Two of 3 resorts will see enhancements purchased at discount prices
Monday, Jan. 24, 2011
In a resort about 40 miles from the Las Vegas Strip sits a hotel room filled with sleek and modern remnants of the shuttered Fontainebleau project. If not for a painting on the wall of a horse grazing by a mountainside, for a moment, you’d almost forget you were inside Buffalo Bill’s at Primm Valley Resorts.
A gambler at a Strip casino turned $6 into more than $12.7 million when she hit the Megabucks Jackpot at Aria on Friday afternoon. The gambler, who wished to remain anonymous, was visiting Las Vegas for her niece’s birthday when she hit the jackpot.
Straddling the Strip and downtown, the Stratosphere has long toed the line between an Old Vegas resort and a modern mid-level hotel. Its Top of the World restaurant with its pricey steaks speaks of a luxury resort, but its rides atop its tower say family fun on a budget.
MGM Resorts International launched its M Life rewards program Tuesday, allowing members to not only accumulate rewards on gambling, but also their total resort stay.
The 2011 Consumer Electronics Show was packed with innovation, the latest in gadgetry and thousands more visitors than the convention has seen in recent years. If there’s any indication that Las Vegas convention attendance is returning to its pre-recession glory, one of the city's largest annual conventions might be it.
Envelope, please. On Friday, tech website CNET announced the finalists for the Best of CES 2011, the official awards for the hottest products at the Consumer Electronics Show. The winners will be announced Saturday morning.
Lady Gaga fans and curious conventioneers flocked to the Polaroid booth at the Consumer Electronics Show on Thursday to see the eccentric performer and her new product line for the camera company. Polaroid’s Grey Label line, which the company says Lady Gaga had creative control over, includes a portable photo printer, a pair of camera glasses and the rebirth of Polaroid’s instant camera.
What was most notable about Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s keynote address Wednesday night was not what he announced, but what he didn’t. Ballmer kicked off the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show with a handful of small announcements, but they weren’t the major product releases some anticipated.
Two of Las Vegas’ largest annual conventions — the Consumer Electronics Show and Adult Entertainment Expo — are scheduled to open today and have given Strip room rates a major boost for the weekend.
The 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show won’t officially begin until Thursday, but Las Vegas convention halls are abuzz with talk of products to be unveiled later in the week.
Bolstered by a big fight this weekend, Las Vegas is gearing up to host 320,000 New Year's Eve revelers who are expected to drop $177 million while they are here — not including gambling.
Number of visitors expected to be up 4.4 percent from last year
Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2010
While many people are staying close to home for the holiday, thousands of travelers are making Las Vegas their destination for the Christmas weekend. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority expects about 260,000 visitors over the holiday weekend, up 4.4 percent from 249,000 visitors during the same weekend last year.
310,000 visitors expected during New Year’s Eve weekend celebrations
Friday, Dec. 17, 2010
There’s still two weeks left until New Year’s Eve, but pyrotechnics are already busy atop Strip rooftops to preparing to light of the Las Vegas sky. Officials from Las Vegas Events and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority promised their most elaborate show yet during a press conference Friday.
The $3.9 billion Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas opened its doors Wednesday night, giving the public its first glimpse inside the Strip’s newest resort — and the last to emerge from Las Vegas’ construction boom years.
Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas executives on Wednesday cut the ribbon on the $3.9 billion resort. Resort executives and partners marked the occasion in front of one of Cosmopolitan's signature spaces: the David Rockwell-designed Chandelier Bar, a three-tiered bar, dripping with more than 2 million crystals.
Las Vegas' newest hotel-casino opens its doors to public at 8 p.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2010
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas first piqued curiosity when it sent a horde of furry, little animals through the resort in its national TV ad campaign. Tonight, curious travelers will get to discover what the resort is really all about when Deutsche Bank’s $3.9 billion Cosmopolitan opens its doors.
The largest H&M store in the world is scheduled to open Saturday on the Las Vegas Strip. The Swedish clothing retailer will open its doors in the recently closed FAO Schwarz location.
Las Vegas Strip's newest hotel-casino set to open Dec. 15
Friday, Dec. 3, 2010
Workers at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas are busy putting the finishing touches on the resort, with just days left before its debut on the Strip. Situated between the Bellagio and CityCenter, the $3.9 billion, 2,995-room resort will open to the public on Dec. 15.
A night of New Year’s Eve partying at a Las Vegas Strip resort can be extremely pricey, but ringing in the new year at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas could cost you a small fortune. The soon-to-open resort released details this week of its exclusive (and expensive) New Year’s Eve package, which comes with a whopping $5,600 price tag.
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas began a mini documentary series this week, giving viewers a glimpse inside the soon-to-open Strip resort. “Stay” is the first of six videos airing on the Independent Film Channel and the Sundance Channel in November and December.
Buffalo Bill’s Resort and Casino at Primm Valley is temporarily closing today until late December for renovations. The hotel-casino will be remodeling its guest rooms and adding a Denny’s restaurant.
Black Friday lines have long cleared from Las Vegas Valley storefronts, but true bargain hunters know another high holy shopping day is upon us: Cyber Monday.
Seven-decade old El Cortez invites designers to breathe new life into the aging downtown property by creating new guest rooms
Saturday, Nov. 27, 2010
While posh Las Vegas Strip hotels boast touch-screen remotes and 600-thread-count sheets, the El Cortez mostly leans on its 70-year history and downtown roots. The El Cortez thinks the secret may be in improving the most basic of hotel amenities — the room itself.
It takes more than a three-reel slot game and bucket of quarters to hold the attention of today’s gamblers. The gaming industry knows it needs to play catch-up if it wants to keep its customers engaged. Gaming manufacturers answered the call at this week’s Global Gaming Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Harrah’s Entertainment Chief Executive and President Gary Loveman said a major roadblock in the path of the growth of casino companies is misinformation about the industry. Rather than talk about the industry’s recovery, Loveman used his afternoon keynote address at the Global Gaming Expo Wednesday to campaign against the misconceptions that surround the casino industry.
Gaming industry veterans during Wednesday’s discussion at the Global Gaming Expo said they don’t see markets like Macau or Singapore replacing Las Vegas.
Penn National Gaming Chief Financial Officer Bill Clifford said Tuesday his company over-anticipated CityCenter’s effect on the Las Vegas market when it backed out of bidding for the stalled Fontainebleau project on the Strip.
Gaming professionals are unsure about the industry's recovery, according to a recent survey by the American Gaming Association. AGA President and Chief Executive Frank Fahrenkopf said today during the first day of the Global Gaming Expo that 47 percent of those polled believe it will take the gaming industry three or four years to return to pre-recession levels.
Facebook, Twitter become the new norm for Las Vegas agents
Friday, Nov. 12, 2010
Real estate professional and Nolf Group head Nick Nolf encourages his agents to spend one hour a day on social networking sites such as Facebook, a behavior most company leaders would frown upon.
Wynn Las Vegas President Andrew Pascal will be resigning from his position, the company announced today. Pascal’s position will be filled by Harrah’s Entertainment Regional President Marilyn Winn.
Ad campaign next week will feature daughter of founder Dave Thomas
Friday, Nov. 5, 2010
Wendy Thomas remembers sitting anxiously in her red, braided pigtails and blue-checkered dress while her photo was taken to create a logo for her father’s hamburger joint. In her 8-year-old mind, it seemed like hours, Thomas recalls.
Like most gaming executives, Navegante Group CEO Larry D. Woolf started his education on the front lines, working as a valet-parking attendant, baggage handler and doorman in Atlantic City. He worked his way through the ranks and became a credit and marketing host at MGM Grand, taking over as CEO for Navegante, a casino management and consulting company his father, Larry J. Woolf, founded.
Wynn Resorts said it saw its profit swing to a loss during the third quarter, primarily due to an early debt repayment of $64.2 million. The Las Vegas-based casino operator reported a net loss of $33.5 million.
The Las Vegas Strip can be an overwhelming mess of flashing lights and monstrous resorts for any first-time visitor, so AOL Travel has broken it down into an easy to digest list of must-see casinos.
With only about 45 days until the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas opens, Chief Executive John Unwin is still slowly revealing facets of the $3.9 billion resort. The amenities guests will find at Cosmopolitan can’t be found anywhere else in Las Vegas, Unwin said.
One of the most daunting challenges major international destinations like Las Vegas face in attracting overseas tourists is strict visa regulations, tourism officials said during the U.S. Travel Association’s annual conference at Caesars Palace on Tuesday.
What do hundreds of furry, little animals have to do with the Las Vegas Strip’s newest resort? Apparently nothing, but they piqued viewer curiosity during the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas’ first commercial earlier this week — and that’s exactly what the resort wanted. Just two months before its opening, the $3.9 billion hotel-casino debuted its curious and provocative TV ad during the season finale of “Mad Men” on AMC Sunday evening.
The Las Vegas Strip will soon be home to more high-end retail brands, thanks to the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas’ newly announced lineup of stores and boutiques. The Cosmopolitan released its list of nine luxury brands Wednesday, all of which are new to the Las Vegas market.
As cold weather begins its descent on the Las Vegas Valley, Strip pool parties are beginning to pack away the bikinis, bottle service and occasional bad behavior until next spring.
Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce President and Chief Executive Matt Crosson will be on medical leave through the end of the year as he recovers from heart surgery and a stroke.
Professional tennis’ husband-wife duo Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, who own a stake in Pure nightclub, claim that managers of the club mismanaged finances and used money from Pure to fund competing nightclubs, according to a lawsuit filed this week.