Vegas room equipped with basics and little else in the way of modern amenities. The bed was in still sleepable condition but definitely past its prime. The bedding and carpeting were in decent shape but also on the downside of their lifespan and the furniture has seen its fair share of Vegas partying. The bathroom is nicer than the rest of the room with a separate shower (with pressure that could knock you over!) and a deep soaking tub along with a marble single sink vanity.

I did spend a decent amount of time at Luxor during my 2 nights and played a little in casino as well as eat a few meals. The casino is definitely nice enough since its recent remodel but the quality of the games is certainly nothing to rave about. One interesting note, it seems like a larger percent of space is dedicated to tables than most of the new casinos around town. The machines I ended up playing were right across from a bar so the drink service was speedy and often.

A lot of changes have taken place at Luxor but the food court on the second floor still remains with a Vegas tradition of mine, Nathan's Hot Dogs. I often hit this location when I am in town due to its easy self-parking so with me staying there, I would have to go twice. You can never go wrong with a Nathan's Hot Dog. I also had my normal late-night breakfast in the still 24 hour coffee shop, the Pyramid Cafe. There was a short line (which grew longer as the night went on) and every table was full at midnight but once seated the service was fast, the food pretty good and with an only slightly inflated price tag.The highlight of the stay was a trip to the Burger Bar for dinner on my second night. Located in the shops between Luxor and Mandalay Bay, it operates on the "build your own" burger concept. They offer a variety of patties and buns plus virtually everything else you could imagine to top it with from bacon to truffles. While the depth of the topping selection is nice, the quality of the burger is the real star of the show. For a guy who eats his fair share of cattle, I can honestly say it is the best burger I have ever had. This is my third trip and its quickly becoming a favorite Vegas stop.

Over the last few years, a large amount of effort and expense has been spent to shed Luxor of its "Egyptian Theme" and position it to compete with the likes of the Palms, Hard Rock and the half dozen or so other places trying to reach the same 20-something club-going crowd that stopped coming to Vegas when they all lost their jobs. They did a nice enough job in the makeover to turn the casino into a reasonably swanky joint, the only problem... they haven't spent that same effort or cash on the rooms. For what they charge on an average night compared to some other places in town, the hotel rooms should be a whole lot nicer. There is a lot going for Luxor, including plenty to do, see and eat just in it's "neighborhood" with Mandalay Bay and Excalibur on each side. The pool area is huge as is the spa and coolness factor of the pyramid make it an ideal place for a first trip to Vegas. However, if you looking for a luxurious room, you can do much better in the similar price range including the new rooms at Hard Rock or at Planet Hollywood.

Click Here for Room Pics

Ton of New Maps!

During this trip, I did one of the biggest property map runs ever with 10 new maps posted including the first ever Hard Rock Hotel map showing the finished remodel/expansion, which is pretty damn nice BTW. I might have to break my HRH cherry in the very near future.

Click Here for all the new maps!

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Green Valley Ranch Review and Room Pics

2010-03-21T14:36:00.000-07:00

Station Casinos has been sending a monthly offer recently for 3 nights plus some free play at any of their casinos so I took them up on one night at Green Valley Ranch. I haven't stayed there in a couple of years but have played there a little bit and always liked the place. I moved over there after 2 nights at THEHotel and it was a little culture shock. The hotel at GVR is about as sedate as any in Vegas with not only no wait at either the Valet or Front Desk but virtually no one else around on a Monday afternoon! I was told at check-in that they had closed their smoking floor but could offer me a "balcony suite" but could only smoke on the balcony. Fine. As long as I don't have to walk a mile for a smoke but its seems rather unwise to close all of your smoking rooms at once at a hotel/CASINO!

The balcony "suite" was really just a slightly larger regular room with a patio as opposed to a balcony. The room was very similar to the one I had a few years ago though it has been recently "refreshed" with new carpet, linens and a flat-screen TV. In addition to the king bed, there was a large chair and ottoman, small writing desk and armiore that served at the TV stand. The bed was pretty comfortable but nothing to write home about. The patio was less than inviting as a place to hang out. It overlooked bare rooftop and walls with the stench of roofing asphalt permeating the air. Great to smoke on and not much else. The room was also equiped with a Bose Wave radio, wired and wireless Internet, robes and slippers and iron/board. The bathroom was almost an exact replica of the bathroom I had the previous 2 night at Mandalay Bay and the same as just about every bathroom built in Las Vegas over the past decade. It was so similar that even the little contained for Q-Tips was the same at both places! There is a large bath tub and shower stall on one side, twin sink vanity in the middle and a seperate water room to the other side with a ton of marble tossed in for good measure. It was stocked with just about everything you would expect from a 4-star hotel.

The casino at GVR is definitely one of the nicer off-strip properties and has some decent games to boot. I have played here occasionally over the years and usually had decent luck and this trip was no different. There are quite a few of the video poker machine I enjoy (5-play 8/5 BP) and after a rough start, I came back and held my own over the rest of my stay and ended up with a ton of play when it was said and done. The drink service in my location was only adaquate but I also was pretty far from any of the bars.

I ate a few meals in-house during my stay and GVR is another place suffering from the cost cutting plague that is killing the Vegas casino coffee shop and late night dining in general. They recently closed their coffee shop, moved the Original Pancake House into it's space which is now open something like 6AM - 8PM, if even that late. If you need something to eat at midnight, you choices are room service and FatbUrger. Pretty disappointing. My room service meal was decent enough but the menu was somewhat limited. I opted for a club sandwich which was pretty good and delivered quick but still would prefer to have some options. I also had a breakfast sandwich on my way out the door at the Turf Grill near the Sportsbook that was excellent.

Staying at GVR is quite a different experience from a Strip mega-resort. If you never stayed at GVR, it is unlike any hotel/casino in Vegas. The hotel is about as detached from the casino as possible while still being connected. The walk from your room to the casino leads down a hallway past more hotel rooms to a non-descript door out to the public area. No elevator opening into a bustling casino here. While the hotel is definitely shooting for a more upscale environment, the casino is very much a locals joint with loads of video poker and the obligatory movie theater and food court. Overall, I enjoyed my stay as it was a nice change of pace to the bigger, more choatic places on the Strip. And while it is a few miles off the Strip, easy access to the Beltway makes it no more than a 10 minute trip most times of day. If they keep sending free nights, no doubt I will definitely be staying here again in the future.

Click Here for Room Pics

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The State of Vegas Part 2

2010-03-11T20:04:00.000-08:00

Harrah's Gets Planet Hollywood...

In recent months, Harrah's has been buying up the public debt of Planet Hollywood and finally finished the all out purchase of the place for what amounts to essentially $650 million. A pretty impressive move in this lending environment especially since Harrah's own financial position is shaky at best. The purchase gives the company control of the entire east side of the Strip from Harrah's down to Planet Hollywood plus Caesars on the west side. They now own 9 casinos within a half mile of each other!

Here comes the rant... To say I never have been a big fan of the folks at Harrah's Entertainment is a major understatement, going all the way back to when they started their massive expansion in the late 90s. The company's operating model is the epitome of what went wrong with the casino industry over the past decade. It is run by MBAs from back east who probably never even played a hand of blackjack let alone have an understanding of the gambling customer. Their approach to the business is the same as if they were manufacturing widgets. They look to minimize every last penny of cost and maximize every possible profit opportunity yet totally and completely oblivious to the fact that the product they sell is CUSTOMER SERVICE! There is no obvious difference between the slot machines at Casino A or Casino B and 99.9% of Vegas visitors accept the fact that gambling is a losing proposition. All they ask for in return is at least the possibility of winning and being appreciated for the loss. Neither of these concepts does Harrah's understand. Their casinos without exception sport the worst video poker odds and table game rules in town. They proudly introduced the insidious 3/2 BJ to Las Vegas, actually bragging about their "single deck action." One can only assume their slots are programmed to be similarly "generous." To show their appreciation for playing weak games, they have the Total Rewards slot club. Aside from free rooms they toss around easily to entice you to come to one of their 9 bad casinos, it is hands down the worst of any of the major companies. Figuring out how to earn a point requires a PhD and its next to impossible to get a comp for anything beyond that free room and even their casino hosts are virtually powerless to do anything about it. I was actually hoping their debt load would have forced them to shed a property or 2 not have yet another suffer from similar mis-management!

... and Icahn Gets Fontainebleau

On to one of the few nuggets of good news coming from the Vegas casino biz lately... Billionaire Carl Icahn has taken over the broke and partially finished North Strip eye sore, the Fontainebleau. After spending over $2 billion to get the place 70% done, it went BK and construction was halted last year and it has been rotting in the elements ever since. Icahn came in and picked the place up for $156 million, 7 cents on the dollar!

I am a huge fan of this move. Carl Icahn is a genius opportunist and has a history of turning around losing operations. Those familiar with Icahn's Vegas past will recall he pulled off a similar deal to buy the half completed Stratosphere. He dumped some of his own cash into it to finish the hotel and update the casino then sold a few years later for a enormous profit. The same will happen with Fontainbleau. Gone will be all the 5-star amenities that were originally planned for the place and instead it will be completed as a value joint, something that will be needed if its to survive long term in that neighborhood. This news is great for Las Vegas as this disaster of a project finally gets someone who can get the job done and great news for Vegas visitors who will get 3,500 brand new hotel rooms at bargain prices.

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The State of Vegas

2010-03-06T13:02:00.000-08:00

Over the next few days I want to talk about the huge amount of news over the past month or two that is slowly shaping the face of post-meltdown Las Vegas. There has been change all over the place, some of it negative and some of it positive. In no apparent order, here's a look at some of the recent developments...

Shuttered Hotel Rooms

There has been a rash of room closures around town and this is certainly isn't a good sign. Late last year, the legendary Binion's Casino downtown completely closed it's hotel tower along with the coffee shop and the Sahara close 2 of its 3 towers due to lack of demand. (A positive note: the Sahara buffet was also closed!) Closing down rooms has to be troubling news... From people I know in the hotel business, I have heard the ballpark number is about $12 a day to run a room for a mid-sized hotel. If they can't get the rate and occupancy levels to support more than $12 a day, things are looking pretty bleak downtown and the north Strip.

Shuttered Joints!

From closed rooms to entire places going away! In the next month, 2 of 3 reasons for the existence of the Lake Las Vegas Resort will close their doors. The 5-Star Ritz-Carlton and the adjacent Casino Montelago will be done. The only thing left out there will be the Loew's Hotel which itself is in bankruptcy. The parent corporation of the entire place is broke and the lake itself in constant danger of draining away to Lake Mead. I pity the homeowners who are left. It was a really nice place but WAY too far off the beaten path to really ever succeed even during good times and the first place to completely die in the new Las Vegas.

Boyd to take out Station

In a move that is pure genius from the shareholders of Boyd Gaming's perspective and an absolute disaster from just about every other, Boyd is agressively trying to buy Station Casinos as a whole out of Bankruptcy Court. Boyd is flush with cash after abandoning the rotting skeleton that is Project Echelon on the site of the former Stardust. So it has now set its sights on its main competitor in the Vegas locals market, Station, after its ill-fated leveraged buyout. If the power play is successful, one company would control virtually every major casino in the Vegas Valley not located on the strip or downtown and would be a major blow to anyone who plays or stays off-strip. Don't get me wrong, I am a full-fledged capitalist in every sense of the word and completely support the strong eating the weak but the casino business in Nevada is regulated for a reason and this is where the Gaming Commission needs to do their job for the good of the overall industry in the state. This mega-merger would not be in that best interest. Perhaps a partial purchase of a select number of properties but to allow a complete domination by Boyd would not be good for the locals market in Vegas.

More tomorrow on the fates of Fountainebleu and Planet Hollywood and what I think it all means for the future of Las Vegas.

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VegasCasinoInfo.com Rates Every Casino

2010-02-21T16:32:00.000-08:00

In yet another way to help plan for a better Vegas vacation, ratings have been added for every casino. They include an overall rating based on everything about a hotel as well as individual ratings for things such as the pool and the quality of the nightlife. For quite a few places, reviews from recent trips have been added and a review for every casino will be posted shortly.

The ratings are entirely my own (one of the perks of running your own Vegas website!) but I think they would represent the feelings of a majority of people. If you feel I am off-base on anything and want to argue Arizona Charlie's 1 star rating, feel free to let me know!

Check out your favorite casino's rating here...

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THEhotel at Mandalay Bay Review & Room Pics

2010-02-15T11:32:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, a stroke of good luck came by as on the same day I received an email offer from Mandalay Bay for 3 comped nights, my boss told me I got 2 "Comp" days for all the OT we have been working lately. Naturally, the irony wasn't lost upon me and I immediately book a trip to Vegas despite 3 trips in the previous 2 months. Even the wife was surprised! The offer from MB was pretty unexpected as I have given them virtually zero play in the past year or two but MGM/Mirage seems to be throwing around rooms to all of their properties for anyone who plays at any of them. Its actually something we haven't seen in a very long time and a major score for those of us who still are going to Vegas. I decided to use 2 nights at THEhotel at Mandalay Bay and the last night at Green Valley Ranch on Station's monthly 3 free nights offer.

I rolled in Mandalay Bay around 4:30 PM after what was probably the easiest drive ever to Vegas. There were zero delays the entire way and I banged it out in 3.5 hours. I wish every drive was as nice. It was still early on Saturday the valet and lobby were unexpectedly busy. Despite all the buzz, there was only a 30 second wait for check-in and in no time was on my way to a 30th floor room. Every room at THEhotel is an actual 2 room suite and it was exactly as I remembered it from my stay a few years back. The living room has a comfortable couch and chair, big flat-screen TV with DVD player, wet bar and a writing desk. With a half bath off the entryway, it's a great area to hang out in and could easily entertain 4 or 5 people comfortably. The bedroom is a totally seperate room unlike some of the faux-suites around town. It is dominated by a huge armiore that holds a regular tube TV, a safe and all of the clothes storage. The bed was quite comfortable and the linens all seemed fairly new. There is also a Bose radio/iPod dock, robes, slippers and iron/board in the room. The bathroom is standard for most of the recently built hotels and it seems like I have had the same one 20 times in the past few years. There is a seperate shower stall and a large deep tub both lined in marble, a dual sink vanity and a seperate toilet room. It also has a small flat-screen TV, makeup mirror, scale and blow dryer plus a good collection of soaps and other assorted bathroom goodies.

Outside of the room... I only ended up eating one meal at MB, a late night breakfast at Raffles, their 24 hour coffee shop. The room is one of the nicest coffee shops in town and even commented on the "swanky-ness" of it to the hostess. However, the menu was pretty limited maybe even the smallest I have seen and the service was hardly the best. I have noticed a trend lately with bad service after midnight in a mostly empty restaurant. If you only have one table, wouldn't it behoove you to make sure you get the best tip possible from them? I just don't get it. I did play a little in the casino while I was there and didn't have much luck. The casino is huge as is the sports book with all the latest and greatest machines. It is a video poker wasteland and the table minimums were mostly $10-15 regardless of time of day. Drink service was great in some places not so much in other so if that important to you, you may have to move around to find a place where the liquor is flowing.

This was my second stay at THEhotel and it was a very different experience from my last stay a few months after it had opened. I wasn't thrilled the first time around but by the end of my second night this trip, I absolutely loved the room and the place in general. My problems last time were largely outside of the room and most of them went away by simply being familiar with the place. It is definitely a little confusing and the signage is still pretty bad especially driving around the property. The only other real knock on THEhotel is location. Mandalay Bay itself is at the far south end of the Strip and THEhotel is quite far from much of MB, particularly the pool which is almost a good half mile walk from elevators. All in all...if a hotel with large rooms, a world-class pool and a good collection of restaurants and nightlife are a priority, I highly recommend THEhotel especially considering the price is often comparable to regular rooms elsewhere.

Click Here for Room Pictures

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ARIA Pre-Opening Pictures!

2009-12-16T02:09:00.000-08:00

Even though ARIA doesn't officially open to the public until midnight tomorrow, it has been up and running for the past 2 days with MGM Mirage employees as the guests. They have been calling it "ARIA Fun Days" and security has been pretty tight checking badges. I checked out Crystals earlier tonight and it is prety damn interesting despite every store being ultra-highend. I will post the pictures of that tomorrow.

I went back down and poked around later near the entrance of ARIA and in a stroke of sudden nerve I asked a couple who was walking by if they were leaving and they said yes. I said I was a Vegas Fanactic and was dying to see the place, could I have their badge? They gave it to me. The keys to the castle woo hoo!!! Thank you who ever you are!

First impression... Absolutely gorgeous. Top-notch in just about every way, as much as one would expect with the price tag the joint has. It is styled like most of the recent properties that have opened, "Red Rock-eques" on steroids would be a good description. I really can't wait to get in there and check the place out top to bottom over the next 3 days. City Center really is a piece of work when you finally see it completed. Unfortunately, I didn't get much time to walk around as they were ushering people out so the VIP parties could start but as I avoided security, I managed to glance at most of the major parts and get a couple of good pictures before being moved along as well as some of the exterior of the build. I will post the Crystals picture tomorrow

ARIA Pre-Opening Pictures

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Complete Vdara Review

2009-12-03T19:01:00.000-08:00

Overall, my experience at Vdara had quite a few high points and a few issues; most were temporary involving the opening of a new place. Some however are major design flaws that will not be easily corrected. I will start with the good...

I was one of the first hotel guests to arrived after the VIP Ribbon Cutting. When I pulled up to the front entrance, I was met by 15 valets and bellmen standing there waiting for me. I almost felt assaulted by the service. I would continue to get almost overwhelming attention my entire stay. I checked my bags as check-in was scheduled for noon and proceeded inside. The big wigs were still mulling around and the media were being led on tours. I managed to get a handshake in with MGM Mirage CEO Jim Murren. At noon, we were told check-in wouldn't start until 1 PM. 5 years building it but apparently they needed an extra hour to get things ready! I used the time to find a spot to plug in the laptop and used the FREE (a shocker!) Wi-Fi to post the first set of pics. By the time I was done, the rooms were ready and check-in started. During my check-in, the key making system went down for a few minutes then once I got to the elevator, the first one was not working. Both issues were quickly fixed. The room floors were actually quite different than the lobby as they are dimly lit with subdued colors. A couple of cool features before even entering the room: door bells, electronic 'Do Not Disturb' signs and locks that just require the key to be waved past it.

The rooms are actually condos with a kitchenette/dining area are you walk into the room. It has a sink, microwave, combo fridge/mini-bar, Keurig coffee maker and the dining area was a small table for two. The living area and bedroom are separated by the media center and desk which is equipped with 2 large flat-screen TVs and a connection center with HDMI, USB, VGA, RCA and S-Video ports. It is furnished in the same modern/retro style of the lobby with mostly beige and dark brown colors accented by a few pieces of hideous green. The bathroom is quite big with high end fixtures, separate shower and a very large tub. The one big downside is only a single sink on the vanity. A couple of other cool features of the room include motorized blinds and a small locking closet which is something I haven't seen before.

Now for the bigger issues I encountered that will not be easily remedied... The room itself was great and I would stay again in a heartbeat if it weren't at Vdara. Despite my mistaken belief, Vdara is a completely stand-alone building. It is not attached to either ARIA or Bellagio. To get to ARIA, you will need to walk out of the front door and across the porte cochere which is only a couple hundred feet but still not fun at 2AM in February. The connection to Bellagio is even worse. After you walk down a short glass hallway in Vdara, you are deposited outside in a covered walkway that is 30 feet above a loading dock with utility pipes running overhead. $8.5 Billion building City Center and this is what connects the 2 crown jewels of the MGM business? Someone dropped the ball big-time on this one. The other major issue is a lack of basic amenities at Vdara itself. Once again, I get they are relying on ARIA to provide many amenities but not being able to get a cup of coffee in the morning at a 1,500 room hotel is ridiculous. There also isn't even a simple gift shop. Forgot your toothbrush or want a candy bar? Walk your ass over (outside) to ARIA or Bellagio. There also a lack of dining options with only 1 restaurant on-site and it is high-end. Bacon and eggs was going for $22!

No doubt staying at Vdara will feel much less isolated once the rest of City Center opens but leaving a key piece of the puzzle as a stand-alone building is a mistake and won't be cheap to fix though not impossible. This is an epic fail on par with the Aladdin Strip access disaster. The bottom line is Vdara is exactly what it is billed. If you are interested in staying at a very nice hotel with great service that is non-smoking and non-gaming then the issues of access may not be a problem for you and actually might sound appealing. If you are looking for a classic Vegas hotel, then it is probably the last place you want to stay.

Click Here for the room pictures...

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Vdara is finally open!

2009-12-01T14:47:00.000-08:00

It's finally open!!! Vdara opened at 12 noon to a decent amount of fan fare with news organizations local and national covering the event. The place is everything you would expect from the latest and greatest in hotel design. Lots of marble and dark colors as well as high ceilings and a lot of natural light. Its a very nice place thus far. Room pictures will be posted shortly...

Vdara Grand Opening Pictures

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Mirage's 20th Anniversary

2009-11-24T18:55:00.000-08:00

It was November 22, 1989 when "New" Vegas officially arrived with the opening of the Mirage. The first new building on the strip in years, it was a casino like no other. It sparked not only an unprecedented building boom on the strip but also around the world. Shortly after would follow Excalibur, Luxor, MGM and many others. More importantly, it created a casino explosion throughout the country and even the world turning places like Tunica MS and Macau China into gambling Meccas. It's hard to believe how much has changed since that day 20 years ago.

Steve Wynn has many critics but there is no denying the immense impact the man has had on Las Vegas and the gaming industry. His bold vision and fearless drive has made the city what it is today for none of the others would exist were it not for the success of the Mirage and Bellagio. The places he has built have provided the livelihood to tens of thousands of people and are largely responsible for turning a "sleepy" desert town into the sprawling metropolis of today.

Golden Nugget's New Tower

In somewhat ironic news, this week also welcomed the opening of the "Rush" Tower at the Golden Nugget downtown. Ironic because it not only was Steve Wynn's first casino and a blueprint for the Mirage but also because it just happens to also be the first new hotel tower downtown since... 1989. Think about that for a second. All of the construction that Vegas has seen in the past 20 years and ZERO was on Fremont Street. That pretty much sums up the situation down there, doesn't it?

As always, I wish the best for new endeavors anywhere in town but coming out of the gate, management is a bit delusional about the environment in which they are opening. The CEO is quoted saying "We're not going to drop rates just to turn dollars, I'd rather not have all the bodies. It's got to be profitable dollars for us to rent a room." Really? An empty room is better than a head in the bed? Once again, I am amazed at how some of these guys got to where they are. Fortunately, there is some sanity somewhere in the organization as despite the CEO's proclamations otherwise, the prices have been dropping steadily since the day they started taking reservation.

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Orleans Review and Room Pics

2009-11-18T20:52:00.001-08:00

The second night of the trip I moved over to the Orleans and got there around 1 PM. There was only a short wait of about 10 minutes at the front desk. It was a double on the 15th floor very close to the elevator. Since my last stay a few years ago, the rooms have been "refreshed" with new linens and draperies but definitely not completely remodeled. Never the less, the room was in pretty good shape. They are on the larger side for a standard Vegas room and has a seating area with a small couch and coffee table. I always love having a couch but in this case the downside was that the TV was little small and far away to watch it. Similar to other Coast Casino hotels, the bathroom is located at the back of the room and there is no closet, just a rack in the bath. A unique feature of the Orleans room is a small window in the shower area that actually opens, All in all, the room was decent enough with no real complaints though I preferred the room I had the night before at Palace Station especially considering was $5 cheaper.

As one of the largest locals casinos, the Orleans has a decent collection of restaurants, most of which skew towards the cheaper ends of the scale. There is a decent food court, a large buffet which was slightly better than average, the dreaded TGI Friday's as well as a still 24 hours coffee shop plus a couple of nicer places. The lunch buffet was nothing out of the ordinary but did have a good selection and everything I tried was fresh and tasty. A late-night room service burger while also nothing spectacular, arrived ridiculously fast which was nice after the problems the night before at Palace Station.

One of the reason I choose the Orleans was because I wanted to catch a Las Vegas Wrangler game; the minor league hockey team who plays at the Orleans Arena. The game was entertaining enough though not NHL quality but certainly priced right at $38 for a seat right on the glass and just about every other one was $8. Being a small arena, every seat is a good one. As a bonus, it was Dollar Beer Night which made it a hell of a bargain for an evening of entertainment. They should definitely be marketing more to the Strip as an option if one of the dozens of Cirque Du Soleil shows isn't your idea of a good time.

Staying at the Orleans, I got the feel that it is like the MGM of the locals casinos. It has everything every other one has, just more and bigger. Plenty of rooms, many restaurants and a giant casino. If you want to try staying at a locals place, it's a great way to go plus its only a short hop down Tropicana to the strip. The room was nicer at Palace Station but otherwise Orleans has much more to offer.

Click Here for Room Pics

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Palace Station Review and Room Pics

2009-11-12T18:28:00.000-08:00

I arrived around 6PM and check-in was fast with there actually being more clerks than people waiting. I have noticed less front desk staff at many places these days so this was a nice surprise to start out the trip. In a matter of minutes I was up in my room on the 16th floor of the tower. For only $30 a night, the room was incredible. It looks freshly remodeled in the past 6 months with all new furnishings including a nice sized flat panel TV and marble counters in the bathroom. The\ shower had a nice, high "rainshower" head with good pressure. One note, there was only a shower stall, no tub in the bathroom. Not a problem for me but might be for some. The whole room was in great shape and quite clean with no stains or burns anywhere. I couldn't have been happier with the quality especially at the rock bottom price.

Several times in recent posts I have discussed the issue of the dying coffeeshop and the Stations are at the forefront of movement. I got to experience the new Coco's replacement when I had a late room service meal a little after 11 PM. I pressed the button on the phone for room service and the it rang at least 25 times before I hung up. I tried again with the same result. After waiting a few minutes, once again no answer. I called the operator and she said that room service was available from 11PM to 11AM so they should have answered and she would connect me. Still no luck. I called back the operator who puts me on hold for a minute before finally finding someone at Coco's to answer the phone. Hardly stellar service! If I wasn't looking to make a point, I wouldn't have made that much of an effort and simply would have been pissed off and went with another option. To their credit; once I did place my order, it arrived quickly and was pretty good but the whole experience underscores my point that there is no way an outside establishment will treat the casino customers as well or offer the value as an in-house place would.

The following morning, I was in the casino playing a little Keno when out of the blue I was approached by a slot host who asked if I would like a buffet comp! It was good for anytime and for up to week with no points coming off your account. In all of my trips and all of the hours playing in a Vegas casino, that has NEVER happened to me. It happened once at an Indian casino in So Cal but never in Vegas. Needless to say, I was pretty shocked. It is precisely that type of stuff the casinos need to get back to if they ever want to fill all those new rooms coming online in the next few months. Kudos to Station for that move. I used the comp for a lunch buffet that was above average in quality but short on quantity. There just wasn't a really large selection of items especially compared to some of the other locals buffets around.

All in all, I was very happy with my stay at Palace Station. You just can't beat a freshly remodeled room for $30. Aside from the issue with room service, everyone else I dealt with was great with fast service at the valet and front desk plus the unsolicited comp while only playing quarter keno was an added bonus. Considering its location close to the strip and just off the freeway, it definitely is a decent alternative to a Strip place if you are looking for a good deal on a room.

Click Here for Room Pics

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Bob Stupak R.I.P 1942 - 2009

2009-09-26T11:26:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, Las Vegas lost one of the greatest characters to ever grace its landscape, Bob Stupak. The creator of the Vegas World casino in the 70s which morphed later into the Stratosphere, left a permenant mark on the city's skyline and history. Born in Pittsburgh and self-dubbed the "Polish Maverick," he placed his first bet at age 8.Running craps games in the army, he learned that he could make a nice buck because "people were prepared to gamble a little if they had a chance to win a lot." He bounced around the world for a while developing a PT Barnum-like flair for marketing but always had a love for Las Vegas. He finally moved there in the 70s opening a restaurant, gambling museum then Vegas World in 1979. Here he would begin to truly make his mark on Las Vegas. When he realized the Strip ended at Sahara, a quarter mile south of his casino, he took it upon himself to declare the Strip has "officially" been extended. He went to great lengths to get people into his casino in often classic fashion. Vegas World was known for the utmost in gimmick marketing, sometimes ending him up in hot water with the Gaming Commission. Though things like no-craps craps and late-night TV ads selling vacation packages and dealers wearing old-western bowties that read "He's Bob Stupak. He's Polish!" the casino was like no other.

While living in Australia, he got the idea to build the Stratosphere and never gave up on the dream. He knew people were drawn to tall buildings and set out to build the tallest one west of the Mississippi River. When first proposed; people said he was insane, that planes would crash in it. Persistant as always, Stupak was undeterred. Despite having to take on investors that would eventually drive him out and force the place into bankruptcy, his vision was achieved and Stratosphere remains one of the must-see atrraction in Vegas and an icon that can been seen from anywhere in the Vegas valley.

Stupak's personal life was as colorful as his professional one. He once bet a million dollars on the Super Bowl and was an accomplished poker player if not so much for his skill as his bravado. He would incessantly tempt fellow players at side bets on virtually everything, typically in huckster style. He once bet anyone in the poker room that he could do "between two and three hundred push-ups." Everyone rushed to bet the skinny Polish guy. Once he got on the floor, they quickly realized he never said "between 200 and 300 push-ups." They quickly paid up! He ran for political office on several occasions, though never won and was quite the ladies man. He almost died in 1995 when he wrecked his motorcycle and completely crushed his face. The traffic investigator when he arrived on scene couldn't imagine anyone living through the accident but Bob managed to pulled through. In 1999, he proposed a Titanic themed casino on the Strip with a complete replica of the ship serving as the hotel, sadly the Las Vegas city council shot down the idea. There was also a very charitable side to Stupak with large donations particularly to the neighborhood surrounding the Stratosphere. To say it isn't the best part of town is an understatement and Bob wanted to help the residents. He employed many of them when the Strat first opened and built a community center and park in honor of his father which is a jewel in the middle of a pretty rough neighborhood.

Rest in peace, Bob. You made a legendary place in the history of Las Vegas and your legacy will never be forgotten!

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Monte Carlo Review and Room Pictures

2009-09-18T21:43:00.000-07:00

For the final two nights of the trip, I moved over to a Monaco Suite at the Monte Carlo in anticipation of the wife's arrival later that day. I worked it out that after spending 3 nights with Mom, I would fly her back to Orange County to look after our pets as Lisa flew out for the last two nights. I managed to keep them both happy while not having to do it at the same time! It worked out well and I will do it again for my trip in December.

Check-in at the Monte Carlo was painless with only a very short line and I was up to the room in a just a few minutes. Amazingly enough, we weren't looking at a wall for once! Though far from the best view in town being on the 6th floor overlooking valet, anything was better than the previous 3 nights. The Monaco Suite is a really a mini-suite with 1 and a half baths. It wasn't priced much more than a regular room and it was well worth the extra money. Since we enjoy hanging out in the room, having the seating area and extra bath was definitely nice. The room itself was nice enough though hardly 5-star luxury. The furnishings were in good shape and everything was clean except for some of the dirtiest windows I have ever seen. More on that in a second... There was a flat screen TV but bafflingly there wasn't HD programming. I can't fathom the stupidity of spending the money for new Hi-Def TVs then not provide HD! The TV also wasn't really big enough to enjoy from the bed. They made up for it by having a very comfortable couch. The bathrooms, like the room itself, were also in good condition but both toilets were fairly difficult to flush, which was odd. The master had a combo shower/whirlpool tub but we just used the shower.

Overall, we were both very happy with our stay at the Monte Carlo. I have never had a very high opinion of the place since it opened back in the 90's. It was one of just three places on the strip that I have never stayed since there is nothing to really draw you there and the casino has never been very good. However; between the room, a surprisingly fun casino (if you aren't looking for serious gambling) and a decent selection of restaurants, we didn't leave the place all that much the entire time we were there. I sold the Monte Carlo short and it turned out to be a nice mid-budget place that might be a better option than something like Luxor or TI especially once City Center opens next door in Decemeber.

A very interesting incident happened on the first day at the hotel. As I mentioned earlier, the windows were terribly dirty. Lisa was poking around and discovered to both of our surprise that the window fully opened! I don't think I have ever seen a window that opened in a Vegas hotel so we were both shocked. Since it was a smoking room, we decided to leave the window open to air out the room. No more than 10 minutes later, the phone rings and its security telling us that we have to close the window as its obviously a safety hazard. No problem. We close it then as we always do when we leave, hang the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door as we head down to the pool. We are in the pool for about 30 seconds before lightning rolls through and they close the pool. We head back to the room to find that they ignored the DND sign and busted in to put a stop plate on the window so it didn't open anymore. It was almost as if they were scoping us out and waiting for us to leave to get into the room. The speed at which they acted was breath-taking! I'm sure if I called them for something, they wouldn't have been so speedy. It definitely gave us a good chuckle. It also served as a reminder that we are just "guests" in the hotel and its THEIR room and they will enter as they please.

Click Here for Room Pics

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New York-New York Review and Room Pictures

2009-09-08T16:38:00.001-07:00

The first night of my stay was at New York-New York. I received an email offer about 3 days before we left for $44 a night. We were supposed to have been in the standard Skyline room but when we checked in at 11:30 PM, the gave us a free "upgrade" to a "Park Ave. Deluxe." The room was located on the 3rd floor near the food court elevators and when we got in the room, I swore the window was a fake. There was not a single ray of light to be seen, even from above. The next morning, we find out it wasn't fake but looked directly at a wall 3 feet away. By far the worst view I have ever gotten in Vegas. We probably would have been happier without the "upgrade!" No big deal though as we were only going to be there 12 hours. Other than the view however, the rest of the room was decent overall. It is an older room that is still in relatively good shape but don't expect a flat screen with HDTV. There wasn't any major stains or burns and all the furniture was good as well. The room is a little on the small size but I guess there wanted to continue the New York theme to the rooms! The bed was comfortable enough with no sagging though the pillows could have been better. The bathroom is very run of the mill with only 1 sink but the combo shower/tub had very good water pressure.

As for the rest of the hotel; the place has a decent collection of restaurants, most of which are quite affordable including a big food court and an ESPN Zone. There are several good bars and clubs including the Times Square Bar which started the whole "Dueling Pianos" rage that every hotel now seems to have. It is definitely entertaining enough, especially while sucking down free drinks and slow-playing video poker at the bar. The location is also very good. Located feet from MGM's front entrance and just across from Excalibur and the tram to Luxor and Mandalay Bay, there are plenty of other options within a short walk. There are a few definite negatives against the place... The casino is pretty terrible as far as good games go. The pool is amongst the smallest in Vegas and as mentioned previously, the rooms are hardly the lap of luxury. All in all, NY-NY serves its niche pretty well. If you are looking for a younger crowd and want to party all weekend and want a room that is a step up from bargain, it is a great choice. If you are looking for a luxurious romantic weekend getaway, there are far better choices in town.

Click Here for Room Pics

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5 Nights on the Strip

2009-09-06T16:18:00.000-07:00

Just back from the End of Summer trip and there is quite a bit to post! I will start getting room pics and maps up tomorrow but I wanted to post a few tidbits from the trip. I would have done it real-time but had remote access issues. Mom and I spent the first night at New York-New York and then moved over to Venetian (actually the Venezia Tower, there is a difference!) for the next two and the luck of the draw as far as the view went couldn't have been worse at both places! At NY-NY, it was hands down the worst view out of a window ever Vegas or otherwise, despite Venetian's best effort to beat them.

New York-New York

Venetian

I like a decent view and sometimes will even pay a premium for it. However, I'm not that anal about it and generally don't mind whatever I get but being handed this back to back even after mentioning how bad the view was the first night is almost ridiculous! To top it off, in order to provide such an amazing view at the Venetian, we were the furthest point humanly possible from anything! Miles and miles of walking ensued during those 2 nights. The final 2 nights were with Lisa in a suite at Monte Carlo. The view was hardly spectacular but at least it wasn't staring at a wall!

Another nugget of awesome from the trip was a billboard that is along Industrial not far from Trump.

Apparently he is the angry, Old Testament God and not the newer, kinder "Jesus" God! You got to love Vegas. No where else can you see an advertisement looking for budding pornstars a mile away from one condemning all the city's visitors to death, I'm just bummed it's not prominently displayed on the strip or on one of those street blimps! Now that would be priceless. Much more to come in the next few days...

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Innovations in Separating You and Your Cash

2009-08-16T09:54:00.000-07:00

I have to give props to the guys over at MGM/Mirage for coming up with innovative ways to part you from your cash even in this tough economic environment. First, they started the latest hot trend in bargain dining, the "All-Day Buffet." For one low price, you can gorge yourself from morning to night thus insuring that you never even leave your hotel. It started at the Excalibur Buffet, which I wouldn't eat a single meal at let alone three, but the idea has now spread all over town from the locals joints up to the higher-end places.

The gurus at the MGM Grand have now come up with another way to keep you captive in their hotel. They recently introduced the "Prima VIP Privilege" program. Basically, you post $500 to your room account at check-in which you then use for food, drinks and entertainment. In exchange, they bestow upon you a bevy of goodies and perks. You get VIP Check-In, free suite upgrade, 2 for 1 entrees at most restaurants and 2 for 1 drinks at most bars. VIP Access to Studio 54 and Tabu, 1 round-trip limo to another MGM property and some others goodies. It sounds like an awesome deal. The catch? If you don't use the $500, no refunds. You lose what ever is left over. Therein the lies the pitfall of most "good" Vegas deals like this. The casinos are marketers second to none and while the offer is 100% legit, you have to work to get your money's worth out of it and they know most people simply won't do it. For every guy who get the maximum value out of it, 5 will leave $100 in their account on the way out the door.

Offers like this have made "working the Vegas deal" a science onto itself. Casinos work non-stop to get people in the doors. Everything from 2 for 1 coupons in the magazines to fully comped suites for the best players. For those in the know and are willing to put in a little effort, working these casino offers can be quite lucretive. For example, the "Prima" deal can be a nice windfall if you plan on eating most of your meals at MGM, going to their shows and partying at their clubs. For a 3 or 4 night stay, $500 is pretty easy to spend and scoring those added free perks along the way on as a bonus makes it a great deal. You just need to plan for it going in otherwise you will find yourself leaving money on the table. Learning these little insider tips on how casinos work have saved me literally thousands of dollars over the years. Looking back on my first couple of trips, I laugh at some of the foolish things I did with my money! Two great sources I use for finding the best deals in town and how to take advantage of them are the Las Vegas Advisor and the weekly LV Review-Journal column, Player's Edge. Both are worthy resources that everyone who is going to Vegas should have bookmarked. In the case of the LV Advisor, the membership is the best $50 I ever spent. It can pay for itself tenfold in a single trip. And no, they don't pay me to pimp for them!

Click Here for more details about MGM Grand's Prima program.

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Vdara Opening Delayed...

2009-08-03T16:13:00.000-07:00

I just spoke with the Director of Hotel Operations at Vdara, the 1st piece of City Center scheduled to open, and was told my reservation for opening night of October 1st has been cancelled and they are now delaying the opening until December 1st, 16 days before the opening of the rest of City Center.

Booking a room on the opening night of a hotel is always fraught with risk. Most usually don't hit their targets and if they do, it's usually with a "soft opening." So I was kind of expecting this to happen though was hoping that it wouldn't be delayed. She was very apologetic and comped me 2 nights once they do open. I used one of them for the new opening night of Dec 1st.

Updated: 08/03/09 4:00PM

Just to add a little more detail about our conversation... She mentioned the reason for the delay was Vdara is relying on the rest of City Center to provide many of its amenities. Since it will not be opened for 2 and half months after the planned Vdara opening, they would not be able "to provide their guests a complete experience." So instead of going with the "soft" opening, they decided to push it back closer to the December 16th opening of the rest of City Center while still giving themselves 2 weeks to work out any kinks. It also seems to me that it is convenient reasoning if they aren't quite ready to open the place. It makes sense from a PR stand-point. There is way too much at stake with this whole project to risk starting off with bad press if you can just as easily give yourself 2 months to get everything right.

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The Biggest Shoe Yet Drops...

2009-07-28T17:01:00.000-07:00

In the biggest shoe yet to drop in the financial disaster that is the Casino Gaming sector, Station Casinos finally filed Chapter 11 Bankruptcy today. It has long been spectulated that it was going to happen and almost did back in March. They have been negotiating with debtors for several months but were not able to come to a resolution to refinance the $5.4B in debt they took on in the 2007 leveraged buy-out that took the company private. The filing doesn't change much for the day to day operations of the company but a few bondholders will certainly be taking it in the shorts, as they should.

This BK filing is the price that Station's management pays for their hubris. Like MGM and Las Vegas Sands, they took on a mountain of debt beyond their ability to pay for it in a poor environment. The big difference between them and MGM/LVS is those companies built with their debt whereas Station just decided they were better than Wall St. and wanted out of the public company game. I am hardly an Econ PhD but only the very best of economic forecasts could have predicted making good on that amount of debt with nothing more than current cash-flow to pay for it. The Fertitta's got so used to the cash register ringing from the endless amount of Las Vegs home-equity that they couldn't envision anything but. Well that register stopped ringing and here now lies the remains of the Fertitta's grand plan. You know the guys over at Harrah's who made the very same bet but only for 3 times the amount of money are sweating coming to work each day. It's only a matter of time before that LBO disaster visits the LV Federal Courthouse with its tail between its legs.

I have predicted these BKs for quite a while and I believe that despite short-term pain, Las Vegas will be better off because of it in the long run. This is capitalism's nature flushing mechanism as those who made bad bets lose their money with no taxpayer bailout required. The new company that emerges is leaner and less burdened with debt allowing it to compete more aggressively for business. Once again, the winner will be the customer who Station will be fighting for. Remember that the very best thing that ever happened to both the Stratosphere and Aladdin/Planet Hollywod was BK as both of the places are now thriving even during this economic downturn.

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Web Hosting Nightmare Comes to an End...

2009-07-12T08:47:00.000-07:00

The horror of dealing with a 3rd-party web host has finally ended. After well over a month in hell dealing with the grossly incompetent people at Godaddy.com, I have moved VegasCasinoInfo.com along with my other sites back to my own server. It required a bit of an upfront outlay that I really wasn't planning on but to have control back and to not have to pay a monthly fee for shitty service is well worth it. The worse part of the whole experience with the clowns at Godaddy was not only incompetence but the arrogance to blame the problems on me despite basic common sense dictating otherwise. I even went through the effort of producing reams of data to help them fix the issue since they wouldn't even make an effort to look at logfiles. After the 15th conversation and hours on hold with tech support (which isn't even an toll-free number), they finally admitted THEY had a problem. They then proposed a completely unacceptable solution plus no reimbursement for the days of downtime that was incurred. It was time to bring the site back in-house! So after a long week of banging away, everything now resides on a brand spankin' new network under my complete control. This will allow for not only better uptime but to implement things I could never do with the amateur setup I was working with at Godaddy. If you ever consider using them for even the most basic of websites, think again.... I can finally now get around to posting some new maps and pictures that I haven't been able to get up due the problems with GoDaddy.

Since this was a pretty much a complete re-design of the network including plus a complete migration of the website and database, I would greatly appreciate it if you let me know if you run across any errors or fluky behavior. As always, THANKS for visiting VegasCasinoInfo.com!

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Palazzo Review and Room Pics

2009-06-23T22:57:00.000-07:00

The final 2 nights of the trip were spent at Palazzo in a Fortuna Suite. I needed to upgrade the accomodations from the Trop as Lisa would be joining me for the rest of the stay and neither of us have stayed at Venetian or Palazzo. They have been sending some decent email offers lately so we took them up on one and got the room for $179 a night. I am not a huge fan of the management of Venetian but I won't let that stop me from snagging a super sweet room on the cheap.

Check-in was a breeze on a Wednesday at 1PM. Only a 5 minute wait and I was on my way to my room on the 9th floor with a strip view. The elevators are on the opposite side of the casino from the front desk, which is a decent walk. The room itself was gigantic, at 940 Sq. Ft. There are 2 seperate seating areas, a wet bar and 3 TVs. Nice modern features include motorized drapes, a DVD player and Printer/Fax Machine. The bathroom was quite large with seperate tub and shower. Also, in addition to the double sink vanity, there was an additional make-up desk. It was definitely a strip view but because of the way the building is positioned, its was less than spectacular.

We really loved this room. The couch in the living area was big and very comfortable. The room was just perfect to hang out in. The size made it felt more like home than a hotel room. The furniture, carpet and electronics were in great condition and still had that "new" hotel room feeling despite being well over a year old and a smoking room. Housekeeping was great as they honored the "Do Not Disturb" sign but asked if we needed anything when walking out of the room and brought us towels in a matter of seconds. The only real complaint was
the heating/cooling system was a bit of a problem.. Though it had all the bells and whistles, it was hard to work with in full daylight and impossible at night since it didn't light up.

The rest of the hotel is as nice as the rooms. The first few times I walked through the casino, I felt it had a sterile feel but spending some time there, it grows on you. Aside from the distance of the front desk to the room, the place is laid out pretty well. There is a coffee place and gift shop right at the foot of the room elevators and the self-parking elevators are just a few feet further away. The pool area is very similar to the one at Venetian and are connected by a long walkway. There are several pools and hot tubs of various sizes as well as the new rage, an "Ultra-Pool." I don't quite get the concept of waiting in line at the pool to pay to hang out at another pool which just has more expensive drinks and louder music but different strokes I guess...

Palazzo along with Venetian have a lot to offer. There are a ton of top notch restaurants, several night clubs, a world famous Spa and a giant shopping mall. If they always were as reasonable on their room rates as they have been in the past few months and stopped jerking around their casino customers, I would stay there more often. However, their disdain for players coupled with the normally outrageous rates is the reason why we have never stayed there in the decade it has been open. Hopefully the new economic reality of Vegas will help the management of Las Vegas Sands see the light!

Coming soon... A new feature, Lisa's Spa Review. First up - Canyon Ranch Spa at Palazzo.

Check Out the Room Pics Here

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Tropicana Review and Room Pics

2009-06-11T19:48:00.000-07:00

The first night of the most recent trip was in an Island Tower room at the Tropicana. I booked the room directly through the website for $39 a night. The Island Tower is the large building in the back of the property and currently the only one open as the Paradise Tower is closed for repairs. I arrived at 3 PM on a Tuesday and there was zero line for check-in. Within minutes, I was on my way to my room which is a little bit of a walk through the casino and down a hallway over the pool. Considering the day and time, I was impressed with the amount of action in the casino. On my last trip through the Trop in December, the place was a ghost town.

Overall, the room was certainly worth the price. The first thing that strikes you as you walk in is the cheesy mirror and wood design on the wall and ceiling around the bed. It dominates the room! The furniture and carpet are on the lower end of quality but were in surpringinly decent shape. No major stains or burns anywhere. The bed was definitely one of the major downside, completely showing its age with a major sag in the middle. The bathroom is your circa 1985 formica single-sink vanity and interestingly large tub/shower angled in the corner. A few stray hairs that weren't mine made me question it's use but after throughly rinsing I hesitently decided to shower in it. Water pressure can be a concern in Vegas hotels and the Trop had something I never experienced, terrible pressure at the sink and fine in the shower. Often, its the other way around.

The pool area at the Trop was, at one time, the best in Vegas. It has long been surpassed by the Mandalay Bays and MGMs but it still is pretty large with a big nature area surrounding it. It pioneered swim-up Blackjack long before Hard Rock came along and even can be closed off in the winter making it one of the few indoor pools on the strip. The location is pretty good on the corner of the Strip and Tropicana, just across from MGM, Excalibur and New York-New York. Though the Island Tower is the furthest away from strip, there is self-parking in the back that makes for an easy in and out if you have a car. Hooters Casino is also a short walk out the back door.

Surprisingly, in all of my trips to Vegas, this was my first time at the Tropicana. It wasn't a 5-star experience in any way but consider the price, it was not disappointing either. If a large pool and a good location at a low price are important to you, it is a decent choice. However on most nights, for just a few dollars more, you can find better options such as Luxor, Flamingo or Monte Carlo.

All New Room Picture Page!!!

The Room Picture page has completely redone with every picture increased in size plus new links for easier navigation through the slide shows.

Check Out the Room Pics Here

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Death of Vegas Exaggerated?

2009-05-30T12:11:00.000-07:00

I just returned from a mid-week trip and the crowds were as big as I have ever seen especially considering it wasn't a weekend. Downtown on Wednesday night was elbow to elbow and every time we walked through the Venetian it was completely packed though noticably less so at Palazzo. Even the Tropicana was bustling on a Tuesday night. Back in December when I walk through there, the feeling in the casino could best be described as a morgue. I'm sure those who were in town definitely weren't as free-spending as in the past but it seems that the massive discounting the hotels have been doing is working to pull in the visitors. Perhaps the oft-predicted death of Las Vegas is once again failing to materialize? All is not roses and puffy clouds though. There are quite a few rotting corpses of half-finished projects around town, none more prominent than the disaster that has become Fontainebleau. 50+ stories and no completion in sight.

In the next few days, I will get room pics and reviews posted of the Fortuna Suite at Palazzo as well as ones from a fine Island Tower room at the Trop. I also have a handful of new property maps to add as well.

Visit VegasCasinoInfo.com for the complete guide to Las Vegas Hotels and Casinos. Property maps of every major casino, 100s of pictures and a ton of other info all without annoying ads!

Steve Wynn, More Wynn and City Center

2009-04-30T21:57:00.000-07:00

A member of the Las Vegas Advisor community recently reported that on top of the $20 he was charged for 2 drinks at a bar in Encore last month, there was another $5 charge. When asked what it was, he was told it was because he ordered his drinks in the rocks. WHAT!?!? I'm sorry but it takes a brass pair to charge for ice cubes after serving you a $10 cocktail!

I am a huge fan of Steve Wynn and have consistantly sung his praise on these pages. What the guy has done for the city of Las Vegas is immeasurable and everything he does is usually first class all the way. However, if this truly is the policy at Wynn and Encore, it is totally and completely unacceptable and goes against all the good he has done lowering room rates. It is precisely this kind of crap, along with things like "resort fees," that have caused people to stay at home and why Vegas is no longer "recession-proof." One VCI.com visitor commented that he has seen the "ice surcharge" at clubs in Manhattan. Great, that is fine for NYC where they charge $299 a night for a dumpy hotel, not for Las Vegas where you used to be able to get a deal for your buck. Hopefully this was just one woefully misguided bartender and not the start of a horrible new trend.

In other news from Mr. Wynn, he gave an interview to Bloomberg News saying he was "kicking the tires" about perhaps purchasing some of MGM/Mirage's casinos if/when they have their property fire sale. He emphasized nothing certainly was imminent but said “I’d be interested, if at the right price, whether it’s Bellagio or Circus Circus.” I'm sure he would love nothing more than to steal back Bellagio at a bargain basement price but wouldn't it be interesting to see Wynn own Circus Circus?!?! Would he upgrade the place to have turn down service with clown-shaped Pez Dispensers on the pillows? Seriously though, any asset sales by MGM or Harrah's will open up the competition on the strip though I would much rather see some fresh new outside blood setup shop next to the big boys.

Lastly, in a huge piece of news... it was announced yesterday that MGM has secured the final piece of financing needed to complete City Center. In addition, the lawsuit filed against them by their partner in the project, Dubai World, has been dismissed. This is huge news for the city of Las Vegas in so many ways. Firstly, it ensures that thousands of construction workers will continue to get paychecks. Secondly, they expect to hire upwards of 10,000 employees once the place is completely open. I question if those numbers are still accurate given the weak environment it will be opening in but whatever amount they hire will be greatly welcomed. Lastly, it will hopefully bring positive publicity back to Vegas when there has been nothing but bad news for a long time.

I know there are many strong feelings out there amongst Las Vegans toward MGM/Mirage and City Center in particular but if this place is a success, the benefits with go far beyond those at MGM to the entire Vegas valley. Here's to it being finished SAFELY and on-time!

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Stratosphere Premier Room Review and Pics

2009-04-15T21:18:00.000-07:00

For the second night of the trip , it was on to the Stratosphere. I had a 4PM check out from South Point and I used pretty much all of it. Getting to the Strat at the time I did, I was concerned with the check-in line as this place is notorious for horrendous waits at the front desk. Much to my surprise, there were only 3 people in line with ample staff at the counter. When I asked to make sure I was in a smoking room, the clerk told me that it was not so I asked for the room to be changed. She said she had to check with the manager?!?! After a few minutes, she comes back and says that they "will give it to me" and I was changed to a room a couple of floors higher. You would think by the way she acted, she was upgrading me to the VIP Suite! It gave me a nice chuckle on my way to my room.

I was in a "Premier Strip View" room on the 20th floor and it definitely had a strip view though it is somewhat ruined by the monstrousity that is Fontainebleau. I paid $60 for the night directly off the Strat website. Like the room I gotten at MGM the next night, the room was recently "beautified" as they called it but it definitely wasn't a complete remodel as it still had an old TV and a cheesy formica counter-top in the bathroom. The bed, floor and furniture were all in good condition however. All in all, not terrible accomodations considering the Strat often is amongst the cheapest on the strip most nights.

When staying at the Strat, you almost have to go up to the tower and they were giving free admission to hotel guests so I couldn't pass it up. I ended up spending over an hour up there taking pictures as the sun went down and watching people on those insane rides. There is now plenty of new material to update the picture page!

For dinner that night, I had my one and only meal at the Strat, a graveyard breakfast special at Lucky's Cafe, their 24 hour coffee shop. This place has been consistently good over the years and was just as good this time around. The food was all cooked just right and the service was fast. As a single diner I really appreciate that, just give me the damn check so I can go!

The casino isn't very good as video poker is usually poor and the table games are filled with gimmicks like crapless craps and 6/5 BJ. This is coming from a casino that boasts "Get Better Odds at the Stratosphere" in its ads. In several of the elevators, they actually had the balls to post this ad. With "better odds" like that, I will take my gambling elsewhere thank you!

The Stratosphere has gotten a bum rap over the years but for what it is and what it tries to be, it really is a good value. The rooms are definitely decent and usually priced right, the restaurants are much improved over the years and the tower is one of the must see attractions in Vegas. The downside being a not so great location and a poor casino but a rental car or an all-day Deuce pass are simple remedies for both of those issues.

Check Out the Room Pics Here

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MGM Grand Review and Room Pics

2009-04-13T17:25:00.000-07:00

The last night of my recent trip was spent at MGM in a standard "Grand Tower" room. It was a single king room on the 20th floor looking towards the east, IE not the strip! The room has been "remodeled" since my last stay in a regular room in at MGM back in 2003 but definitely not up to the level of today's standards (still sporting the 20" tube TV!) The room is a decent sized, as its not terribly old, allowing for a couch instead of just a chair or two by the window. The bathroom is exactly the same as it was in 2003 and like the rest of the room, its bones are starting to show some age. Both of the faucets in the sink leaked onto the vanity, some of the tiles were a bit beat up, the heat/AC made noise occasionally and there were a couple of large stains on the carpet. Certainly nothing that was a dealbreaker but not 5-star accomodations by any means. Overall, the room wasn't terrible and definitely worth the $49 I paid for it but feels more and more dated with each new place that opens or remodels.

I have stayed at the MGM a few times in the past couple of years as I generally like the place from a resort standpoint. The casino is absolutely atrocious so I resign myself to playing elsewhere but for everything else, it serves its purpose well. For starters, aside from Mandalay Bay, I think it has the best pool in Vegas. It is enormous with a several pool areas and jacuzzis, a lazy river and a lagoon plus the "ultra-pool" Wet Republic, if that is your sort of thing. It has the greatest selection of restaurants from fast food to 5-star of any casino in town and the location, while not perfect, is still good enough to get out and about easily. Add in numerous shows, nightclubs and other entertainment options, it really is "Maximum Vegas" as their motto boldly states.

The MGM definitely is not for everyone however... As I stated previously, the gambling is about as poor as you can get. Fortunately, scant play like a $20 in a penny slot machine will generate offers like the one I stayed on. Also if you are looking for luxury, this is not the place for it. With 5000 rooms, they operate on volume not personal service. If you want to be waited on, Encore is just down the road. But if you are looking for a place with a half-decent room with plenty of action, a great pool and all the feel of a "Vegas" casino then MGM definitely fits the bill.

Check Out the Room Pics Here

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Harrah's closes Bally's Sports Book

2009-04-03T17:03:00.001-07:00

Bally's abruptly closed their large Sports Book this week claiming it will re-open in September and are directing guests to the considerably smaller Paris Book instead. Since there is no remodel planned, this is merely another ill-fated cost cutting move by the wizards who run Harrahs and in typical arrogance actually released this comment through a spokes person... "The Paris sports book is in such close proximity (to Bally's) that we didn't think it would inconvenience our guests to filter them over to Paris for the time being," Pettit said. "It's a captive group within Bally's and Paris, so we should be able to service our guests with the Paris sports book."

Captive? Really? Are there not 75 other casinos in Las Vegas with at least 10 within walking distance of Bally's? At least one of their customers disagrees with them... "Besides, it's just as easy for me to get across the street as it is to walk over to Paris, and Bellagio is nice." said visitor Harvey Cherces. Way to go! In an save to save a few bucks, they suceeded in driving even more of their customers to the competition!

I have hardly been a huge fan of Harrah's and moves such as these have been the exact reason why. How much money are they really saving by making this move? I'd venture not all that much in the grand scheme of things for a company of it's size. What is worse than removing a major feature of the resort is the attitude that their customers are merely sheep who can be simply herded next door to a lesser facility and will be fine with it.

It's not all that shocking though considering this is pretty much how they have always treated their customers. They have operated under the assumption that if they threw free rooms at people, no one would notice the horrible games in their casinos. Every casino they have acquired has systematically been gutted and replaced with games designed to extract maximum cash out of midwestern tourists in the quickest possible manner. They are almost single- handedly responsible for the scourge that is 6:5 Blackjack. The irony is they call their slot club Total Rewards but aside from the free rooms, there is very little in the way of rewards.

The upside for the Vegas visitor is that with the ginormous debt load they are carrying, somewhere around $20 Billion, they will almost certainly be forced to sell off some of their properties. New owners = Competition = Value for Customers. If you're not a Harrah's debt-holder, it's all good!

Adelson loads up on LV Sands stock

Sheldon Adelson, builder and majority owner of the Venetian and Palazzo purchased 4.7 million shares of his company's stock on the open market this week. I have been a regular basher of Mr. Adelson in this space as the problems at LV Sands, while not entirely his doing of course, were made worse the business model he swore by. I would like give the guy props on this occasion however for nutting up $15 million of his own cash which shows faith in the company. As high as Vegas flew a few years back, I think it has been beaten down so far that if you pick a survivor, there is a ton of money to made. Apparently Adelson believes he will survive. It remains to be seen.

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Las Vegas Hilton Room Review and Pics

2009-03-20T19:37:00.000-07:00

We started our trip at the Las Vegas Hilton. On the way into town, we saw signs that it was NASCAR weekend at the Speedway so we knew it would be busy. We rolled into the valet at about 5PM and the wait at check-in was about 10 minutes. The Hilton has a few different room types so we reserved a "Grand" room because it is larger than a standard with a seating area that we like to have. At the desk I ask for my usual; smoking, high-floor, good view if possible. She tells me they are very busy with NASCAR in town and all she has is a smoking on the 3rd floor with no view. Ok, no problem, we aren't picky. We hoof our stuff all the way to the last room on a very long hallway, open the door and it is not only a non-smoking room with no view, it is not even a Grand room like we paid for. Back down to the front desk, where I am told the only other room in the entire hotel is also on the 3rd floor. I ask if it a Grand room, "No but its smoking." is the response. So I look at him for a few seconds before he asks "Is there anything else?" Ummm yeah, the 20 bucks I paid for the "upgraded" room! It is not a lot of money just the point that they were perfectly intent on screwing me had I not said anything. He goes in the back and comes back a few minutes later and tells me he credited my account with a surly look on his face. A very frustrating start to the vacation...

The rest of the stay wasn't too bad. The "premium" room that we ended up in was fairly nice. It has been recently remodeled and everything was in decent shape. There is a good-sized flat panel TV, marble counter-tops in the bath and it was definitely larger than a regular room. The only real problem was the amount of noise in the room. The door was so thin that I thought someone has having a conversation in my room! The AC also rattled, the mini-bar had a persistant hum and the elevator "ding" was awfully loud! It all made it a little tough to get to sleep.

The only food we ate at the Hilton was a quick snack of nachos and a pretzel at the Sports Book Deli, both of which were good. This is the 24 hour dining option at the Hilton as yet another casino coffee shop is no longer open all night. Fortunately, they do have an extensive menu. The coffee/wine bar in the lobby has snacks and pastries 24 hours as well. We played just a short time in the casino which has very little to note except the "Space Quest" casino still exists which makes it even more out of place now that the Star Trek attraction is gone. There are a decent amount of good single line video poker machines near the giant sports book that I spent some time playing without any luck!

All in all, the stay at the Hilton was slightly above average. It is definitely a long way from it's glory days as one the high roller joints in town but a decent option for an inexpensive room if being a block off-strip doesn't bother you. If you are attending an event at the Convention Center next door, its a no-brainer and the monorail station somewhat offsets a less than ideal location.

Check Out the Room Pics Here

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Encore Review and Rooms Pics

2009-03-08T22:12:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we got to spend a night at the newly-opened Encore at Wynn Las Vegas. It was the second night of our trip after spending the first night at the Las Vegas Hilton. A review the LVH will get posted tomorrow. We arrived pretty early on a Sunday and were greeted by not oen but two valets as we arrived. The first thing you notice is RED. They introduced the theme at Wynn and boldly extended it, particularly the chandeliers in the casino, big and 100% red.
The other "big" difference between Encore and Wynn is butterflies as the background element instead of flowers.

There was only a small crowd in the lobby. A nice touch is there isn't a queue line but actual person directing you to the shortest check-in line. After only about 5 minute wait,
we were checked in. We were offered a room on the 20th floor with a north strip view immediately or we could wait for a south facing view.We choose not to wait and were up to the rooms in a few minutes. The room, in a word, awesome. Much like the rooms at Wynn but much more intimate feel with the divide between the rooms. Though not a true suite, the wall is sufficient to achieve the result. The room is loaded with the latest whiz bang features. Flat Screen TV with multiple inputs, automated drapes even a fax machine/printer if you have a USB cable. The lights, drapes and even the "Do not disturb" sign are automated and controlled by a little box next to the bed. The bathroom is huge with dual sinks, large bath tub and a stand-up shower. Other amenities in the room are a safe, mini-bar, robes and a scale. The room just feels top-notch through and through. The north facing view did not disappoint either. From the 20th floor, we had a great view of Fontainebleu going up as well as out to downtown and beyond. It was definitely good enough to stare at for more than a few minutes.

The best part about the room was the price... $159 on NASCAR Sunday and I could have gotten Monday free if we were staying the extra day. As a result, both Encore and Wynn seemed to be pretty busy the entire time we were there. By contrast, we walked over to Palazzo for dinner and it did not have nearly the same action. Steve Wynn apparently gets it. In the new economic world, you better offer value or you are going perish and that is what he is doing. For that same night, we could have stayed at Luxor for $109 or get Encore for $50 more. Where are you going to stay? We felt like high-rollers just sitting in that room and after all, isn't that what Vegas is supposed to be about? For 24 hours, I didn't even think about my 401K balance!

The one draw back to the 5-star luxury is a lack of comfort amenities that we enjoy; no quick eat places even a coffee joint. All of the restaurants are high-end, including the "coffee shop" and room service prices are through the roof. So while it was certainly an great experience staying at Encore, it will never be a place I can stay at and not leave for an entire weekend like I have done at the Palms and South Point. But definitely something everyone should experience especially now that it is such a deal.

Check Out the Room Pics Here

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M Resort Opens on Sunday

2009-02-26T22:25:00.000-08:00

M Resort boldly opens sunday night to a worsening economic environment each day. Combined with the fact that it is 10 miles south of the strip, the place faces an uphill battle with a $1 billion price tag. However, owner Anthony Marnell is saying all of the right things to succeed in the new Vegas reality. The son of Rio builder/owner (as well as Wynn and a half dozen other casinos) Tony Marnell, his marketing pitch is similar to what made Rio successful when it opened, a nice place and a great value. No "$15 martinis and $90 Steaks."

He also plans on focusing on the customer, screening all employees for a "friendly attitude." Sure everyone says that, he will have to actually do it to pull it off. One thing he did say that shows me that he "gets it" in the new Vegas...

“People don’t care about all this bigger and better stuff. They come here with their hard-earned money — and every day they realize how hard-earned it is — and they’re going to spend it where they’re going to get value. They want to know that they are going be taken care of, and that you’re going to treat them like they want to be treated.”

I have been beating the same drum for almost a year now and its similar to the philosophy of his neighbor to the north at South Point. There was a time when Vegas was universally recognized as a cheap vacation. How quickly has it become the symbol of decadance? President Obama has basically made it criminal to book a convention in town because it is now the land of the $400 bottle of Gray Goose. Vegas needs to get back to value... in the hotel, restaurants and especially the casino.

If all goes well I should have some pics and a property map early next week. Good luck Mr. Marnell, may the gambling gods smile upon you!

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Rob's Vegas Brain Droppings

2009-02-25T18:50:00.000-08:00

Since Vegas is easily one of my top 5 things in life, I often ponder about my beloved city. I am fascinated by just about all aspects of the town so my thoughts vary from casino economics (one of my favorites) to the obscure like that just over 100 years ago, the population was zero, which still amazes me. I will often want to put these thoughts up on the home page but usually just never remember to do it! I have come up with solution, an idea whose time has come... The Brain Dropping!

I borrowed the phrase from the amazing George Carlin, R.I.P, which was the title of one of his classic books. I think it fits perfectly with what they are. Simply, a Brain Dropping is a random though posted online for the world to see and comment on. Kind of a cross between a Blog and a Twitter, much shorter than a Blog and more insightful (hopefully!) than a Twitter. Since they are intended to be short, I will be able to easily post one whenever a stroke of Vegas genius hits me, which I am not to humble to say is often! Check out the new section here... and let me know what you think!

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Boyd to Buy Station?

2009-02-23T18:05:00.000-08:00

This afternoon Boyd Gaming announced it has made an unsolicited offer to purchase a significant portion of Station Casinos properties in the Vegas Valley. Here are some excerpts of the letter sent from the Boyd Executives to Frank Fertitta of Station Casinos...

"We believe that Boyd is uniquely qualified to operate the assets of Station. We are dedicated to operating first class casino entertainment facilities and have demonstrated this commitment within the Las Vegas market for over thirty years. "

"Based on available public information, we estimate that the enterprise value of the OpCo Assets is approximately $950 million."

"As of December 31, 2008, Boyd had approximately $2 billion in available liquidity under its Revolving Credit Facility. We have sufficient liquidity to finance a cash transaction consistent with the terms outlined in this Proposal."

The "OpCo" asset that Boyd is seeking includes Station's ownership interest in Green Valley Ranch and Aliante Station (Co-Owned with the Greenspun Family) as well as Texas Station, both Fiestas as well as Wild Wild West on Tropicana.

If they are able to pull it off, it would be committing highway robbery in my opinion. Less than a billion for those properties when Aliante went up 3 months ago for almost $700 million by itself? I can't imagine the deal going through as stated considering there are several other people out there fishing to get into the Vegas market, i.e. Ameristar, who coincidentially built the Fiesta Henderson back in the 90s as the african-themed "Reserve." Another person who might have some ability to pick up one or 2 of those places is Michael Gaughan, owner of South Point.

As a small side note to point out how far things have fallen in Vegas... Harrahs recently spent more than $950 million on the new tower at Caesars before deciding to not complete it but Boyd may get a whole collection of properties for the same price!

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McCarran Airport Numbers down 7.7% in 2008

2009-01-24T22:30:00.000-08:00

McCarran Airport's 2008 passenger numbers were released yesterday and traffic for the year was down 7.7 percent with December being down 14.1% over the same month in '07. It was the worst year over year showing since 1981 but the December stat really tells the story of what is going on in Vegas. A 14% drop represents over a half million less people coming to town. Ouch! That equates to a whole lot of empty hotel rooms.

I definitely noticed a difference in the size of the crowds during my trip the week before X-Mas. It is usually not the busiest weekend of the year but this year was definitely unlike anything I have ever seen. Last year, I spent the same weekend at the Palms and on Friday night, the line to get into the Rain was circling the casino. It was easily a 2 hour wait to get in. This year, I was there also on Friday night and not only was there no line, I overheard one group of people talk about club-hopping around the Palms, something that would have been impossible just 6 months ago. Just about everywhere else has similarly light crowds.

The upside to the Vegas downturn is the abundance of deals. Not a day goes by without at least 3 emails with new offers and I am even seeing offers for Super Bowl weekend, typically one of the busiest and most expensive of the year. I also received 3 free nights this month at Encore just days after it opened and I am the furthest thing from the biggest fish in Mr. Wynn's database. I wish I could take him up on it! So those who are still planning to come to Vegas, shop around as the deals are plentiful. You can end up with an amazing room at a great price or a decent room practically free and I don't see it ending anytime soon.

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Week in Vegas - Other than CES!

2009-01-10T18:56:00.000-08:00

With CES going on in Vegas this week, it has been all the buzz on 7,283 different blog. It's a geek's wet dream! Despite the biggest techfest of the year, there actually was some other news coming out of Vegas this week.

MGM Mirage announced that it was delaying the opening of "The Harmon" component of City Center until 2010 and pulling the condo option out of it. With this change and others they have done, they managed to shave $600 million off of the price tag for City Center. They will finish the exterior of the building but leave the inside unfinished. The cancellation of the condo part is keeping inline with the overall weak demand for Vegas high-rise condos. I don't know how they are going to sell the rest of them in Vdara and Veer and they were banking heavily on that cash to finance the whole project. We will see how the whole thing pans out when it opens in December 2009.

On the very next day after the MGM announcement, a very different story came out. One that used to be common in Vegas but now is a serious head stratcher. An Israeli group asked for a permit to build the world's largest hotel on a site next to the Hard Rock Hotel.. At one time it was to be Las Ramblas, a massive project that was proposed then cancelled which involved actor George Clooney. This is absolutely puzzling to me. Everyone who has not been dead for the past year knows this thing will never happen. Especially since the company that proposed it is currently dumping properties just to pay it's bills. My guess is, they feel the permits will raise the property value but considering the nose dive that resort corridor property has taken, I don't think it will help much.

On a website note, I still have a bunch of property maps to add from my last trip, hopfully they will be done this week.

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Mirage Review and Room Pics

2009-01-06T22:50:00.000-08:00

The final night of the trip was in a Tower Deluxe room at the Mirage. In my 66 trips to Vegas, I have never found myself staying there which really is a shame since the Mirage is the place that started what is modern Vegas. I left Aliante Station a little before noon on Sunday and was at the Mirage in less than a half hour. On this stay, I got to experience both a remodeled and non-remodeled Tower Deluxe room during my check-in saga which I detailed below.

First off, the un-remodeled room... The Tower Deluxe rooms are larger than a standard room, located at the top of hotel and have a Jacuzzi tub in the bathroom. The room was decorated in light browns and beiges and is dominated by a giant armoire in the middle of the room. Instead the beast resides a tiny 21" CRT TV! There is also a small desk as well as table and chair. Aside from the armoire, the room seems big for the amount of the furniture in it. Despite the age of the room which I am guessing is at least 5 or 6 years old, it has held up pretty well with only minimal stains on the carpets and little wear showing on anything else. The bed was a bit lumpy but not terrible by any means. The bathroom is large as billed and covered in marble. There are 2 sinks and a vanity area on the counter with the tub and shower on the other side. As with the rest of the room, the bathroom looked great for its age. My only complaint would be the water pressure I had in the shower. If I hadn't known any different and this was the room I was given, I would have been more than happy with what I got. It is definitely a step above a standard Vegas hotel room. Unfortunately, I saw the remodeled rooms and watching the dinky little TV was a bit of a bummer! That's what I get for being a smoker!

The remodeled room was even nicer as you would imagine though it did seem smaller than the other room. The design is similar to Aliante and Red Rock with a lot of dark brown and instead of an armoire dominating the room, its the flat-panel TV. The bathroom is actually pretty much the same in both rooms with just the sinks and counter top replaced. The one awesome feature of the room is the media access center. From a panel in the desk area you can connect virtually any device to the TV. There are USB, VGA, HDMI and Composite/S-Video connections so you can use your laptop of portable DVD on a giant screen. I wish I had gotten the chance to use it!

As for the rest of the Mirage, it is still a pretty nice place. The casino is largely catering to mid to high rollers with virtually no tables under $10-15 even on a Sunday. There is also no decent video poker worth playing either unless you have gobs of cash. Needless to say, I keep my money in my pocket. So were others it seemed as well. The only real busy place was the sports book, which is expected on a Sunday during football season. I did get a chance to eat while staying here a few times. I had a late lunch at the Carnegie Deli which almost requires you to get a pastrami on rye. I am originally from New York and have eaten at the original many times. The sandwich was decent enough with a ridiculous amount of meat but in no way like in NYC. I guess you just can't get a good Jewish rye in Nevada. Go figure. One thing that was similar to New York was the price, $12.95 but does include pickles! Later that night, I was in the mood for some late night dining and wandered over to the coffee shop to find out that it closes at 11PM on weeknights! Yet another example of the on-going death of the Casino Coffee Shop (see my Dec 14th rant below.) You can however go back over to the Carnegie for a $15 burger and that is the scam they are pulling. Why offer a burger for $6.99 when you can charge $15 at the name brand restaurant! It is stingy little moves like this that are driving people away from Vegas, especially those of us who come to town frequently. They need to remember what made Vegas great to begin with but that is another rant all together! Anyway, I ended up with a giant potato knish and a coke for dinner and managed to get out under $10. Although I didn't eat there on this trip, I have eaten at the Brazilian steakhouse Samba in the past and if you are a carnivore I highly recommend it.

Now for the details of my check-in saga.. I got there at about 12:15 on a Sunday so I wasn't surprised when I was told that my room wouldn't be ready for a half hour. The desk clerk was very pleasant and offered a line pass to any of the restaurants to bide my time. I didn't use it instead going over to the Sports Book to watch the early NFL games. After 45 minutes, I go back to the Invited guest line as instructed where I am at first told it would 3 hours. I say I was told it would only be a half hour, 45 minutes ago. So she starts clicking away. After a minute of searching, she tells me she thinks she has a room for me and calls housekeeping to check. On hold for what seems like forever, she finally gets the OK and sends me on my merry way off to the top floor. I get up to the room and open the door to find a very UN-remodeled room but at least they got one part right, it's a smoking room. Now, I am not a 5-star room snob but I reserved the "Tower Deluxe" specifically because they sent me numerous emails bragging about the remodeling so I nutted up and paid the extra $20 a night. I debated whether or not to call the front desk to change rooms and decided it would be worth the effort. I spoke with a very friendly person who apologizes, puts me in a room several floors down and switched my key over so I didn't have to go back to the lobby. Great, that was easy. I proceed to get downstairs and into the elevator for my new room when I notice on the button for the floor is a "No Smoking" sign. Damn! So I go to the room, which is quite nice by the way, and call again. At this point, the 4th front desk clerk finally explains to me that there are no remodeled smoking rooms Tower Deluxe rooms. I really wish that would have been explained to me upfront, I would just taken a regular room to begin with! So I now drag my stuff back to the original room only to get there and the key doesn't work. Fortunately security was up in no more that 5 minutes to get me in and he assures me it will work in a few minutes. Sure enough, on my next trip to the room the key still doesn't work. Once again, security was quick about getting up there. I finally went back to the front desk and got new keys and didn't have any more problems.

Overall, it was a decent stay at the Mirage despite the room snafu and the late night dining issue. A few days after I got home, a survey request can via email so I filled it out noting my problems. A day or two later I received a reply from a person in customer service apologizing and offered me a discount or upgrade if choose to return. I may take them up on it on a trip with the wife since the location is great and pool looks like a lot of fun but it definitely wouldn't be my choice as a new home base anytime soon.

Click Here for Room Pics

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Gold Coast Review and Room Pics

2009-01-04T18:54:00.000-08:00

The first night of my recent trip was in a "Premium" room at the Gold Coast. I arrived around 3 PM on a Friday and there was a decent line at the check-in desk. With only two people working the desk, it took almost 45 minutes to finally get up to the room. They have recently remodeled all the rooms in the place as well as made extensive changes in the casino and restuarants. The upgraded room cost about $10-15 more a night than the regular rooms but have a trendy look to them. I was a sucker a spent the extra few bucks... The room is decorated in the dark wood that is all the rage these days. The armoire/dresser/ TV Stand is one unit and has a nice sized flat-panel TV. There is also a small desk near the window. One puzzling thing about the room... They spent thousands redoing everything but left the $5 alarm clock? They couldn't have spent $15 and got one with an IPod connection? It seems like a small thing but its one of the amenities that makes a difference for me. Anyway, like the Orleans, the bathroom is at the far end of the room and also has the little window in the shower that actually opens. There is just one sink and no tub. A interesting "feature" is that the shower has no door, just a fixed piece of glass covering half of the area.

I didn't eat at any of the restaurants this stay but did want a room service breakfast before checking out. There was no menu in the room so I ask a housekeeper; she proceeded to hand me a photo-copied piece of paper with the menu on it. I actually chuckled to myself. The food arrived quickly, was reasonably priced for room service and was hot and excellent all-around. I also have eaten at the buffet several times in the past. Dinner is just ok, nothing spectacular but the breakfast is one of the better spreads in town and only $6.

I have stayed in several remodeled older rooms recently and they all suffer from the same difficult issue, an old room still has old bones. You can't make the room larger or install central AC where none exists so it's tough really compare with the new hotels. However, given the price on most nice nights, the Gold Coast is definitely a very nice room if you are looking for a deal near the strip but not necessarily on it.

Coming tomorrow... Mirage Tower Deluxe Room Pics of both a remodeled and non-remodeled room.

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Aliante Station Review and Room Pics

2008-12-25T12:31:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, I got an opportunity to spend a night at the newly-opened Aliante Station. It was pretty much everything as billed including how far "out there" the place really is. The design and feel is quite similar to Red Rock in desert browns and reds. The first thing that struck me were the front doors. They are a translucent blueish green on the way into the lobby but amber colored on the way out. Very cool. Just like Red Rock and GVR, they have gone to great lengths to seperate the hotel and casino. With only 202 rooms, there was only a small wait to chack-in, no more than 10 minutes from valet to room. The room also sports the desert color scheme with a lot of dark wood and natural colors. There is a flat screen TV, mini-bar, CD/MP3 clock radio and a safe. A nice feature is a big, comfortable bench seat that is great for watching TV. The bathroom is pretty large for a standard room and nicely done with nice fixtures and lots of tile. The downside is only 1 sink and just a shower, no tub.

The casino has all of the latest greatest machines with nearly all having video screens for both the display and the marquee. This means that just about any machine can be made into something different in no time at all. There is goodly amount of multi-line penny slots along side tons of mostly weak video poker. The table pit is fairly large for a locals place with mostly low minimum games.

As for the location... I decided to take the I-15 to the Beltway route on the way up, which is out of the way but damn, there is a huge amount of nothing along the drive. It is seriously at the very north end of the valley. The better way to get there is by taking surface streets through North Las Vegas but either way, it's about as far north as you can go. However despite it's remote location, at the end of the day the Vegas Valley isn't very big. Even at 5 PM, I was able to make the drive from Aliante to downtown in about 25 minutes. Maybe living in southern California skews my perspective but nothing seems very far while driving around Vegas.

Aliante Station is quite a nice place from the lobby to the rooms to the casino. It better be considering it cost a cool $750 million and that is my biggest problem with the place. For a Saturday night, the place was pretty busy despite the economy; it was busy with nickle video poker and $5 Blackjack players. You need an awful lot of those people to pay the bills on 3/4 of a billion dollars and I just don't know if they have the clientele. Clearly, the place was planned before the economy went poof and the expectation was for growth around the casino. With that not happening in the foreseeable, I don't know if it can carry it's weight when all is said and done. Station Casinos is already starting to have troubles with it's debt load since the buyout and there are rumors of a bankruptcy on the horizon. We will see if this place remains a Station the dust finally settles on the current economic environment.

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The Death of the Casino Coffee Shop

2008-12-14T22:53:00.000-08:00

Its seems that another of the victims of the economic crisis is the legendary casino coffee shop. The home of the $2.95 steak and eggs and $5.95 prime rib is going the way of dodo bird. In efforts to cut costs casinos have turned to the venerable coffee shop as a place to save money, at the customer's expense of course. In past few months, the recently opened Aliante Station was built from the start without a coffee shop and went with a non-24 hour TGI Friday's instead. Sam's Town has replaced it's coffee shop with a TGI's that also isn't 24/7. Gold Coast has done the same but at least they cordoned off a section of the buffet for a placed called "The Cafe." My guess is it doesn't last very long however. While the guys over at Station are replacing their coffee shops with Denny's at both Fiestas as well as the non-hotel Wildfire casinos. Just short of shutting the whole thing down, Rio's Sao Paolo Cafe is only open fron 6AM until noon.

Why does this bother me so much? For two reasons; firstly it's personal. Anyone who knows us knows that we are hardly gourmets. Aside from the occasional steakhouse dinner, we pretty much live on coffee shop food and it's cousin, room service. I love how the menus in most places are giant, with everything from bacon and eggs to Italian and Chinese food. Breakfast is usually served all day and the aforementions specials that you would never found anywhere else in the world. Another great thing is how some places are noted for certain things such as the chinese at Gold Coast or the steak and beer at Eliis Island. All of that is lost with some chain place that actually strives to achieve exact facsimilies in every location. Don't get me wrong, nothing say 4AM drunkeness like a meal at Denny's but I can do that 5 minutes from home. It is not my idea of Vegas.

My second problem with this situation is that it represents more anti-gambler behavior towards the very people the casinos should be begging for, the serious gambler. Who is sitting at a BJ table at 4 AM on a Tuesday? Not the couple from the Midwest or the 23 year old Californian, its the guy who's playing 10 or 12 hours a day. Now you have given him no choice for a place to eat when he needs to take a break which is one less reason to play at your casino. You have also eliminated round the clock room service as well since it usually comes from the coffee shop kitchen. It is unthinkable to me that Rio has 2,500 rooms and 100,000 Sq. Ft. of casino but does not have a 24/7 dining option.

I completely understand the problem facing the Vegas casinos right now but some of the decisions they are making in the name of "cost leadership" are going to end up costing them more in end. Things like closing restaurants, cutting comps and gutting the casino of good games is only going to make the problem worse. I have said it countless times in the last year, Las Vegas needs to get back to it's roots as a "value" destination if it is to bring back the numbers it once had.

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LVCasinoInfo.com has become VegasCasinoInfo.com

2008-12-10T18:16:00.000-08:00

Although the old name served the site well over the past 3+ years, it doesn't quite roll off the tongue. VegasCasinoInfo.com was one of the original names I had wanted but days before it expired, the squatter that was sitting on it renewed the name. It sat dormant for a long time and I guess the guy finally gave up on his dreams of selling it for big bucks. So when it became available, I jumped on it.

The new name also marks the start of a lot of great things for the site. I have a bunch of new content coming soon and a cool new way of presenting it. It still being developed but the some of the new stuff will start coming online before New Year's. Everyone have a safe, lucky and happy holiday season!

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Aliante Station Opens in N. Las Vegas

2008-11-12T22:16:00.000-08:00

The $662 Million Aliante Station opened last night to the usual fanfare of fireworks and celebrities despite the state of the economy in Las Vegas. Located in the far north part of the Vegas Valley, it is intersection of the Beltway and Aliante Parkway. The numbers are typical of a locals place; 202 rooms, 120,000 Sq. Ft. casino filled with tons of (bad?) video poker, heavy on the casual food including a decent sized food court and a 16 screen movie theater.

Ironically, it opens on the same day Station Casinos reported terrible financial numbers. Due largely to the debt it took on to go private earlier this year, they posted a 3rd quarter loss of $23 million with revenue declining 10%. Not a great day to open a casino! I am very eager to check the place out and see what they got for their 650+ mil. With that price tag and the current environment, particularly in NLV, I don't know how they get their money back. By comparison, the Eastside Cannery that opened in August, "only" cost $250 million. The other problem facing Station is that any money made on Aliante will almost certainly come at the expense of Texas and Sante Fe Stations and Fiesta Rancho. With new development at a virtual halt in Vegas, they will just be cannibalizing themselves. As always with any new casino endeavour, I wish them all the luck in the world but like I said... Not a great day to open a casino!

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2008-11-06T18:26:00.000-08:00

Las Vegas Sands, owners of the Venetian and Palazzo, announced today that they were in default of certain convenents on their long term debt. This means that the lenders can call for the debt to be paid back immediately, triggering an almost certain bankruptcy. Sheldon Adelson, who owns 70% of the company, has already lent them a half a billion of his own money and may have to pony up more if he can find additional financing.

Its an amazing fall for a company that just a year ago was on top of the world. Adelson was one of the richest men alive and they had new projects going in Vegas, Macau, Singapore and Philly. All of that construction activity turned out to be the downfall as they took on way more debt than they can handle in the current horrendous environment. While the economic situation on the strip is certainly not Adleson's fault; when the downturn started, instead of trying to lure in the serious gambler he did everything in his power to drive them away by destroying anything even remotely playable in his casinos. Meanwhile, just next door at Wynn, he put in some decent plays and is weathering the storm much better than the guys at LV Sands. Of course, that is a gross over simplification but the point is that Wynn knows how to bring a customer in while Adelson was just good at fleecing them. I personally know of several high-end player who bailed on Venetian long ago. In times like this, a casino needs its regulars who won't think twice about putting in 8 hours a day in front of a machine. When things were good, the Venetian said "the hell with the gambler" and instead banked on the conventioner to pay the bills with $300 dinners. Well those people have stopped coming and his regulars are now playing at Wynn, the Palms and Green Valley Ranch.As the old saying goes... You reap what you sow!

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Caesar's Octavius Tower Preview

2008-10-26T12:22:00.000-07:00

Caesars Palace's new Octavius Tower is nearly completion and the Las Vegas Sun has a preview of the rooms. Designed during the pre-downturn heyday, they are going for the "boutique" hotel look that is so popular this days with the acommpanying prices, of course. The only problem, which is the same that MGM faces with City Center, is that the debt load taken on to build these super sweet top of the line rooms will not be able to be supported by the cash coming in the door. The days of the casino subsidizing thier insane construction budgets with $300 meals are over and they certainly wont be able to get away with $500 a night to pay the bills. The new 665 room tower with some additional convention space and restaurants cost a billion dollars. By comparison, the new Eastside Cannery tha opened in August was build from the ground up for a quarter of that.

The bottom line is that while all of the new luxury rooms built in the past few years are certainly nice, they cost way too much to build. Sadly, I think there may be a bankruptcy or two in the near future due to the crushing debt load some of these companies have taken on, Harrah's and MGM Mirage in particular. Upside is that when it happens, the winner will be the Vegas visitor who will be able to experience the best of Vegas at reasonable prices once again.

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Some Vegas Nuggets

2008-10-22T16:43:00.001-07:00

It's been a little while since my last update. I work for a big financial company so as you could imagine, the last couple of weeks have been chaotic to say the least. Fortunately, we haven't been all that negatively impacted by the mortgage crisis and my company still exists!!! Anyway, I hope to be making a few updates in the next few days including some new property maps that are WAY overdue to get posted.

Continuing with the economic crisis theme, an interesting tidbit was run on CNBC yesterday talking about casino stocks. Anyone who has been following them knows they have been absolutely slaughtered in the past year but one stat jumped out at me. At this time last year, Sheldon Adelson's (builder of the Venetian and Palazzo) share in his company, Las Vegas Sands, was worth $30 billion. He was even the richest man in America for a brief few days. Today, it is now worth $3 billion. Now that is no small change and he is hardly poor but could you imagine losing 90% of your net worth in 1 year. Brutal!!! The numbers were similar for MGM Mirage's Kirk Kirkorian. Jim Cramer commented while MGM's stock chart was on the screen that it was the "ugliest chart he has ever seen in his life!" Of course, I would also happen to be the proud owner of some of those shares too. Ughhh...

In other Vegas news, some pieces of good news emerged on the downtown scene recently. If there was a ever a place that needed some good news, rumors have it that the shuttered Star Trek attraction from the Hilton will reappear downtown at the long struggling Neonopolis. This is excellent news if it turns out to be true. Neonopolis has been a ghost town since it opened and anything to bring people in will be a huge upgrade. It also will help bring people downtown who probably would never go there otherwise. I hope it works out for them but I am not holding my breath. The other downtown news involves the Plaza. Apparently, the owners, Tavares Group, are planning a remodel of the place. They have setup several different prototype rooms to decide which way they want to go. They want to "elevate the Plaza to just a notch below the Golden Nugget." That indeed is a worthy goal since the Plaza has been pretty crappy for a long time. However, I have my doubts about the management at the Plaza. Tavares has owned the Plaza as well as the Vegas Club for years now and they haven't done a single thing positive to either of those properties. If anything, there are worse off than when they took over. I know downtown has its issues and big capital projects are hard to justify but there just hasn't been any effort on their part to really make a difference. As with the Star Trek/Neonpolis news, I wish them the best of luck but there has been a lot of talk downtown in recent years but not a whole lot of action.

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Wall St. Disaster

2008-09-29T18:24:00.001-07:00

Well today was one of the worst days in Wall St. history. The Dow was off 778 points, the NASDAQ is under 2000 and the S&P 500 has lost 4 years of gains. All because a few Republican clowns in Congress suddenly "found principles" that they gave up long ago and voted down the Bailout package. Not without blood on their hands, 1/3 of Democrats also voted it down. It is inconceivable to me how this was not passed and the consequences were predictable. It is high time for a through and complete cleansing of Washington. Both McCain and Obama stood around the past 2 years and watched this happen. Neither deserves the White House.

I am tired of also hearing how this is a bailout of "millionaire bankers." Im sorry but it was myself and the 100s of millions of others with 401Ks and pensions who were the ones who lost $1.2 trillion today because of a few guys, who have sold their soul eons ago, picked today to find God. Everyone needs to get on-board with this package before all of us are screwed for a very long time. Its time for the class warfare crap to end and to get this plan into action before it's too late. The partisan bickering at a time

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City Center's ARIA Preview and July's Casino Numbers

2008-09-12T17:29:00.000-07:00

The Los Angeles Times was allowed a sneak peek at the rooms in ARIA, the largest component of MGM Mirage's City Center. The rooms will be loaded with technology never seen in a hotel room before. Some of the nicest features include the drapes opening and lights coming on when you enter and the lights going off and the tempurature adjusting when you check out. You will also be able to control the lights and temperature, play music and video all run through the 42" flat screen and a joystick remote console. The coolest thing about the whole setup is that when the battery starts to run low on the console, it notifies housekeeping to replace it! That is pretty slick.

Of course, the downside to all of this technology is room rates that will assuredly be through the roof. It's been many years since Vegas has had a shortage of luxury hotel rooms and these 4,000 will certainly not help stretch your vacation dollar. Sadly, rooms at FountaineBleu will be similarly equipped (I-Macs in every room) and similarly priced it opens in 2009. It will be very interesting to see how the high end plays out once these additional 8,000 rooms comes on-line. Thus far, that sector has fared pretty well compared to the mid and low end places but this definitely won't help room rates that are already down 25%. If nothing else, this will benefit the Vegas visitor as places like Bellagio and Venetian will be forced to compete with better deals.

Along those lines... the casino number for July came out this week and showed a continue trend of declining revenue. Clark county, which included Vegas and all point south, was down 15% over last year with the strip showing similar results. This is the seventh consectutive month of declines and there is no sign of it letting up anytime soon. I did hear one analyst point out that "at least next year's numbers will be easier to beat." I guess you can always put a positive spin on $150 million less in taxable revenue! Let's hope that the casino companies pain is our gain in the way of continued discounting on everything from rooms to shows.

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Death at Bally's and other Vegas Tidbits

2008-09-06T09:53:00.000-07:00

In the early morning hours yesterday, an argument at the Front Desk of Bally's led to the stabbing death of a 22 year old woman. The female suspect fled on foot but turned herself in to the LVMPD 5 hours later. 23 year old Latrovia Reed from Milwaukee was also being held on an outstanding warrant for prostitution.

Ms. Reed looks like yet another example of the dregs of society that often migrate to Las Vegas. This is one of the uglier sides of Las Vegas. The sheer number of transients that show up in town looking for either riches or victims is just astounding. Stories like this serve to remind us that despite having more "security" than any other city on earth, you really need to be in "urban" mode at all times in Vegas. It is no different than any other big city in America and you need to have common sense and look out for yourself.

In other news, The troubled and foreclosed Cosmopolitan that is rising between City Center and Bellagio once again has a new party helping trying to get the thing built. Related Cos. of New York has been hired by owners Deutsche Bank to finish the $3.9 billion resort that Deutsche ending up owning through foreclosure on the original developer. The move is being cheered as a step towards completing what had the potential of being a giant unfinished eyesore in the middle of the strip.

Rumors of a partnership between Deutsche and Related have been floating around for months (see my May 30th Blog Entry.) This is Related 3rd try at getting a resort in Vegas and they may have to settle for just running one instead of owning it. Related track record has been questionable in Las Vegas but they do have some skill to get things done. They have built the enormous World Market Center downtown as well as the Time Warner Center in New York City, which is pretty impressive. With the financial muscle of Deutsche Bank and their apparently will to see this thing through, I believe that Cosmopolitan will eventually see the light of day. I think that bodes well for Vegas as a whole.

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Labor Day Weekend Rates Down Double Digits

2008-08-31T13:23:00.000-07:00

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported this week that room rates in town are down double digits on average and upwards of 50% in some cases. As has been the case recently, the higher end properties seem to be holding up better than the mid and low end places. For example, Venetian was down 17% while the Riviera was down 39%. The discounting seems to be working as McCarran Airport is predicting that it may match last year's passenger volume.

This is a continuation of what I have seen in my 2 trips in the past month. People are still coming to town in droves, they are just spending less money while they are there.I noticed that to be the case in many aspects. The lines were a little sparse at the ultra lounges but the casino bars were packed. The gourmet restaurants were less busy but the coffee shops and casual places had waits. This tells me 2 things about the future of Las Vegas. Bringing back the value that made Vegas great in the past is exactly what is needed right now and that once the economy does pick back up, the casino companies stand to take off once again because the people are still coming and they will have fatter wallets in the future. You may start getting worried if we see sharp declines in the visitor numbers.

On a different topic... I would like to add some color to my review of the Hooters room below. I posted it on several internet message boards and quite a few people disagreed with my assessment based on the pics I posted. I want to clarify that it was far from the most disgusting or flithy room I have ever stayed in. I lived in Motel 6s for a month so I have see some scary rooms. My major problem with the room was pretty much everything but the room. The elevators, hallways, view and the general cleanliness of the place. It was just cheesy and depressing and it seriously felt like we were being "warehoused." Even my worst room at the Imperial Palace still felt like I was staying in a hotel. To be fair, I will give the place another try in the future if it remains around long enough for that to happen.

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Hooters Bungalow Room Review

2008-08-29T18:06:00.000-07:00

First, a little background... Back in July; my brother, some friends and I had a guys trip and we spent a lot of time in the Hooters casino. We originally went there to take advantage of their excellent slot club sign up bonus, $100 in free play and a ticket to see the comedian Bobby Slaton. If you like obnoxious, raunchy humor, the guy is awesome. Otherwise, probably not your cup of tea. Anyway, afterwards we played a little and had a blast. The casino quite fun with the Hooters girls dealing cards and serving drinks. It certainly beats your average zero personality dealer at most places! We ended up back there a few times over the weekend. When I returned home on Monday, I had an email thanking me for my play and offering me 2 free nights in August. What a sweet deal for only minimal play compared to what I normally do. My brother received the same offer. I was planning a trip back to town in August with the wife so I figured if nothing else I would take the room for a night just for the room pictures.

Lisa and I checked in at about 5 PM on a Wednesday and there was no one in line. We were directed to the elevators at the back of the casino to a room on the 3rd floor. We get in the elevator and go up 2 floor, the door opens and we immediately think it must be the wrong floor because the elevator lobby looks like a prison. Industrial gray paint with the trademark pine "accents." After get out, we venture down an equally dreary hallway. It literally felt like it was a housekeeping area or something. We then open the door to what has to be the cheesiest room I have ever had in Vegas. The room had "office building lobby" grade carpeting and the cheap pine molding everywhere. There wasn't even a night stand, just 2 piece of wood nailed to the wall. The desk and armoire where of equal high quality. I have purchased better furniture at Target. The bathroom was the same deal. The only modification to the original 1974 bathroom was the enchanting pine molding yet again.

The quality of the furnishings wasn't even the real problem, the place just had a disgusting feel. From the hallway of horrors to the cheap stained carpet to the overflowing dumpster that was our view, it just was a scary experience. Lisa didn't even want to stay the length of time to get the room pictures! We immediately picked up our stuff, dropped the keys in the express check out and left. Total length of our Hooters stay: 15 minutes check in to check out!

I don't want to totally bash Hooters based on this one experience because these rooms are their cheapo ones. I am hoping the tower rooms are a better experience because I wouldnt wish a Bungalow room on anyone. If you are planning at stay at Hooters, spend the extra $10 a night for a tower room. I would still, however, definitely recommend their casino if you want a fun low-roller place with good drink service.

Click Here for pictures of the Hooters Bungalow room. They don't do this experience justice!!!

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Back from the another trip...

2008-08-19T21:33:00.000-07:00

Just got back from another trip and although the gambling was BRUTAL, that is always expected so I managed to still have a great time. It was 2 nights in a new suites at South Point and 2 nights in a suite at MGM. We did most of our gambling at South Point and the video poker gods did not smile upon thee... It was pretty much an ass kicking from beginning to end. The stay at MGM was more a traditional Vegas Strip stay. A lot of food, pool and a trip to the spa for Lisa. One of the nights, I double booked a room at Hooters through a email offer I got for two free nights for signing up for their slot club. Pictures and a review will be posted in the next day or so but they don't do the room justice. Check back for this plus new property maps, and other nuggets of wisdom!

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Boyd "delays" Echelon Plus New Property Maps!

2008-08-01T15:58:00.000-07:00

Boyd Gaming announced today that it was suspending work for "3 or 4 quarters" on its Echelon project where the Stardust once stood. They cited problems in the credit markets as the reason as they couldn't line up financing for their $3.3 billion portion of the the bill. Their partners, Morgans Hotel Group and General Growth Properties, are facing similar problems in raising their parts as well.

There have been a truckload of failed projects in Vegas recently especially in the condo market but this marks the first time one of the major gaming companies have closed up shop. While Wall Street cheered the news to a 20% gain, this doesn't bode well for Vegas long term. Echelon, along with City Center,, which is facing its own difficulties, were being counted on to save Las Vegas' housing market as they were to bring thousands of jobs to town. This delay doesn't help matters. I have regularly harped about the need for the Strip to be more competitive in this environment but I think at this point its not a matter of cheap buffets and free rooms. Nothing gets better in Vegas until the economy as a whole turns around. The myth of a "recession-proof Vegas has been shattered.

All is not gloomy however, Wynn's Encore plus 2 locals places open between now and the end of the year and Fountainbleu looks like it is well progressing toward an 2009 opening followed by City Center in 2010. If nothing else, enjoy Vegas now while the crowds are down and the deals are flowing!

A website update note... I have posted a bunch of new Property Maps from my recent trip. I have maps of Hooters and Suncoast which a brand new additions plus updates for 6 or 7 others. Enjoy!

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Mandalay Bay Review

2008-07-26T10:29:00.000-07:00

The final 2 nights of the trip were at Mandalay Bay in one of the remodeled Strip view rooms. All 3 of the rooms on this trip were recently redone showing that Vegas never stays with the status quo even at the lower end joints. This room cost more than the previous two combined and at $239 a night, the most I have paid for a room in ages. Since it was a buddy's birthday, he decided where we would stay.

We got there pretty early, around 11:30 but were still able to check-in. We were given a 2 queen room on the 33rd floor with an incredible view all the way down the strip and out to the airport. At 550 Sq.Ft., the room is a nice size. It had a funky table/chair combo thing by the window with a desk, dresser and nice size flat screenTV rounding out the furnishings. The bathroom is great with a large vanity and seperate tub and shower. The bed at first glance appear big and comfortable but I would soon realize, it was the worst bed of the trip. It completely sloped to one side and made for 2 pretty bad nights of sleep. I ended up sleeping on the edge of it for both nights. Also, the safe was useless for anything larger than a wallet. I just can't fathom how a room that was redone in the last year doesn't have a laptop sized safe, especially at a place that is trying to pull down the convention traveler.

We spent a good portion of the our time at the pool of course. Mandalay Bay is all about the pool. It is huge with several regular pools plus a giant wave pool and a lazy river. There is also a poolside casino, nudie pool and a stage to host outdoor concerts. The drink service was good once they realize you are drinking. They keep it flowing at that point, at $11 a piece of course... We had a blast hanging out going from pool to pool and just being idiots. No doubt this is one of the top 2 pools in town.

The casino is typical new, hip casino garbage. Loads of 6/5 Blackjack and nothing in the way of playable video poker. Yet despite that fact, it was packed all weekend. On both Friday and Saturday nights, they had 10 craps tables open and they were lined up 2 deep and there wasn't a BJ table under $25. Needless to say, there wasn't much gambling going on at the "Bay." We did however spend way to much on overpriced drinks in the casino bars.

The only restaurant we tried was the Burger Bar in Mandalay Place. It is most famous for the $60 Fois Groi and Truffle Kobe burger but the standard run of the mill burger was excellent. A nice half pound of beef with just about any topping you could imagine, hence the name "Burger Bar." Highly recommended if you are in the mood for a nice, big juicy burger.

Mandalay Bay is a very nice place they just think WAY too highly of themselves. The room prices are ridiculous in this economic environment and judging by the way it dropped from $289 to $239 in the 2 weeks I watched them before booking, I think they are realizing it. There were no bargains anywhere else in the place from the casino to the gift shop to the bars. Its a nice place to stay every once in a while, especially during pool season but I just could never see staying there on a regular basis. There are just too many other places in town that offer much more for less.

Visit LVCasinoInfo.com for the complete guide to Las Vegas Hotels and Casinos. Property maps of every major casino, 100s of pictures and a ton of other info all without annoying ads!

Bill's Gamblin' Hall Review

2008-07-23T18:17:00.000-07:00

The second night of the trip was at Bill's Gamblin' Hall. You just got to love the downhome feel of the apostrophe in "Gamblin'!" This room was a 2 queen on the 3rd floor facing the Flamingo.

These rooms have also been recently remodeled but it definitely was not a top to bottom refurb as the bathroom was still pretty dated. It is a strange room in that the bathroom is in the far corner of the room instead of near the door. This configuration made for a very small bathroom that was even smaller by the closet area being in there as well. It definitely was unlike any other room I have ever had in Vegas. The bed was comfortable though nothing to write home about. The flat panel TV was actually appropriately sized unlike the one at Circus Circus the night before. For $50 a night, it was well worth the price.

It was an interesting stay at Bill's. The valet is in the back of the building, not directly connected to casino which is out of the ordinary. The front desk is about 5 feet long with never any wait since it is only 200 rooms. It certainly wasn't a mega-resort experience, that's for sure. All in all though, Bill's was a very enjoyable stay. You can't beat the location with 10 casinos within a stones throw of your room. It made it easy to just stroll down the strip for a couple of hours, which I haven't done in years. The combination of location and price makes Bill's an excellent choice if you are looking for a modest priced room.

Click Here for pictures of the remodeled Bill's Gambling Hall room.

Visit LVCasinoInfo.com for the complete guide to Las Vegas Hotels and Casinos. Property maps of every major casino, 100s of pictures and a ton of other info all without annoying ads!

Circus Circus Review

2008-07-22T21:37:00.000-07:00

I spent the first night of my recent trip in a recently remodeled room in the West Tower of Circus Circus. It was a single king on the 17th floor facing the strip. The decor was pleasantly surprising without a trace of pink to be found anywhere! The bed was pretty comfortable as was the large chair by the window. The bathroom also has been remodeled but it is still small with just 1 sink and a combo tub/shower. Not much you can do about that. With that said... for a remodeled room, it was a bit worn already. There were some stains on the carpet and a cracked tile on the bathroom floor. The window also looked like it hasn't been cleaned since it was built! The flat panel TV, while a nice touch, was definitely on the small side. Another curious thing I noticed about the room was a complete lack of "accessories." No matches, pens, notepads or even the ubiquitous hotel guide. I don't know if that is standard policy but that is what I got.

I only had 1 meal during my stay at "Le Cirque," a late night breakfast special in the 24 hour Casino Cafe. I didn't see it offered anywhere but when I ordered the normal breakfast off the menu, the waitress told me about it and saved me $5. It was served up piping hot in about all of 5 minutes. I may have just been starving but it was all very good. I was out the door in 20 minutes for under $10. 2 enthusiastic thumbs up for the Casino Cafe.

Of course. the first thing comes to mind when you think about Circus Circus (after the horror of the clowns) is the KIDS! Personally, I dont believe that kids belong in Vegas but that is just my opinion. However, I fully expect that at CC and it doesn't really bother me. I actually bought an all-day pass for the Adventure Dome and had a blast on the riding the roller coaster a bunch of times.

Other miscellaneous thoughts... The elevator are not the speediest in the world. I swear only 1 was running in my bank as I always ended up on the same one. The valet is also pretty slow. Getting out of there on a Thursday morning took more than 20 minutes. One of the best amenities ever, the phone check-in service. The Circus Circus lobby is ALWAYS a nightmare, day or night. I bypassed what was easily an hour wait to check-in. There was only person at the window when I walked up and had my keys in 2 minutes. Make sure you take advantage of this option if you are staying here.

Click Here for room pictures of the remodeled West Tower Room.

Visit LVCasinoInfo.com for the complete guide to Las Vegas Hotels and Casinos. Property maps of every major casino, 100s of pictures and a ton of other info all without annoying ads!

Just Back from the City of Sin!

2008-07-20T19:41:00.000-07:00

I just returned from 4 more nights in Vegas. I did the first night at Circus Circus then one night at Bill's Gambling Hall and finished with two nights at Mandalay Bay. Interestingly, all three rooms were recently remodeled. It was a guys trip with a bunch of old friends from around the country meeting up for the first time in years. Needless to say, it was a very different trip than when I am with the wife!

There will be quite a few updates over the coming days. I will have room pics and reviews of all 3 hotels (CC wasn't that bad, really!) plus a bunch of property map and other miscellaneous updates. Check in through the week for new stuff!

In other miscellaneous Vegas news of note while I was gone... The Clark County Commission voted last week to proceed with a new terminal at McCarran Airport at a cost of $1.7 billion despite opposition from the airline industry themselves. They claim that there is a need to re-evaluate the need for the terminal in the face of $140 oil.

This is a tough call for airport officials. In the past, every new hotel room that got built also got filled. With new rooms comes the need for more airport capacity. There are 30,000 room coming online in the next 3 or 4 years; they need to be able to get bodies into town. On the other hand, is this downturn unlike others Vegas has faced in the past? Many before have all but counted Vegas as dead and they have all been wrong. Are things different this time around. Of course, I believe the answer lies somewhere in the middle. I don't think that prices of rooms, shows and meals will continue as they have in the past. The days of charging $400 are over. There will be a return to value, at least on some level, that will make Vegas appealing once again to the average American. The airport guys need to look at every way to squeeze capacity out of the existing terminal and perhaps scaling back plans for a new terminal to something a little less ambitous. After all, the people who have to pay for this thing are the ones who use the airport. I know the temptation is almost irresistable for government but don't screw us more than is absolutely necessary.

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Downright Awful Numbers!

2008-07-10T20:08:00.000-07:00

The Nevada casino numbers for the month of May are in and it is not pretty! Strip revenue was down 16% representing almost $100 million less in business over last year. The news pounded casino stocks with MGM dropping more than 20% and Wynn taking it in the shorts to the tune of 10%. Many of the casino stocks are trading at levels not seen in 2 or 3 years.

This is just more bad news for the Strip.The way they spent money building the latest wave of resorts is coming back to haunt them. They have relied on the "non-gaming" business to rake in the bucks and that money just isn't there anymore. Less people are coming and those that do are spending less money. Out goes the dinner at Emeril's or Wolfgang's when for 1/4 of the price you can eat at the coffee shop.

Vegas got away from its roots in the effort to become all things to all people(with cash!) The casino became an afterthought and they still apparently don't get it(see my May 19th comments on the new City Center hotel "ARIA.".) They need to get back to offering a good deal on a vacation and good odds in the casino. It is Vegas. Sell it for what it is and stop being something it's not. Otherwise this downturn is going to last longer than anyone wants to believe.

Visit LVCasinoInfo.com for the complete guide to Las Vegas Hotels and Casinos. Property maps of every major casino, 100s of pictures and a ton of other info all without annoying ads!

Crazy Heat!!!

2008-07-08T19:07:00.000-07:00

Its not really big news considering its July in Las Vegas but the National Weather Service has issued an "Excessive Heat Warning" for the Vegas area tomorrow and Thursday. Temperatures are expected to be over 112 for the next several days. This may only be of interest to me since in addition to being a Vegas fanatic, I am also an amateur weather geek. Click Here for the current conditions at my house in southern California.

I personally don't mind the summer Vegas heat. I enjoy sitting by the pool and drinking frosty beverages for a few hours each day. Less than 2 weeks til the boys trip to Mandalay Bay where plenty of pool and drinking time will be had.

Visit LVCasinoInfo.com for the complete guide to Las Vegas Hotels and Casinos. Property maps of every major casino, 100s of pictures and a ton of other info all without annoying ads!

Sad Closings

2008-07-05T23:09:00.000-07:00

Last week, the Stage Deli at the Forum Shops closed for good. When it opened 15 years ago, it was one of the first famous restaurants to set up shop in Vegas. While I have never eaten at the Caesars version, I have enjoyed the original in New York and if it was even close in quality, it will be a loss. The last thing the Forum Shops needs is another "high-end retailer" that will be replacing it.

Also announced this week is the September 1st closing of the Star Trek Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton. Millions of Trekkies the world over are in mourning over its passing. In all seriousness, the attraction was seen by millions and has to be considered a success. Despite what was always a curious location at the Hilton which never seemed like a great home and a high admission price, it lasted 11 years and long outlived the Vegas as a family place phase the town went through a decade ago.

Adios and farewell to both places. Two more pieces meet the scrap heap of Vegas history for whatever is bigger, better and new.

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Government "Wisdom!"

2008-06-29T09:40:00.000-07:00

The Las Vegas Sun is reporting that Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons wants to tax food comps. He claims it would close a $150 million "loophole." This is despite his pledge of "no new taxes." I can only assume Gov. Gibbons has talked with his compatriot in the Sacramento, Arnie Schwarzenegger, as they both are No New Tax guys except they are both all for "fees, closing loopholes and revenue enhancements."

This "wisdom" is no different than the grips I have with the management over at the Venetian (See my June 21st Rant below.) When things are tough, you reduce taxes (or margins) not increase them! You have to be more lean and nimble not fatter and more bloated. So instead of giving us a reason to come to Vegas, the brilliant folks in Carson City just give the 35 million people in California more reason to gamble at the local Indian casino!

One more thing that needs to be noted here... Gov. Gibbons also said "“I want them (the Legislature) to close that loop so that we don’t get ourselves in a further problem dealing with it down the road.” Anyone who has ever watched a political mind at work know exactly what this means... Instead of closing a "loophole" the Governor is just opening up the floodgates. Does anyone really believe that once government taxes food comps that free rooms, shows and drinks are not far behind. Once they gets their fingers on a tax, they never let go just look for more ways to feed the ever growing beast. Just pathetic!!!

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The Deals are Coming!!!

2008-06-26T17:45:00.000-07:00

In the past 24 hours alone, there have been quite a few signs that the casino operators have finally come to grip with reality and the discounts are starting to flow. Room rates are down considerably for the holiday weekend and that trend seems to be continuing into the summer.

A report from the JP Morgan Gaming analyst shows that rates for the upcoming July 4th holiday are down an average of 18% over last year with Caesars taking the biggest hit, down 42%. It is the 13th consectutive week of declining room rates. Amazingly, Planet Hollywood's rates are actually up 18%. Apparently they are very proud of a property that has no real draw whatsoever.

Further anecdotal evidence of better deals ahead... In the past day; I have received email offers from TI starting at $76 with all sorts of goodies thrown in. New York New York is "Taking 20% Off!" according to their offer and Luxor is offering $50 in gas credit for making the drive to Vegas. I also have been looking at rates for my next trip in July to Mandalay Bay. Last month, it was $279 a night and this morning I got an email for $229.

It's about time these places have woken up and smelled the recession. The decline at Caesars, in particular, doesn't surprise me since in the past 2 years or so they have regularly charging over $300 a night on weekends. That is just absolute insanity even in good times. The arrogence of Planet Hollywood to raise rates is just stunning. Yet another reason to avoid that place like the plague. With management running the joint like this, how long before it follows in the Aladdin's footsteps to bankruptcy?

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