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Tags: Closings / Binions / Downtown / Hotel Woes / → All Tags
Binion's Closing Its Hotel Rooms on December 14th
When one hotel door opens, another one closes. Or when 1,000+ hotel rooms open, a downtrodden, depressing old hotel will be forced to close.
With so many rooms coming online in the month of December, it's no surprise that Binion's Gambling Hall and Hotel in Downtown is closing its hotel tower on December 14th. The LVRJ writes:
Binion's Gambling Hall & Hotel in downtown Las Vegas will close its 365-room hotel tower beginning Dec. 14 and lay off about 100 workers, a property spokeswoman confirmed this morning. Spokeswoman Lisa Robinson said the tower is being shut down because of the continued downturn in the economy. Additionally, the property will close the Binion's Original Coffee Shop and discontinue keno, she said.
Binion's will keep open its casino, sportsbook, poker room, casino cafes and the Binion's Ranch Steakhouse on the 24th floor.
If you can brave the depressing room, rates at the Binions for the very last weekend, December 11-13, start at $49. During the week, rates are a low, low, low $23.
Tags: Mexican Food / El Sombrero Cafe / Downtown / → All Tags
Please Don't Ever Change, El Sombrero Cafe
What exactly is the appeal of the El Sombrero Cafe? It's a question that comes up when people drive past this little, unassuming Mexican restaurant and discover that it is Sin City’s oldest - we repeat - oldest eatery.
Located in downtown art’s district, the El Sombrero Cafe started serving some chips and salsa to residents in the valley way back in 1950 in the same spot where it stands, off Main Street north of Charleston.
And we at Vegaschatter will recommend it over any overpriced, hyped-up Mexican restaurant in town.
Tags: Shopping / Downtown / The Funkhouse / Antiques / → All Tags
The Funkhouse: The Name Says It All
In downtown’s dingy, dilapidated but still scrappy Arts District, aficionados of mid-century furniture and collectible ephemera from a variety of eras flock to The Funkhouse.
The Arts District was so designated a few years back for the growing number of galleries and antiques businesses that were congregating there. However, the last year or two has seen a number of these businesses pack up and head elsewhere, with the majority of the arts-related activity now confined to the Arts Factory building, located around the corner from The Funkhouse at the intersection of Charleston Boulevard and Main Street.
No matter. The Funkhouse itself seems firmly ensconced in its present digs, where proprietor Cindy Funkhouser (what? you thought that name connoted something else?) purveys an eye-popping array of stuff you might want to buy.
Tags: Labor Day Weekend / Downtown / The Signature / Trump Las Vegas / El Cortez / Gold Spike / Vegas Club / Caesars Palace / Bellagio / Palazzo / Encore / → All Tags
Downtown is Deal Central as Labor Day Weekend Nears
As we’re accustomed to seeing these days, rates are pretty much all over the map for the last big holiday weekend of the sultry summer season. The good news: there are plenty of rooms still available in Vegas over Labor Day Weekend. The great news: there is some serious value to be had that weekend, too. Here’s a glimpse of what’s currently available at The absolute lowest rates in the resort corridor seem to be those on offer at downtown’s Gold Spike. It ain’t glamorous, folks, but it claims a certain old-school Vegas appeal in the eyes of some people. Meanwhile, average rates there over Labor Day Weekend (which we’re identifying as the three nights from Friday, September 4, until Monday, September 7) are a practically laughably low $40 per night.
Tags: Bars / Downtown / Dino's / Locals Vegas / → All Tags
50 Years Later and Las Vegas Still Loves Dino’s Lounge
What’s that? Yet another bar recommendation? What’s with the folks at VegasChatter? Are they total lushes? If we were to answer to the last question, and you still want to stick around for this entry - than welcome to the club, the VegasChatter lush club, because reader, we know our bars.
Okay, now that we are done stroking ourselves about our bar cred, let’s cut to the business at hand, Dino’s Lounge, and they’ve been a cornerstone in this city for nearly half a century.
Located downtown, this is joint registers in the proverbial (okay hackneyed) term of "old school," but in the best possible way. The live music acts are some of the best in town, from punk, to alt-country; the drinks are great with cheap beer and cheap martinis coming at you with the non-stop consistency of an anemometer gone haywire; and the barflies are simply as loose and good natured as any bar in town.
Tags: Restaurants / The Plaza / Omelet House / Breakfast / Downtown / → All Tags
The Omelet House :: Where Eggs Become Fine Art
Ok, maybe these omelets aren't fine art but they come close. For natives of Las Vegas, The Omelet House has, is and always will be, a house of quality omelets! We know it’s a loud declaration, but once you have had some of their creations, like their glorious Bugsy Siegel (Italian roast beef and sour cream), you’ll give us a nod toward our knowledge on the good stuff.
After over 30 years being one of the mainstays in the city, the Omelet House (the original location is on Charleston Boulevard just off the I-15) is about to get a lot more accessible - a downtown location in the Plaza Hotel & Casino.
Seriously readers, once in here, and you’ll realize that an omelet from Dennys or IHOP just won’t have the same flair (although in fairness, that may not be their specialty, but at the Omelet House it sure as hell is).
Tags: Downtown / Cheap Vegas / Gambling / The California / Neon Honolulu / → All Tags
Low Rolling in Neon Honolulu aka The California
We know a lot of you may not have the money to engage in some high rolling activity, so we are more than happy to offer you a good recommendation for some affordable tables, and a terrific clientele that is as much a cultural awakening than anything else you might find on the Strip. Without further delay, open the curtain, welcome to the California Hotel, or as we locals refer to it as Neon Honolulu.
Having a local population of over 70,000 Hawaiians in the city, almost all of the tourists who stay here are from Hawaii, and believe us, at least one eatery in this joint will serve you a Green Tea milkshake or Spam Masubi. And what other casino would have their dealers wear Hawaiian shirts in the Summer time - the kind Trapper John use to wear in those old M.A.S.H. episodes?
Tags: Happy Hours / El Cortez / Martinis / Drinking / Downtown / → All Tags
The El Cortez Also Upgrades Its Happy Hour With 2-for-1 Martinis
El Cortez has the right idea with its renovations, but it also has the right idea with its happy hour special. Well, as long as you’re a martini fan. Officially called "Martini Madness", you can get two for one martinis from 5 to 7 pm at all bars in the hotel. Martinis are normally about $7, so two delicious martinis for that price? Sweetness.
Sweetness would also describe several of El Cortez’s martinis. Their new Cabana Sweets martini (get it? Cabana Sweets, they have new Cabana Suites! Get it? Heh…okay, we’re done) is already a popular pick among the martini crowd – Stoli, Blue Caracao, rock candy syrup and lemon juice.
Bonus: After First Fridays, El Cortez throws an after party happy hour catering, again, to martini drinkers. From 9 pm to 2 am, all martinis at any bar inside the hotel is only $5. Take those $2 you’re saving and gamble a bit, eh?
Yes, it is strange that a downtown hot spot is trying to cater to a somewhat uppity crowd (isn't that how martini drinkers view themselves?), but we guess it's all going towards revamping its image. Wonder how the American Apparel-hugging, hipster downtown crowd feels about that...
Tags: Hotel Renovations / El Cortez / Downtown / → All Tags
The El Cortez Is Going Under Another Round of Renovations
Sometimes, a new place to stay in Las Vegas doesn't have to be in the form of an entirely new hotel, built from the ground up. Sometimes, all it takes is just a little freshening up. And the El Cortez has the right idea, especially in this economy. In addition to opening up the boutique-y new Cabana Suites last month, the downtown hotel has an entire property overhaul up its sleeves.
All told, a total of $25 million is being invested in renovating and updating the hotel, including the addition of a nightclub, new swimming pool, revamped restaurants, fitness center, in-room flat-screen TVs and WiFi, business center and a half-million-dollar air filtration system.
That last item may not sound all that glamorous but believe us when we tell you it will most definitely be money well spent. There’s nothing like archaic casino air-handling units to make you feel like holing up in an iron lung for a few days.
Given its location in the quietly ascendant Fremont East Entertainment District – home to Beauty Bar, the Griffin and the Downtown Cocktail Room – it’s gratifying to see this downtown Vegas institution finally manifesting a little self-respect.
[Photo: Tadson/Tadson Bussey]
Tags: Hotel Rooms / Sweet Suites / Downtown / El Cortez / → All Tags
El Cortez's Cabana Suites Bring Chic and Cheap to Downtown
New ownership at downtown’s El Cortez has brought a host of changes over the last couple of years, all of them for the better. The hotel-casino used to be just a dingy, kind of scary kind of place, frankly. It was the sort of place you might have stumbled into looking for a classic Vegas vibe, but instead found yourself frantically searching for the exit through a thick haze of unfiltered Pall Malls.
It’s got a new lease on life, though, and a much more dignified attitude, thanks to a series of renovations, signage improvements and appealing promotional campaigns.
Its owners’ latest reinvention of the El Cortez brand is as a “retro-modern” boutique-style hotel called the El Cortez Cabana Suites. It consists of 64 rooms and suites located in the Fremont East Entertainment District – a hub of bars and lounges like the Downtown Cocktail Room, which we’ve told you about before, Beauty Bar, The Griffin and the NYC piano bar import, Don’t Tell Mama.
Tags: Downtown / Cheap Vegas / Gambling / BlackJack / Vegas Club / → All Tags
In The Mood For Another Downtown Bargain? Try The Vegas Club
You’ll never mistake the Las Vegas Club, a mainstay in the downtown area since 1939, for the Trump Towers. Than again, that was never their intention. The Vegas Club is basically a simple and efficient place to stay and gamble if you planning a Las Vegas getaway on a tight budget.
As stated earlier, the Vegas Club is not swank and it is loaded with a lot of sports memorabilia. Even though Las Vegas has never had a professional sports team, we live through other big cities. But brush this aside and you’ll find some very cheap rooms (very basic, with a fridge and cable television) that fall as low as $40 a night on weekday, as little as $75 on the weekend.
Tags: Drinking / Downtown / Locals Vegas / → All Tags
Downtown Cocktail Room Is 'Douchebag-Free'
The single coolest bar in Vegas earns that designation without welcoming a constant parade of siliconed-up and shiny-shirted party people through its doors.
Make that door, singular – and a cleverly disguised one at that. The Downtown Cocktail Room, near the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Fremont Street, has a single, large, metal wall/door at its entrance that puzzles many a first-timer (hint: push it, not the narrower pane of glass next to it).
Its understated, all-brick façade forms a fitting introduction to the chic-n-cozy clubbishness of the interior, which draws an interesting, artistic and intellectually inclined crowd looking for thoughtfully concocted libations. We couldn’t agree more with the Yelp user who declared the Downtown Cocktail Room a “douchebag-free zone.”
