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Viva Vegas Hotel Construction Update: The Downturn Edition

In our latest edition of Viva Vegas Hotel Construction Updates we have two pretty big developments, both which - not surprisingly - are caused by the credit slowdown that's affecting everyone nowadays.

First, Elad Properties has announced that they are delaying the construction start of The Plaza until "sometime in 2009" (we won't hold our breath) but are still fully committed to finishing the project.

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Tags: Las Vegas Hotels / Viva Vegas / Geek Hotels / Hotel Technology / Casino Hotels / → All Tags

Play Craps While You Crap? Maybe Soon!

Where: 355 Las Vegas Blvd S [map], Las Vegas, NV, United States, 89101

We hope to never set foot in a high stakes gambling lounge (because let's be real, that's just financial ruin waiting to happen). But now that we've heard a certain Las Vegas hotel/casino's high roller HQ is the place we might be able to get our hot little hands on a possibly-addictive new gadget, we're reconsidering...

Behold the Cantor Gaming eDeck, a WiFi-equipped handheld device that lets players walk around gambling with real money. They "interface directly" with servers in Las Vegas casinos and are currently being tested in The Venetian's high stakes gambling lounge.

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Tags: Movie Set Hotels / Viva Vegas / Steve Wynn / Celebrity Scoop / → All Tags

Movie Set Hotel :: The Golden Nugget is The Scene of "The Grand"

Where: 129 Fremont Street [map], Las Vegas, NV, United States, 89101

"The Grand" is a pretty much a straight-to-video movie starring some big names like Woody Harrelson, Ray Romano, Cheryl Hines, Richard Kind David Cross, and Chris Parnell.

Despite its limited theater presence, the Grand is actually pretty funny if not a little too long. Woody stars as a fuck-up heir to an old-school casino, The Rabbit's Foot, and due to his excessive drug use and poor management style, the casino is in peril.

A mega-Vegas hotelier/developer named Steve Lavisch (hah, get it?), played by Michael McKeen, wants to demolish it and build One Lavisch Plaza. One Lavish Plaza is actually a skyscraper hotel that consists of just one room, available for for $10 million a night. Hah.

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Tags: Memorial Day Hotels / Hotel Deals / TravelZoo / Viva Vegas / → All Tags

Memorial Day Weekend in Vegas for $49 a Night at the Golden Nugget

Where: 129 E. Fremont St. [map], Las Vegas, NV, United States, 89101

Ready to blow your rebate check in Vegas, over Memorial Day Weekend, with some change left over to gamble on the slot machines? Then book a room at The Golden Nugget.

TravelZoo is offering an unbelievably low rate of $49 for the nights of May 26 & 27. Room rates jump up to $99-119 if you plan to tack on extra days beforehand, May 23-25.

Visitors planning to book rooms should do it now, before the deal expires on May 20 (use Code TZGV10). This is a pretty good steal because it also includes a two-for-one breakfast and lunch coupon deal, and $20 gaming credit to get you started.

There's also a $20 voucher for the Golden Nugget Spa. Prices aren't cheap, but the voucher covers an entry fee, which includes "all day usage of sauna, steam, locker room amenities, lounges, and fitness facilities." Good deal.

The 'Nugget also has a mambo pool with a colossal shark tank and a three-story water slide.  There are three restaurants, a buffet, three cafes, and a Starbucks, in case your adrenaline wanes on the casino floor for a split second.

(If you win the jackpot, they'll put your photo up on their website, but that's another story...)

[Photo: Roadside Pictures]

Tags: Howto / Room Comps / Tips / Las Vegas Hotels / → All Tags

Getting Comped at Las Vegas' Plaza Hotel

Where: 1 Main Street [map], Las Vegas, nv, United States, 89101

A tipster who probably read our feature article, How to Get a Comped Hotel Room in Las Vegas, offers up a new place to hit up that we hadn't considered before. Laban writes:

I was a small time player for the last few days at the Plaza Hotel and Casino downtown. I started with a mere $20 initial bet [on the roulette table] and spent 2-3 hours a day going up and down. After initially doing well I probably sent most of the time with only about $10-20 dollars on the table per spin. For this small effort I was comp'd a buffet meal, a $20 voucher for the gift shop and got the impression that if I was staying longer that I might have been able to get more.

The Plaza Hotel, while less desirable than the Bellagio, is off the strip and as with most hotels off the strip and with less foot traffic, the chances of getting comps are greater because they want you to stay there longer and play/spend/lose more money. However, is a comped room really worth a chance of sleeping with bed bugs? It's up to you.

Related Stories:
· How to Get a Comped Hotel Room in Las Vegas [HotelChatter]

Tags: Anti-View / Hotel Hell / Las Vegas Hotel Reviews / → All Tags

Room with an Anti-View: Yet Another Vegas View

Where: 1 Fremont Street [map], Las Vegas, nv, United States, 89101

You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.

Perhaps topping the lists for worst room views are New York and Vegas. New York because most of the anti-views look out at other buildings and dirty air shafts and Vegas because well...they just suck.

For instance, look at this room view Flickr member thepetecom took from the Golden Gate Hotel.

Looking out our windows and slightly to the right allows one to see this view. Too bad my wife isn't a lesbian and I don't go for strip clubs (I like my porn to be private and shameful). See how close we are? Now imagine how much fun it is listening to the loud music they play all night long while you lie in bed trying to get some sleep.

What is actually impressive about this shot is that he took it from his Sidekick 3.

Related Stories:
· Golden Gate Hotel reviews [TripAdvisor]

Tags: Las Vegas Hotel Reviews / Downtown Vegas Hotels / → All Tags

Not the Sound of Lucio Fontana at Work

Where: 200 North Main St [map], Las Vegas, nv, United States, 89101

We know it can sometimes be hard to find a hotel that has good bacon, but is that really worse than checking into a room so noisy that the highway itself might be quieter? Unfortunately, that seems to be the situation at the Main Street Station Hotel in downtown Vegas, which in all other regards looks to be a great deal.

A recent guest just checked in with a report:

The room was nice and large , but it was very noisy being right next to the freeway. We had to leave the heater on all night long to block out the noise...I will go back to gamble and eat but would not stay there again

Lest you think she's oversensitive, another guest had the same gripe:

It is very close to the interstate, we were on the 17th (top) floor in a King room, that overlooked the interstate, and it is loud

At least it will drown out the sound of canvases tearing on the Strip.

[Photo: Roadsidepictures]

Related Stories:
· Tripadvisor

Tags: Bed Bugs / Las Vegas Hotel Reviews / Hotel Hell / → All Tags

More Bed Bugs in Vegas

Where: 1 Main Street [map], Las Vegas, nv, United States, 89101

[Ed. Note: It seems that Las Vegas is the newest hotspot for Bed Bugs. This latest incident occurred at the Plaza Hotel in the city's downtown. As always this is one person's side of the story and he seems pretty angry.]

My short weekend trip has turned into a nightmare of the week! My fiancee and I are covered in bites all over our bodies. I am so itchy that I cannot sleep. I even have bites in my genital area!! This hotel was so poorly maintained. Sure it was an older hotel but health still needs to be a priority.

I must also mention that no light switches worked. Therefore I couldn't even inspect for bugs. Who really knew that "Don't let the bed bugs bite" actually meant something?!?! My shower was cold. I did not have any hot water. My shower tub would not drain and collected with 6 inches of water without a plug.

I couldn't even use the air conditioner because it was frozen over with ice. I have to pay FULL PRICE!!!! I also had to pay for a trip to URGENT CARE!

Related Stories:
· The Plaza Hotel & Casino reviews [TripAdvisor]
· Bed Bugs Gamble on Vegas [HotelChatter]

Tags: Hotel Deals / → All Tags

Do You Dare Stay at the Golden Nugget?

Where: 129 East Fremont Street [map], Las Vegas, nv, United States, 89101

The Golden Nugget. You have to be willing to give downtown Vegas a try, which we have never done. But if you are planning on going to Vegas between Nov. 13-24, or Dec. 11-22 the Nugget is offering weekday rates of $55 and weekend rates of $89 to try to get you in the door.

So what have those Internet millionaires done with the joint since making that god awful TV show? Well according to one recent visitor:

The room (South Tower, 20th floor) was clean and quiet. The bathroom is a bit small but serviceable. The look of the room is somewhat dated as is the rest of the hotel, at least in comparison to the newer hotels on the strip. The casino is a bit small by strip standards.

The buffet was cheap but unappetizing (the floor manager on Thursday night could not understand that we had used a two for one coupon and did not owe him for another person - we paid the extra charge to make him go away). The food in the cafe was quite good.

The crowd skews older than on the strip, probably an average age of 45 to 50. The muzak in the casino caters to this age group. Be ready for Carly Simon and the Bee Gees.

Here is the deal link, if you are up for a little seventies action Vegas style.

Related Stories:
·   Golden Nugget Hotel Deal [Travelzoo]
·   Internet Millionaires Let it Ride on Vegas' Golden Nugget [HotelChatter]
·   The Golden Nugget Hotel Reviews [TripAdvisor]

Sponsored Links:
·   Travelzoo Weekly Top 20 Sign Up [Travelzoo]

Tags: Hotel News / → All Tags

RFID Wynn Win?

Where: 3131 Las Vegas Blvd South [map], Las Vegas, nv, United States, 89101

Casino impresario Steve Wynn is leaving nothing to chance at his new $2.7 billion mega-resort in Las Vegas.

RFID devices will be added to the Wynn chips in order to signal secret serial numbers to casino computers, which in turn, will keep track of who is betting what, who owes what to who, and who is trying to count cards. Furthermore, looks like spurious chips won't be a factor at Wynn Vegas--kinda difficult to copy a computerized casino chip. Take that you casino cheats!

All the details after the jump...

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Tags: Hotels / → All Tags

When will THEHotel hit the wall?

Where: 3131 Las Vegas Blvd. South [map], Las Vegas, nv, United States, 89101

All suites, two bathrooms, people od'ing up at Mix, Brian Boitano's mad skatin' posse flitting about, and a topless pool on the hotel grounds. No wonder THEHotel is the new new thing.

However, our friends at Gridskipper posed an interesting question yesterday, "how long can THEHotel be *the hotel* in Vegas?"

Here at HotelChatter, we think we know the answer--until April 28, 2005. April 28, 2005? What makes that date roll off our tongues so quickly?

April 28, 2005 is the day Wynn opens in Las Vegas.

Oh, and Griskipper? Tell your overlord that Wynn will include the first Vegas outpost of SoHo's Balthazar.

Anticipation mounts...

Related Stories:
·    THEHotel: Robes Worth Stealing [Gridskipper]
·    Wynn's New Vegas Hotel Looms Large [HotelChatter]
·    What Would Brian Boitano Do? [HotelChatter]
·    THEhotel a great spot, but MIX having some issues? [HotelChatter]
·    Ever gazed at the Las Vegas strip...from a urinal? [HotelChatter]
·    THEhotel mixing class with crass, Vegas style [HotelChatter]
·    The aftermath breakfast at THEhotel [HotelChatter]
·    THEhotel at Mandalay tries twice [HotelChatter]

Tags: Hotels / → All Tags

Downtown Las Vegas Hotel, The Cal

Where: 12 Ogden Avenue [map], Las Vegas, nv, United States, 89101

People are much more familiar with the Strip hotels than the ones downtown.  One downtown hotel and casino is a favorite with Hawaiian tourists, even though its name is the California.

The Cal, as it is known by some, has what the hotel calls a "Hawaiian Spirit."  It is owned by the Boyd Gaming group, which has properties in Nevada, New Jersey, Louisiana, Illinois, Indiana and Mississippi. The rooms' décor has taken a page from the Hawaiian home of many of its frequent visitors and is homey, comfortable, and a respite from the hustle and bustle of the casino.

One of its restaurants, Hawaiian Specialties, is a favorite among  tourists and locals alike.  

Boyd Gaming has partnered with Omni Air International to offer six non-stop flights a week with travel times of only 5 hours (to Las Vegas from Hawaii; flights the other way are a bit longer).