Tag: Vegas Observations
View All TagsRoom Service / The Cosmopolitan / Vegas Observations / → All Tags
A $1,500 Room Service Package 'For The Ladies' Is Missing Something Very Important
Here's a look at some of the "Crowd Pleasers" a.k.a. room service packages on offer at the trendy Cosmopolitan.
Immediately, our eyes were drawn to the first package which is "For The Ladies." That includes a cheese and fruit plate, mini vanilla and chocolate cupcakes and (thank God) a customizable bar served in a hand-crafted leather steamer trunk. All this will cost $1,500. At that price, we nearly expect a private performance from a Chippendale. Alas, he costs extra. Meanwhile, the guys' version of this package has the same price but includes pizza, chips and dip, beer and a customizable bar.
Players Clubs / Gambling / Vegas Observations / → All Tags
How Much Are You Worth To A Casino?
On the surface, casinos are houses of entertainment. Whether we're gambling, dining or seeing a show, there is fun to be had. Behind the scenes is a different story. Casinos are big businesses run by number crunchers. Every square inch of a casino and hotel in Vegas must be accounted for. In fact, every person that walks through the doors has to be accounted for.
Counting beans isn't fun for most of us, but it's interesting to see how, as customers, we're valued. While perusing the UNLV Gaming library, we found the math behind how casino bean counters derive the value of a gambler and how they attribute that value to players clubs. This isn't for the lighthearted so buckle up, we're in for an information roller coaster!
OpenThread / Vegas Observations / → All Tags
What We Wished We Knew About Vegas The First Time Around
If you remember, this VegasChatter writer was sexiled on our first trip to Vegas, and also twisted a knee during a rock n' roll make-out session at the Flamingo. Those were all good turn of events, but yet certainly ones we could see coming. When it comes to visiting Vegas, booze-fueled endeavors are, for the most part, never surprising.
But there were certain things on our first visit that we never expected, things we wished we would have known in advance. For example, we looked pretty stupid trying to hail a cab on the side of the Strip. And how about those taxis in Vegas? We definitely should have read up more to avoid getting "long-hauled" and being pawned off on places so cabbies could get a kickback.
Vegas Observations / Websites / Palms / → All Tags
Which Vegas Resort Has The Best Website?
Every so often, a Vegas resort revamps its website. The Palms became the latest last week when it launched a new site featuring big, bold images, bright colors and 'no glasses needed here' fonts. What execs tout the most -- and what we also love -- is its "responsive design." A fancy way of saying you don't have to constantly pinch, resize and manipulate the page when you're viewing it from a device. (cough, Caesars, cough) This website will fill your screen appropriately whether you are viewing it on a desktop or on the go.
Of course, many of us remember (how can we forget, really?) when Vegas web redesigns have gone horribly wrong, too. Horribly, horribly wrong. shudder... And, even when we don't outright loath a Vegas site, there are some things that can frustrate and annoy:
Vegas Observations / Casinos / Vegas Wishes / Drinking / → All Tags
When Casino Drink Options Leave You Thirsting For More
We enjoy beer and cocktails as much as the next guy (or gal), but every now and again there's a desire to drink something different in the casino. The same handful of drink options become boring after a while, especially if you visit casinos often. When it's 100+ degrees outside, the body doesn't want hot beverages like coffee or tea and there's only so much soda we can drink before losing our teeth.
While playing video poker the other day, we wondered to ourselves when casinos will begin offering some new non-alchoholic drinks like iced tea or coffee. It would be nice not to have to stop playing and walk to the nearest Starbucks to drop $4 on a large venti iced coffee or to the gift shop for a Snapple. If the idea is to keep us stimulated, these drinks will certainly do the trick. Casinos can even add punch or an orange drink like McD's has to jack up our sugar level if that's easier to manage.
Vegas Observations / Excalibur / New York-New York / CityCenter / Twin Peaks / Mandarin Oriental / PRESS / Four Seasons Las Vegas / → All Tags
9 Things We Observed in Vegas Last Week
Every time we leave Vegas, we leave wishing we could have done more, eaten more, seen more and, in some cases, drunk more. Yet for all the things we end up doing and seeing (and eating and drinking), we're never without our trusty smart phone to capture the moments of our trip.
Here are nine things we saw last week during our stay at the south end of The Strip, i.e. home to many MGM resorts, where many of these photos are from. Enjoy and happy MDW, y'all!
The ground floor lobby of the Mandarin Oriental is a great space to have a zen moment away from the madness of The Strip.
These guys are playing this weekend!
CityCenter at night is pretty spectacular. (As seen from the third floor balcony at Twin Peaks also spectacular.)
Pedestrian Bridges / Technology / Vegas Observations / Harmon Corner / → All Tags
Need to Charge Your Phone on The Strip? Try the Harmon Bridge
Last night while enjoying the fine views offered at from Twin Peaks, we spotted a couple of dudes crouching down on the Harmon Center pedestrian bridge. They didn't look like buskers or other shady characters and they certainly were not playing the bagpipes all evening, but we couldn't quite figure out what they were up to.
Then we saw it -- an outlet! A real live outlet.
It's located on the end of the bridge, right where you head into the Harmon Corner shops and restaurant. And, it's free! So, if your battery power is at 10 percent or less, plug in here, enjoy the bagpipes.. err, the sights.. and, when it's back up to at least 30 percent, make your way up to Twin Peaks to document the fine, um, dining.
Of course, now that we've mentioned this TOTALLY FREE OUTLET, we're sure the powers that be are going to block it up in 3... 2... 1....
Downtown / Downtown Vegas / The D Hotel / Vegas Observations / → All Tags
The D Thinks It Can Turn You From Conservative to Sexy
When you think of The D in Downtown Vegas, are you yet at a place where you think of it as sexy? We wonder if the former Fitzgerald's is positioning itself as The Cosmopolitan of Fremont Street. We just tripped over this casting call for an in-house commercial to promote the hotel. It's too late to apply, but we thought the pitch rather interesting.
Here's the premise: "A young conservative couple arrives at the D. The casino gradually transforms them into wild & sexy partiers as the commercial progresses."
Gambling / Vegas Observations / → All Tags
The Future Of The Casino
Casinos are constantly changing. The Vegas casinos of the 40s evolved into a larger, more integrated hotel and casino experience. But now, it's almost as if we're going back to the good ole days with a more modern twist.
In the 40s, the focus in Vegas was just as much on the celebrity names attached to the property as it was on the hotel and casino. Those celebrities today are C-List TV personalities, DJs, chefs and, of course, the lavish shows. People are spending their money outside of the casino floor and casino operators are making sure they cater to those spending trends. Money is being spent on making the biggest and best nightclubs like Hakkasan, smaller boutique-ish hotels with major brand names like Nobu and bringing in celebrity chefs like Gordon Ramsay to run restaurants.
The casino floor is changing along with the rest of the resort to accommodate new spending trends and corporate ownership. Most games will be geared toward the leisure traveler who doesn't pay much attention to odds or payouts. With that in mind, expect to see more 6:5 blackjack, worse video poker pay tables and tighter slot machine payouts on The Strip. That trend will continue to funnel gamblers downtown and to off Strip casinos to play.
Downtown / Downtown Vegas / Gold Spike / Tony Hsieh / Downtown Project / Vegas Observations / → All Tags
The Curious Future Of Downtown's Gold Spike, Housing and Transport
We're going to share some unusual fallout from the closure of downtown's Gold Spike. This past weekend, they handed over the casino's keys to Tony Hsieh's Downtown Project, the same folks spending $350 million to revitalize downtown. In an insider report by local journalist John Katsilometes, he says the "likely outcome is for Hsieh’s group to turn the property over in 30 days, remaking the building as a bar and restaurant." We believe him.
Hsieh himself is quoted as saying he doesn't want to keep the gambling going as he's part of a group of "people who are trying to help build a community." Journalist Downtown Joe also cites rumors "some or all of the hotel rooms to house Downtown Project visitors, creating a club and/or boutique hotel and specialty retail space." Now, this is interesting to locals who have been wondering if the Gold Spike would turn into apartments for the new residents of the "community" that Hsieh and pals say they are building.
Tips / Concierge / Vegas Observations / → All Tags
Things Your Concierge Wish You Knew
With summer vacation rapidly approaching, we talked to a few Vegas hotel concierges to find out what frustrates them the most, how to score a discount and some of their most bizarre requests.
Let’s get this straight: we’re not the front desk.
Our job is to enhance your experience and recommend the best shows, restaurants and nightlife options for your taste and budget. If your concern has anything at all to do with your room (bill, check out, need a fridge), call the front desk.
We’re not going to find you drugs or hookers.
Or, anything illegal. Stop asking. It’s annoying.
Future Vegas / Vegas Observations / → All Tags
Las Vegas Will Always Be Whatever You Want
Las Vegas is changing. You know what? The rest of the world is changing, too. We're changing as people. It's evolution, baby. We're getting older every day and may not want the same things we wanted 10 years ago. Then again, sometimes maybe we do. Enter Las Vegas, where we can have just about anything we want.
Las Vegas has the ability to be whatever we want it to be. It always has and always will. We can take in a show and seven-course dinner with the wife or girlfriend (or both?) or we can go boozing with the boys down the street. New developments on the Vegas Strip won't do much to change that, but it will change where we do things.
