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In The Zone No Longer
February 20, 2010
Let the changes at Planet Hollywood begin. The Hawaiian Tropic Zone is closing. According to an article in the Las Vegas Sun: A spokeswoman for the Miracle Mile Shops said a new concept will be moving into the space, but she wouldn't elaborate on Wednesday. A representative from the Hawaiian Tropic Zone said the restaurant-nightclub will be open all day Saturday before closing early Sunday morning. A manger or owner wasn't available to comment on the reason for the closure. The Hawaiian Tropic Zone opened in January 2008. The restaurant, bar and nightclub has direct access to Las Vegas Boulevard. This is rather disappointing news. Businesses in this city are in serious trouble. I know it sounds like naysayer hyperbole, but yesterday was another one of those days where reality unavoidably smacked me in the face. You see, my kid's birthday is this weekend, and I decided to buy her the Nintendo Wii that she had been asking ... Read the full blog post...
Glass Houses
February 19, 2010
This is starting to get silly. Tensions between President Obama and Nevada elected officials over the president's anti-Sin City remarks escalated Thursday when Las Vegas's mayor refused an invitation to meet with Obama when he arrives in town. "I've got other things to do quite frankly for my constituents here in Las Vegas who rely on me to do the right thing as a mayor," Mayor Oscar Goodman told KTNV Action News. Goodman was invited by the White House to meet the president on the tarmac when he arrives Thursday night and to the town hall event scheduled for Friday, Goodman spokesman Jace Radke told , adding that the mayor would consider the invitation if Obama promised to apologize for his remarks. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Goodman is still smarting from comments Obama made suggesting that people saving money for college shouldn't blow in it Las Vegas. Really ... Read the full blog post...
A PR Nightmare
February 18, 2010
Talk about going from bad to worse. On March 14, Casino MonteLago at Lake Las Vegas will close. As soon as I heard the news about the Ritz last week, my thoughts immediately shifted toward the Lake's casino. I had no idea how they were going to survive. Fortunately, a casino public relations director quickly allayed my fears in the Las Vegas Sun. After the Ritz-Carlton announcement, Jennifer Morton, marketing and public relations director for Casino MonteLago, predicted last week that business for the casino would remain steady without the luxury hotel. “We have a strong local base, so it’s just going to be business as normal for us." DOH! And public relations folks wonder why they have credibility issues. I know, I know, she was just doing her job, but I think it is important to note that PR people get paid for one reason, and one reason only. To lie their asses off. Q: ... Read the full blog post...
Dead Presidents
February 16, 2010
As holidays go, Valentine's Day is pretty much as silly as they come. With one exception. President's Day. I've been alive for 41 years and I've never formally observed either of these "holidays". The Valentine's thing is yet another greeting card holiday, and President's Day is simply a reason to give government employees yet another day off. I'm not sure that either one is cause for celebration. This being the case, I marked both holidays in my own special way. On Sunday, I celebrated my love of gambling and pizza with ... well, gambling and pizza. Metro Pizza at Ellis Island has a "2-for-1" Sunday special, and I consider two large pizzas for under $20 to be a downright bargain. While enduring the one hour wait for the pies, I plugged dollar after dollar into a Double Bonus machine next to the pick-up counter and proceeded to lose my ass. Suffice to say, the pizza ... Read the full blog post...
Naked Lunch
February 15, 2010
"Rexville" and "dining options" are two phrases which are rarely used in the same sentence. While we do have some signature establishments such as Tiffany's, Luv-It, Pepe's, and Albo's ... for the most part, we are limited to fairly common offerings such as Carl's Jr. and Denny's. This is a shame for such an urban, inner-city neighborhood, but such is the net effect of suburban sprawl. It is my hope, and even counter-intuitive expectation, that Las Vegas may actually reverse its pattern of honky flight. As the outer fringes become cheaper and de-facto "low income" areas, perhaps the former-elite will begin questioning their 45 minute commute. It's entirely possible that the central city will see a re-imagining. If you are going to live among the riff-raff anyway, you may as well live closer to work and in a place that isn't completely infested with strip malls and lawn nazis. Dare to dream. Until such ... Read the full blog post...
Un-Jumping the Shark
February 13, 2010
Numbers are out for December of 2009, and like everyone predicted, it was a good month. This was due, of course, to the opening of City Center. The new property which opened in stages throughout the month of December drove a 2% increase in tourism and a 6% increase in gaming win. Even though this is good news, frankly, the month was less stellar than I thought it would be. Had I been forced to put money on it, I would have taken the "over" on a 10% December increase without hesitation. Although we finished strong, 2009 as a whole was dismal. Tourism was down 3% over 2008, gaming win was down 6%, and convention traffic was down nearly 25%. As we ramp into the new year and bask in the glow of a happy ending (to the year 2009), a very large question comes to mind as I sit here contemplating the state of ... Read the full blog post...
Pollyanna Strikes Again
February 12, 2010
Earlier this week, The Ritz-Carlton at Lake Las Vegas announced that they will close their doors in May, eliminating another 400 local jobs. This will be the first time that the Ritz has ever had to close a property, and I think the fact that they burst their "failure cherry" in Las Vegas is a bit sad, but also a bit telling. It shows just how far we have fallen. Fortunately, for lovers of the Lake, the Loews Resort remains open, and now that they have less (no?) competition, this property may very well survive. Or maybe not. Lake Las Vegas is a very cool place to hang out for the day. Were it not so far from the Boulevard, I would go more often. It's as close to a Mediterranean seaside village as you will find within 200 miles of the Vegas Strip. The problem is, not enough people come to Vegas for ... Read the full blog post...
Up In Smoke
February 10, 2010
It seemed like such a good idea at the time. On March 19th, 2010 Las Vegas was supposed to see a somewhat ground-breaking convention. It was on this date that "Cannapalooza", a three day marijuana convention, was to descend on the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. The event was being billed as a "fun, safe, educational event" and also "the largest head shop on the planet". It sounded perfect for the nation's self-professed adult playground. Unfortunately, the Mandalay Bay recently canceled their contract with the event planners. According to the San Francisco Examiner: Woznicki (the event organizer) said he was embraced by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and major Las Vegas resorts when he first pitched the event. But he said he noticed "trouble brewing" when he talked to Mandalay Bay officials in December. "I felt there was a negative vibe there," he said. "Even at the meeting, a Mandalay Bay security guy said, `Pot smokers ... Read the full blog post...
Da Super Bowl
February 9, 2010
Well, the Super Bowl is in the books and I can honestly say that from a wagering perspective, this was one of the worst games ever for me. I violated one of my own gambling rules, and this makes the loss that much more difficult to swallow. I have a hard and fast rule with professional sports betting, and that rule is ... never, ever, ever give away points to a professional sports team. Spotting points to professional players is logically ludicrous. If they are good enough to play in the NFL, they are good enough to win the game. This is especially true if they are good enough to make it to the Super Bowl. So why did I violate this rule? I did so because of my own hatred of what the world is becoming. On Saturday, I was already convinced to take the Saints. The number two team in the league with ... Read the full blog post...
The Pro Bono Bookmaker
February 7, 2010
Super Bowl Weekend is in full swing and we have a very respectable crowd in town. I'm not sure if it's "third busiest weekend in Las Vegas" busy, though, which it has purportedly been over the years. Traffic is certainly worse than usual, but only modestly so. Up to this point, I have been able to zip in and out of sports books to grab betting sheets with little to no delay, and book window lines have not been appreciably longer than they are during a random NFL Sunday. Casino floors have been widely variable from "normal" at Paris to "downright packed" at the adjacent Bally's. With overcast skies, drizzle, and temperatures hovering in the 50's, the weather this weekend could not be more perfect. I would go so far as to say that this is as good as it gets for Las Vegas. The weekend has also been somewhat mellow for yours truly. I scheduled ... Read the full blog post...
