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This (Nearly) 30 Year Old Virgin Did It At the Stratosphere

We told you about our first time...visiting Vegas, that is. And you’ve told us about yours. Except you all seemed to do it with your parents. So we thought it was time for the next member of VegasChatter to tell you about her deflowering at the ripe age of 29.

My most shameful Sin City admission? That I only came here for the first time last year. Yes, I left it until I was pushing 30 to lose my Vegas virginity. Loser. On the upside, being such a late developer meant that I could do it in style, which kind of makes up for it.

2009 was my annus horribilis. I loathed my job in London, I had a catalogue of disasters come my way, and when a friend died in tragic circumstances last July, and I was expected to write about it for the newspaper I worked for, I knew I needed time (and job) out.

I wanted to go somewhere I could relax – somewhere with, as I thought, no culture, nobody I knew, no expectations and no judgment when I got completely onion bhajied. There could only be one place – Vegas! Ok, Vegas as part of a road trip across America. That way, I figured, I could do some Kerouac-esque finding myself in oblivion. Romantico! So I signed myself off work for six weeks and three days after the funeral I was on a plane to LA.

I stayed a week in LA but the place didn’t really speak to me. I’d planned three days in Vegas to douse myself in alcohol and move on, expecting the hangover to be the longest lasting effect it had on me. But the drive along the I-15 was kind of life-changing. I’d never seen a desert before, and I was utterly entranced – I remember pulling off the road near Barstow, mesmerized at how hot the wind was, and how there were real, live cacti sitting in front of me on the roadside. You know those three huge sandy lumps on the plain outside Baker? I was fascinated. I made them the desktop on my laptop that night, and I’m still staring at them today.

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Tags: Michael Jackson / Tribute Shows / Madame Tussauds / Imperial Palace / Stratosphere / → All Tags

Michael Jackson Lives, At Least In Vegas

You've got to fight for your right to wear crystals.

It’s been a year and five days since the world lost Michael Jackson and fans chose to remember him in many ways. Some gathered at his home in Indiana, some at the LA cemetery where he is buried. Chris Brown cried and one fan paid almost $200,000 for MJ’s white glove in an auction at Planet Hollywood.

If Friday's antics and non-stop MJ mixes made you realize how much you miss him, then you'll be wanting to relive the magic. Luckily, there are lots of magical places in Vegas. Here are our top picks:

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Tags: Cashing Out / Adventure / Stratosphere / The 90s are Back / → All Tags

Fall Off The Edge of The Stratosphere For $100

Adding to its list of thrill rides The Stratosphere has announced it will let crazy people with a death wish ultimate adventure seekers do a "controlled" free fall off the top of its tower. So it's sort of like bungee jumping but with a lot more tethering going on. (Still, this totally qualifies as The 90s are Back trend.)

The LV Sun reports:

Riders will be given a safety lesson and then get in custom jump suits. They will then be connected to a "descender machine."

After jumping off the tower, riders will be guided by wires to stay on course during the 108-story descent facing the Las Vegas Strip before the descender slows the rider down for a controlled landing.

Stratosphere called the ride "an incredibly safe, yet audacious adventure."

The ride is expected to open in April. About six to 10 jumpers will be accommodated each hour. The ride will be open from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday-Thursday and until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. May we suggest NOT doing this hungover. Thank you very much.

Here's what else is on in Vegas:
· Jon Stewart to perform at The Mirage [The Mirage]
· The ideal golf 'Mancation' in Vegas [MSNBC]
· Haha. Best way to describe town right now: "Nerd Paradise" [Vancouver Sun]
· Elaine Wynn donates a $1 million to Three Square Food Bank [Fox5Vegas]

Tags: Bob Stupak / Stratosphere / Vegas Legends / Deaths / → All Tags

RIP Bob Stupak: The Stratosphere's Founder and a Vegas Icon

Las Vegas has lost another legend. Vegas developer, eccentric, professional gambler and man-about-town Bob Stupak passed away Friday after a lengthy battle with leukemia.

Stupak’s most notable contribution to the Vegas landscape, most definitely, is the Stratosphere Tower, which was constructed on the site of his old Vegas World casino – a kitsch palace of the sort that doesn’t really exist here anymore.

The Tower took years to complete due to engineering snafus and a fire, and then went bankrupt and was sold almost as soon as it opened. But you can’t argue that it’s one of the defining structures on the city’s skyline today – and we love the view from the restaurant and lounge atop it.

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Tags: Hotel Video Tours / Hotel Reviews / Stratosphere / Hotwire / Hotels / Hotel Rooms / → All Tags

Inside The Stratosphere Hotel: Cheap, But Noisy

We had a nice enough time (barring the odd crime) living up the four star hotels last week, but when we needed to extend our Vegas stay over the weekend, rates had shot up (maybe it was the Rod Stewart groupies filling up the posh hotels - he played Saturday). We looked at the Stratosphere, thinking it’d be cheapo, but it was throwing up nearly $80 for the Friday night and $115 for the Saturday.

But Hotwire was showing a three star hotel in the North Strip for $54 on the Friday and $75 on the Saturday. Checking on Betterbidding.com we were pretty sure it was the Strat, and booked it. And sure enough, it was.

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Tags: Stratosphere / Weddings / 9-9-09 / → All Tags

Stratosphere To Stage a Wedding for 99 Couples on 9-9-09

Vegas is known as a place for quickie, kitschy, ultra-luxe or otherwise zany weddings, and with good reason. More than 100,000 marriage licenses are issued annually to couples who choose the backdrop of Sin City for their nuptials, with certain major holidays (New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day) enjoying the majority of the wedding action.

Having a rare date combination on the marriage certificate is also a plus. Last year, August 8 (8/8/08) was an incredibly popular date wedding, as 8s are considered the luckiest number in Asian cultures. Of course, the year prior brought us 7/7/07 – the quintessential Vegas jackpot sequence – making it a natural choice for the Vegas-bound betrothed.

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Tags: Blackjack / Pools / Stratosphere / Bikini Blackjack / → All Tags

You Can Now Play Blackjack Poolside at The Stratosphere

Finally, there's something we'd be interested in doing at the Stratosphere other than thrill rides and drinking souvenir drinks--playing blackjack poolside. From Friday through Sunday, 12 to 7pm, bikini-clad blackjack dealers will be beckoning you poolside at the hotel's renovated pool area.

The Stratosphere Hotel & Casino recently announced the addition of bikini blackjack to its newly renovated pool area. Bikini blackjack is available Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 12 p.m. - 7 p.m. and will last throughout the summer. If blackjack isn’t enough excitement for you, other poolside activities include a water balloon toss and beer pong tournaments.

Gotta love the beer pong tournaments! We're also keen on playing blackjack here rather than at the swim-up tables at The Hard Rock because we won't have to worry about whatever is lurking around in the water.

[Photo: VegasNews.com ]

Tags: Rides / Stratosphere / YouTube / Vegas Videos / → All Tags

As Far as Thrill Rides Go, The Stratosphere is Essential

Yes, a lot of the other Strip properties offer their fair share of thrill rides, like the Sahara and New York, New York, but for over the top, G-Force exhilaration, the Stratosphere is still the measuring stick for all the thrill rides that exist and will ever follow.

Situated on top of the 1,149 foot Stratosphere Tower, the rides (or as locals call the "tall three") are: the Bog Shot, X-Scream and the Insanity. Each one will has a different method of making you scream your lungs out with fear and anticipation.

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Tags: Buffets / Food / MGM Grand / Stratosphere / Deals / → All Tags

Eating Just Got Cheaper at The MGM Grand

While we fret over room rates, it looks like those all-you-can-eat buffets aren't going anywhere. The Excalibur introduced a $25 unlimited, all-day pass to its buffet earlier this year and now MGM Grand has followed suit.

The LV Sun reports that for only $29.99 per person, you can eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at the MGM Grand's buffet Monday through Thursday. On the weekends, that bumps up to $39.99 per person.

And over at the Stratosphere, anyone who signs up for the Players Club can get the all day buffet pass for just $19.99. On Sunday mornings and Friday evenings, the price increases to $24.99 per person.

So if you're eating at the all-you-can-eat buffet (all day) and drinking free drinks on the casino floor (all night), then you can no doubt tell your friends you left Sin City "up."

Tags: Restaurants / Dining / Attractions / Stratosphere / → All Tags

Top of the World is Gimmicky, But Worth It

Back before we’d tried it, the idea of Top of the World, the rotating restaurant on top of the Stratosphere Tower, frankly didn’t have a lot of appeal. After all, the Strat’s very silhouette screams kitsch, its clientele isn’t known for being particularly discriminating and an unfortunate walk through the Tower Shops “mall” proved it to be nothing more than a vortex for the convergence of tacky crap.

Admittedly, assumptions were made that Top of the World couldn’t possibly be anything more than pure gimmickry, luring the gullible with a promise of a spectacular view, only to serve them overpriced, barely edible food.

As it turns out, the s-l-o-w-l-y rotating restaurant isn’t exactly cheap – you’ll pay anywhere from $30-$90 for dinner before drinks – but the food’s of surprisingly high quality.

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Tags: Shows / Stratosphere / Vampires / Sexy Vegas / Topless Shows / → All Tags

BITE at The Stratosphere Sucks, For All The Right Reasons

Swooning over that dreamy Edward Cullen? Rooting for "TrueBlood’s" Sookie and her vampire lover, Bill? No need to see the movie—again—or sit in your hotel room waiting for HBO to rerun the latest episode. Head over to The Stratosphere and see BITE.

The hotel is best known for the thrills and chills it provides at the top of the hotel. Want to scream your head off? Strap yourself in and allow yourself to be dangled over the edge of the hotel from 866 feet above the ground. But back down on the ground, The Stratosphere provides quite a few more thrills below with this erotic vampirific show. Yes, erotic. Just because you drink blood, doesn't mean you don't like sexytime, right?

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