VegasChatter

WTF / Bally's / Caesars Entertainment / Resort Fees / Total Rewards / → All Tags

At Bally's, A Charge For The Safe

When coming to Vegas you're face with a lot of choices. One of the most annoying choices is whether to stay at a casino with an ever increasing resort fee or to avoid confusion and math by staying at a casino without a resort fee.

We can all agree that resort fees suck, but there is something to be said for the convenience of not being charged for every amenity you choose to use. Case in point, if you stay at a Caesars Entertainment property you should expect to pay for anything you use. WiFi? Sure, no problem, it's only $14 (or more). In-room coffee? Eh, we'll deal, that's $12 for 4 cups. Safe? Are you #%!} serious?!

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Events / Cinco de Mayo / Bally's / → All Tags

Move Over Buzz And Woody, There's A Fiesta To Hold

Just when we thought the circus that is now The Strip couldn't get any crazier (and may, eventually, get better) comes word that Bally's is planning to host a Cinco de Mayo block party. On The Strip. Right where Buzz, Woody, and all the other costume characters like to hang.

Oh, and the card snappers, too. And, the occasional magician. Let's not forget angry showgirls, either.

But, that's ok, because Bally's is going to dump a bunch of sand down (for reals) and set up lounge chairs (for REALS) and daybeds (FOR REALS) to make us forget what else is happening around us for one heck of an "outdoor fiesta." There will be live music, eats and drink specials, too.

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Shows / American Idol / Taylor Hicks / Bally's / Singers / → All Tags

Taylor Hicks (Remember Him?) Is Coming to Bally's This June

Hmmm...well...this is happening. The man that Simon Cowell thought looked too old to be an American Idol is coming to town.

Yup, we're talking about season 5 winner Taylor Hicks who will start an eight-week residency at Bally's on June 26. As it turns out, Vegas is kind of a bittersweet spot for Hicks. He was in New Orleans the night before Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005. The airline gave him a voucher for his cancelled flight which he later used to travel to Vegas and audition for American Idol.

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Rumors / Bally's / The Mad Greek / Greek Food / Eating / Dining / Restaurants / → All Tags

Could Another Locals' Favorite Be On The Way To The Strip?

We've been (beach) bummed out about the fact that Bally's wasn't going to be giving us good vibrations after all, but that could all change with the possible arrival of a locals' dining favorite.

VegasChatter tipster @_Lucky45 (who is almost moving up to should-we-be-paying-him status.. we said almost, @_Lucky45) was walking through Bally's when he spied a meeting between Caesars Entertainment execs and -- wait for it -- representatives from The Mad Greek Cafe. The group was standing in front the hotel's Sidewalk Cafe.

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Shows / Jubilee / Bally's / Topless Shows / → All Tags

Jubilee Puts It All Out There, Both On and Off The Stage

Check your cynicism at the door. Jubilee! has been kick-lining for over 25 years on the huge stage of the Bally's showroom, a visual embodiment of the old spirit of Las Vegas.

Resolute in its self-awareness and uncompromising honesty, Jubilee! delivers its simple promise. Stunning topless showgirls in a non-stop blitz of theatrical excess. It's the very last, old school, Vegas showgirl review. The type you've seen in every single opening montage about the city for the last 30 years. This is it, folks. Showgirls, singing, variety acts, crazy huge sets and the Titanic sinks. It's an original.

You know, you've been putting it off every trip. We think it's time you should go. And, if the feathers and crystals on stage weren't enough, you can take a backstage tour and hang out with one the showgirls. (The last part may be more persuasive to you than, say, the feather part, but we warn you -- lots of feathers. And, if you sit way up front for the evening's show, they slowly rain down on you.)

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WiFi / Internet / Caesars Entertainment / Caesars Palace / Flamingo / Paris Las Vegas / Bally's / → All Tags

A WiFi Game Changer in Vegas

OMG, you guys. Is it just us or are you seeing what we're seeing?

No, not the hellaciously high WiFi fees, but the bottom line -- inter-property roaming.

We're not sure how new this is (we're still waiting to connect with Caesars Entertainment on that), but this is definitely news to us. For $34.99, we can now ramble around Paris, Bally's, Caesars and Flamingo without aimlessly trying to find a complimentary hotspot here or there. An all-you-can-surf smorgasbord priced, ironically, quite similarly to the resorts' all-you-can-nosh Buffet of Buffet. (First priced at $29.99 for 24 hours of eats, but now a staggering $49.99. So, the writing may be on the wall there.)

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Chinese New Year / Bellagio / Palazzo / Year of the Dragon / The Cosmopolitan / ARIA / Luxor / MGM GRAND / Monte Carlo / Caesars Palace / M Resort / Gold Coast / Planet Hollywood / Harrah's / The Mirage / Rio Las Vegas / Bally's / → All Tags

Fiery Flames, Live Music, And Lion Dances, Oh My: Year of the Dragon Roars Onto The Strip

The botanical displays of Bellagio and Palazzo are known for being picture perfect, but both hotels have really outdone themselves for the Year of the Dragon. This Chinese New Year, the Palazzo doesn't just feature a 128-foot, 8,000-pound dragon. It features a 128-foot, 8,000-pound fire-breathing dragon that took more than a year to make.

See the mythical creature (pictured above) come to life (shown below) every day at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. from January 23 to February 5.

When you do stop by, Palazzo says it's lucky to walk around the dragon three times, clockwise. Even more so (for them) if something from one of the nearby shops catches your eye.

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Google Plus / MGM Grand / Caesars Palace / O'Sheas / Flamingo / Harrah's / Bally's / Paris Las Vegas / Planet Hollywood / Imperial Palace / Tropicana / → All Tags

Which Las Vegas Hotels To Follow on Google+

Google+ is now at 62 million users and is expected to balloon up to 400 mil by year's end. Just about every major Las Vegas resort has signed up, but -- after visiting every single one of those pages -- there are definitely hotels to plus one and others to skim your mouse right by.

Our favorite by far right now is MGM Grand which, after almost a full month of silence between mid-November and mid-December, is posting up everything from deals to clever out-of-market campaigns alerting possible visitors to its Grand Renovation.

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Bally's / Tennis Courts / Active Vegas / → All Tags

If You Ever Get a Jonesing to Play Tennis, Call Bally's

While it's understood you can do pretty much whatever you want in Las Vegas not too many people head to Vegas with an itch to put on tennis whites and hit some winners down the line (except for maybe hometown kid and tennis great, Andre Agassi.) But of course, this is the beauty of Vegas--if you think it, you can do it (except prostitution. Remember that's not legal in Clark County!)

Over at Bally's you can practice your forehand, backhand and second serve on one of their eight courts from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. You don't have to be a guest to do so but you do have to pay to use the court. Hotel guests pay $20 per hour while non-guests pay $25. Private lessons from tennis pros are available as well as two-hour tennis clinics from Tuesday through Friday and Sunday mornings as well as Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

And if you forgot your racket, the pro shop on-site will rent you one. As for tennis whites, those aren't mandatory but white or light-soled shoes are. Now, who's up for a round robin?

[Photo: VegasChatter]

Restaurants / Food / The Beach Boys / Good Vibrations / Bally's / → All Tags

Bermuda, Bahama, Come On Pretty Mama...to Las Vegas for The Beach Boys New Restaurant (Sike!)

UPDATE: A Caesars insider has it on good authority that good vibrations aren't in store for Bally's, after all. Better pack away those Hawaiian shirts or, if you're still determined to wear 'em, head to Margaritaville instead.

Do you love the Beach Boys so much that you would eat their food? Um, well, if you're that fanatical about their music, some very good vibrations are coming your way. Actually, just one.

The Good Vibrations restaurant, a Beach Boys partnership with Caesars Entertainment and the Monsoon Group, will open at Bally's in the summer of 2012, right around the time of the Beach Boy's 50th anniversary.

Vegas Inc. reports that the restaurant will be about "cars, surf, women" and the general Beach Boys lifestyle. (Cue the souvenir stand with Hawaiian shirts.) The concept will also "feature a "diverse menu and bar with affordable prices." (Well, no duh. This is Bally's we're talking about.)

If the Vegas outpost does well, Good Vibrations could be the first of several Beach Boys-themed restaurants worldwide.

Hmmm...we're not sure that building a restaurant business around an aging band and their equally aging fan base is a good idea but we'll still hope for the best. Besides it could be fun naming menu items after Beach Boy songs like the Little Deuce Coup slider platter and a Help Me Rhonda milkshake.

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Bally's / Caesars Entertainment / Hotel Rooms / Video Tours / → All Tags

Not The Newest, Or the Prettiest, But Bally's Is Still Fine For A Stay

We were recently in need of a crash pad after a day of football with friends and decided to try somewhere new and stay at Bally's.

Our first time staying at Bally's, it was a little better than we expected and not bad at all. Bally's is located fairly low on the Caesars Entertainment hierarchy, so we weren't expecting much but our expectations were exceeded. While our room on the 20th floor of the North Tower was as out of date as the Harrah's rooms we've stayed in, it was still large and clean.

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Massages / Happy Endings / Bally's / → All Tags

It's Time to Confess: Would You Get a Vitality Aqua Massage?

When we were strolling through the backside of Bally's a few weeks ago, we noticed an actual person inside one of these futuristic-looking water massage incubators. And we couldn't help but wonder, does that thing really work?

Formally called the Vitality Aqua Massage, the incubators can be found in shopping malls across the country so chances are you've probably already seen this somewhere else besides Bally's. The way it works is you lie on the table and the water machine closes down over you, kind of like a tanning bed except your head is out in the open (and exposed to finger-pointing from passerbys). Then water pressure is exerted on your body in all directions like a massage. A rough one.

But, some folks like it like that, like this Yelp reviewer who says the Aqua massage beats happy endings.

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