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Inside The PH Towers By Westgate in Vegas
We braved the Super Bowl madness over the weekend and checked into the new PH Towers By Westgate, adjacent to the Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.
Overall, we were happy with what we got for our money, especially since we read some awful reviews on TravelPost before we got there. And being a timeshare resort we were scared that we would be kidnapped by timeshare salesmen and forced to listen to a timeshare pitch in a windowless room below the casino. (Thankfully, that never happened.)
However, the biggest drawback for this hotel is that it's really attached to the Miracle Mile shops rather than Planet Hollywood. Which means, you have to walk through the mall to get to the PH casino. And then you have to walk back through the mall to get to your room. Do it five times on Super Bowl Sunday and it gets old real quick.
Check-In: We rolled up on Saturday afternoon at 2pm to the PH Towers entrance where valet (it's free!) helped us carry our bags out of the car. NOTE: If you're arriving by taxi, specify that you are going to PH Towers, not Planet Hollywood. Otherwise, you will be dropped off at the Planet Hollywood entrance and will be forced to schelp through the mall to PH Towers.
The check-in line was no less than five minutes and we were on our way to the 37th floor.
Tags: Hotel Closings / Ritz-Carlton Hotels / Marriott Hotels / Viva Vegas / Hotel News / → All Tags
The Ritz-Carlton at Lake Las Vegas to Close on May 2
Semi-shocking news for Las Vegas. The Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas is reportedly closing down on May 2nd. According to KTNV, the 304 employees at the hotel were given notice yesterday that the resort would be closing. Hotel officials have said that, predictably, the tourist slump in Vegas and the poor economy is to blame. USA Today also reports that the owner of the property, Village Hospitality, has decided to stop funding the place.
The reason why this closure is not so shocking is that with so many new rooms open on the Strip that are keeping prices down, it's hard to justify a trip far off the Strip for the same price as a room near all the action. That said, this is Vegas. Never admit defeat right? So it's a little surprising that the place would close down entirely.
Tags: Hotel Technology / Viva Vegas / Hard Rock Hotels / → All Tags
'Sound Matters' at The Hard Rock's New HRH Tower
The juke box and Sound Matters control panel.
There is plenty to say about the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel & Casino's new tower. However, let's leave that for another day. For now, let's focus on the Sound Matters Sound Bar and the touch panel juke box system with over 2,000 songs that is in every one of the all-suite rooms here in the new tower.
First and foremost, the Sound Matters system sounds incredible. We have experienced a ton of in-room sounds systems in our time, and this one tops them all, it is that good. The jukebox idea is also a good one. It gives you the ability to play plenty of the rock songs you usually here down at the casino level in your room.
One odd thing about the featured play lists, though: John Mayer is featured right along Best of HRH, 90s hits, and 80s rock -- really? John Mayer at the top level just seems odd, maybe if he was playing The Joint this weekend, but he isn't Santana is.
Tags: Video / Hotel Video Tours / Element Hotels / Viva Vegas / → All Tags
Inside the Element Las Vegas
Back in December we told you all about the amazing free breakfast that Element Las Vegas had on hand for its guests. We decided then and there that this was the future of free hotel breakfasts. Delicioso!
But we totally forgot to show you inside the rooms. So here you are. This is a one-bedroom suite that we nabbed for $89 a night. As you can see, these rooms are meant to make extended-stay guests feel at home. It comes with a living room area, a desk, a full kitchen and a hideaway table that can seat four to six people.
Tags: Hotel Sports Books / Viva Vegas / Super Bowl Hotels / March Madness Hotels / → All Tags
The Five Best Hotel Sports Books in Las Vegas
Now that it's winter, it’s high time to head to a Las Vegas sports book. Between The Super Bowl and March Madness, there’s no shortage of reasons to spend inordinate amounts of time in these gambling Meccas.
In addition to being the best places to bet on sports, books are arguably the biggest and baddest sports bars in town—the perfect spot to grab a cold one (or six) and sit back to watch your team bring it home.
Not all sports books, however, are created equal. We created a list of the best Vegas venues to place your sports bets back in 2005, but this is a different city in 2010. Places have changed and so has the technology.
So after years of taking points, giving points, parlaying and teasing, yours truly has pulled together this list of the best of the best. Here are the Best Five Sports Books in town, with a rundown on what makes each of them worth your time.
Tags: Snapshot / Hotel Technology / Viva Vegas / Hotel WiFi / → All Tags
The Sad Scene That is The Flamingo's Internet Junction
It's 2010, right? That's what we thought. But during a recent visit to Vegas, this is the sad sight we were confronted with when we needed to print something. It is, friends, the Internet Junction at the Flamingo Las Vegas.
We can't decide what's worse: That we had to pay $13.99 for in-room WiFi here or that it cost us $6.41 to print a couple of pages at the Junction. (Then, of course, there's the matter of that name. Wordplay can be cute, but "Business Center" would work just fine, wouldn't it?)
Tags: Killer View / Anti-View / Viva Vegas / Donny Osmond / Marie Osmond / → All Tags
Donny and Marie Invade Our Hotel Room Views in Vegas
View from Vdara.
We’re not above cheesy entertainment in Vegas. We would have happily gone to see foreign pop idols Matt Goss or Human Nature—and we did enjoy Cirque’s Viva Elvis on The King’s 75th birthday. But we’re not so hot on The Osmonds. Especially when the supposedly wholesome Donny and Marie mess with our hotel-room views of the Strip.
Our first stop was at the Flamingo, where we had upgraded from a regular GO room to a GO room with a view prior to arrival. (We received an email offering the upgrade for just 15 bucks, which the reservation agent assured us was a great deal.) Psyched for the view, we hit that big ol’ button for the blackout shades and sheer curtain … only to be greeted with this gauzy view of Caesar’s across the street.
Tags: Viva Vegas / Hotel Transport / CityCenter / Hotel Cabs / → All Tags
Inside the Vdara Vacuum—Where Peace and Quiet Means Long Waits for Cabs
Ah, waiting for cabs in Vegas. In the past we’ve found this mostly a simple affair: walk out of your hotel-casino and there they are, lined up and ready to go. We did expect to wait longer than usual when in town for CES this past Thursday to Saturday, but what we didn’t expect was a phenomenon we’re going to call the Vdara vacuum.
It began when we checked out of the Flamingo and decided to be lazy and cab it over to CityCenter. (Who wants to schlep their bags down the Strip in the middle of the day?) “Vdara, please,” we told our cabbie, who promptly replied “Huh?”
Tags: Hotel Technology / Hotel TVs / Hotel Bathrooms / Viva Vegas / → All Tags
Who Watches Those TVs in Hotel Bathroom Mirrors?
We've just landed in Vegas for a shot of warmth and little bit of tech. Today, we'll be hitting the show floor at CES, to see what groovy travel gadgets and other technical bells and whistles and widgets may wind up in our hotel rooms a year from now.
After checking in to The Flamingo, we realized we had a good question for the hotel-geekery folks we might meet: What's next? Because, frankly, we think those TVs embedded in the bathroom mirrors are played out.
We love the massive flatscreen TVs that come standard in any good hotel room these days—and we don't even mind the excess of having more than one TV. But, seriously, what is with these low-fi mirror TVs? Did someone dream them up at CES three years ago after one too many post-show Chardonnays?
Tags: Hotel WiFi / Viva Vegas / Free Hotel WiFi / HotelChatter WiFi Guides / CES Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags
Where to Find Free Hotel WiFi in Vegas
We hope you brought your wireless card with you.
If you're headed to Vegas this weekend for CES or the Adult Entertainment Expo, chances are you're gonna need a WiFi connection for all your uploading, downloading, Twittering, Facebooking, blogging, and other, ahem, recreational activities.
The bad news is that in the privacy of your hotel room, expect to pay at least $10 a day to sign on. Sadly, there really no hotels where in-room WiFi is free. There are, however, plenty of public options. You just have to know where to look.
We've culled together a list of tried and true WiFi hotspots on the strip based on our own experience as well as the knowledge of Vegas expert @24K aka Chris Rauschnot, who is constantly up and down the Strip reporting on the scene--all from his cellphone.
So the next time you find yourself in Vegas for a conference or just some good old debauchery, here's where you can get connected.
Skip on over for VegasChatter for free WiFi that's not limited to hotels.
Tags: CES Hotels / Viva Vegas / Geek Hotels / VegasChatter / → All Tags
Geeks and Porn Stars to Arrive in Vegas This Weekend
As VegasChatter put it, this first week of January is The Most Wonderful Time of The Year … For Techies and Porn Stars. That’s right, the Consumer Electronics Show and the Adult Entertainment Expo are in town! And Vegas hotel owners are happy because most of them are sold out for the duration of the events, from Wednesday Jan 6–Sunday, Jan 10.
Thursday and Friday nights are the most heavily booked—and all the big-name casinos on and off the Strip have very limited availability any night. All is not lost, though. Here are a few options we found for last-minute geeks and gawkers.
Tags: HotelChatter 2009 Awards / Best Hotel Scene / Viva Vegas / → All Tags
Best Hotel Scene: Long Live Las Vegas
The Strip has seen from the Mandarin Bar at the Mandarin Oriental
It's what you've been waiting all year for--The 2009 HotelChatter Awards! We'll be bringing you the best and worst of the year (and the decade) all day today and part of tomorrow. Agree or disagree with our picks? Air your thoughts in comments below.
The year started off bleak for Las Vegas--at least from a tourism industry perspective. But for travelers, it was awesome! The room rates on the Strip dropped to unbelievable prices, even on the weekends, and we couldn't create a hotel deals list without including Vegas on it somewhere.
If you found your travel budget slashed in any way and that big trip to NYC or Hollywood or even Europe was just too expensive, you knew you could still get a great deal in Vegas as not only room rates were dropping but hotels were throwing in dining credits, spa discounts, show tickets and even gambling credits. It was practically a free for all in Sin City.
Of course, it didn't last and things began to level out again by the summer but room rates in Vegas are still much, much lower than they were at the start of 2008. And resort credits are still very much alive.
However, we're loving Vegas for a whole new reason in 2010 (and it's not because of our new baby sibling, VegasChatter.com, although that helps!)
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