HotelChatter

Question #1: How bad is it, really?
This question is in reference to the "Las Vegas is falling" mania that has been seen day after day on travel sites and blogs like ours. The answer? It's pretty bad. At the airport, cabbies were lined up and waiting outside their cars to take on passengers. Gone are the days when folks used to have to wait an hour plus in the taxi line.

Granted, we arrived on a Tuesday afternoon in the low season but still this seemed very unusual. Also speaking of cabs, the three cabbies we've had in Las Vegas haven't spoken a word to us other than telling us our fare cost. Usually, these guys are so chatty.

That said, while things at the Excalibur were a bit depressing, the Bellagio was pretty packed. There was also a Chinese New Year celebration out front last night and folks lined up with cameras in tow to videotape the whole thing. And the Donny & Marie show was sold-out. True, it was full of old people. But still, sold-out.

Question #2: What do the buildings at City Center look like now that they are almost finished?
The buildings at CityCenter do not look almost finished. They look closer to finished than they did when we were here in August but not really an "almost finished" type of look. You asked for a photo, you've got one right here.

Question #3: What hotel should I stay at? (Is the Luxor still good?)
We must get this out of the way first--The Luxor is not good and never was good. However, several strip hotels have completed renovations of their rooms and those new rooms are going for decent prices. But with rates so low in Las Vegas, why not stay at the premiere hotels--something you could never do in the boom years? We suggest either Encore or The Palazzo which has rooms for less than $200 a night.

That concludes Day 1 of answering your Vegas questions. Got any more? Drop 'em in comments below and we'll answer them for ya.