Two Way Hard Three | Las Vegas Casino & Design Blog

The Review-Journal has a good article on the breakdown of Broadway-style entertainment in Las Vegas, present and future.

Nice to see it all laid out in one place:

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Jan-29-Sun-2006/news/5505692.html

Technorati Tags: entertainment, gaming industry, las vegas, vegas

I got an interesting press release from The Mirage recently about a new program they are offering at their dolphin habitat.

For $500 you can spend the entire day with the dolphins and their training crew, learning about how these magnificent animals are cared for. The day includes a photo and a lunch.

Anyway, I'm sure there are some folks out there who are interested in looking into something like this so for them, I've attached the press after the jump. Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: las vegas, wynn

Another article about upcoming wireless/mobile gaming in Nevada... Personally, I feel like this concept is getting a lot of attention but I don't find it all that interesting. Do you really need to play 21 when you're sitting in the cafe? What happened to chatting with your friends?

Do you guys think wireless gaming is a huge deal?

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Jan-27-Fri-2006/business/5568007.html

Technorati Tags: gaming industry, las vegas, vegas

VegasTripping.com has an interesting article discussing the impending resort closures and how they will impact room inventory and other aspects of Las Vegas.

It's a good read, I recommend it.

http://www.vegastripping.com/features/feature.php?feature_id=81&page=1

Technorati Tags: gaming industry, las vegas, vegas

The Las Vegas Sun reports on the growing importance of Chinese New Year to Las Vegas Strip properties. It ranks behind New Year's Eve and is tied with Super Bowl as the second most important gambling event of the year. Hotels will have full occupancy this weekend.

MGM Grand will have both Mandarin and Cantonese concerts this weekend, and Wynn Las Vegas is hosting a private party for 1,400 invited guests.

To read the entire article:
Casinos Open Arms for Asians with Open Wallets

I spent the weekend in Las Vegas at The Mirage. This was my first time as a guest there since Wynn Las Vegas opened this past April. I am happy to report that despite the fact that I'll probably stay at Wynn whenever I can, The Mirage will fill in when Steveland is full or overpriced. The stated purpose of this trip was for a friend's birthday but fortunately for me, I had some time to catch up on all of the changes since my last trip six weeks ago.

My main focus was to see how The Mirage looked and felt after having a facelift. I also made it over to WLV to see Corsa after its re-design.

The photos from this trip are detailed here in this entry. To read the rest of this post, click the link and keep reading.

Howdy folks, back from Las Vegas with a photo update. I'll follow this with a written opinion piece as soon as I can.

Before we get to Vegas though, let's look at Macau. Our man on the scene Chris has written in with some fresh photos of Wynn Macau, The Venetian, Galaxy Starworld, Grand Emperor and more. Thanks again to Chris for keeping us westerners up to date.

The Macau photos are located here, the new ones are on that second page and the third as well. Enjoy.

On the Vegas side of things, the pictures include the updated Corsa Cucina at Wynn Las Vegas, Kokomo's, STACK and Fin at The Mirage, and some great shots from MIX at the top of THEHotel. Some of the shots, especially of STACK, didn't come out very well. I included them because unfortunately that was the best I have and I know you guys wanted to see what it looks like.

Generally, some really exciting changes at The Mirage and even Wynn. I'll save the bulk of this for my other post but we did eat at STACK and loved it, plus we spent an evening at Tryst, Wynn's re-born nightclub, formerly known as La Bete. The changes at The Mirage have dramatically altered the customer profile, even in this short amount of time. Anyway, more on that when I write my report. For now, enjoy the photos:

http://photos.ratevegas.com/photo/gallery/january2006

Update (Monday Eve.): I've been working on my other article but I found that I'm writing more than I thought so it's going a bit slow. Looking like it will be published tomorrow morning instead of tonight. Enjoy the pictures in the meantime.

Technorati Tags: casino design, gaming industry, las vegas, macau, mirage, photography, vegas, vegas photos, wynn, wynnlasvegas

Howdy folks, back from Las Vegas with a photo update. I'll follow this with a written opinion piece as soon as I can.

Before we get to Vegas though, let's look at Macau. Our man on the scene Chris has written in with some fresh photos of Wynn Macau, The Venetian, Galaxy Starworld, Grand Emperor and more. Thanks again to Chris for keeping us westerners up to date.

The Macau photos are located here, the new ones are on that second page and the third as well. Enjoy.

On the Vegas side of things, the pictures include the updated Corsa Cucina at Wynn Las Vegas, Kokomo's, STACK and Fin at The Mirage, and some great shots from MIX at the top of THEHotel. Some of the shots, especially of STACK, didn't come out very well. I included them because unfortunately that was the best I have and I know you guys wanted to see what it looks like.

Generally, some really exciting changes at The Mirage and even Wynn. I'll save the bulk of this for my other post but we did eat at STACK and loved it, plus we spent an evening at Tryst, Wynn's re-born nightclub, formerly known as La Bete. The changes at The Mirage have dramatically altered the customer profile, even in this short amount of time. Anyway, more on that when I write my report. For now, enjoy the photos:

http://photos.ratevegas.com/photo/gallery/january2006

Technorati Tags: casino design, gaming industry, las vegas, macau, mirage, photography, vegas, vegas photos, wynn, wynnlasvegas

Sorry I missed these over the weekend, I was doing research in Las Vegas.

The Clark County Planning Commission shared some details of upcoming projects for the New Frontier site and Wynn's Encore project.

Here's the Las Vegas Sun article discussion both: Las Vegas Sun.

If you want to read the commission's materials, they are located here:

New Frontier Plans
Encore at Wynn Las Vegas Plans

Technorati Tags: casino design, gaming industry, las vegas, wynn, wynnlasvegas

According to the blog of a cast member, the version of Avenue Q that is showing at Wynn Las Vegas has been slightly tweaked to accommodate the Vegas visitor, and I assume to help pick up ticket sales.

For the blog entry, check here. And the previous entry detailing the changes, here.

Technorati Tags: entertainment, gaming industry, las vegas, vegas, wynn, wynnlasvegas

The LV Sun is reporting that some stock deals could lead to the redevelopment of the Riviera property on the Las Vegas Strip.

Riviera To Fall?

Thanks to VegasTripping.com for pointing out the story that we missed.

Technorati Tags: casino design, gaming industry, las vegas, vegas

A Las Vegas vacation without gambling? Does such a thing exist?

Well, for experienced card players, dice throwers and slot addicts, probably not. But given the widening appeal of Las Vegas as a general vacation destination, there are a lot of people coming down Las Vegas Blvd. that don't really care about gambling... Not anti-gambling, just indifferent towards it and certainly not the reason they are checking out Sin City.

The idea behind this guide is to highlight some of the interesting things for non-gamblers to check out. Some of these are obvious, others less so. Hopefully they are all useful.

Keep reading after the jump and if you disagree or think we missed something, add a comment!

According to the LV Sun, Tony Marnell's company has been hired by Aztar to look at possibilities for the Tropicana site. Marnell Corrao built Treasure Island, Bellagio and Wynn Las Vegas (though it will not be working on Encore), and designed and built the Rio.

Marnell Working on Tropicana Plans

Technorati Tags: casino design, gaming industry, las vegas, tropicana, vegas

I love my readers. Fortunately for me, I live relatively close to Las Vegas. It's easy to get there, even by car. Still, a town that moves this fast, there's bound to be some changes that I can't report in real-time.

That's where you guys come in... Mike E. has reported back with the latest from Wynn Las Vegas (Corsa changes, high limit stuff, etc...) and The Mirage (new nightclub, restaurants, paint). Not only are you getting the boots on the ground updates, it's a great read.

Follow along after the jump to check out Mike's excellent contribution. I also have a couple of comments at the end...

Technorati Tags: casino design, las vegas, mirage, vegas, wynn, wynnlasvegas

A quick hit on a couple of stories from the past few days:

Castaways History

Boardwalk Closes

Cosmopolitan Gets Financing

One of my favorite Vegas sites, VegasTripping.com, has a great interview posted with Nick of the Las Vegas Casino Deathwatch.

It's a great read - I encourage you to check it out and also to bookmark/RSS subscribe/whatever to VegasTripping - you'll love their stuff!

VegasTripping Interview on Vegas in 2006

Technorati Tags: casino design, gaming industry, las vegas, lasvegas, vegas

The Las Vegas Sun met with Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta III recently to discuss Station's position as the leader in the locals market and STN's plans for the future. The two brothers may develop up to six new Station Casino properties in the next ten years. Station has $1.3 billion of projects under way now including the soon to open Red Rock Station and expansions at three properties. Station stock is up 21% in the past year and 46% over two years.
The most startling statistic to me was that off-Strip casinos will take $1,500 per year from every person in the Las Vegas valley by 2010. When you consider the number of residents who don't gamble at all, gamblers are leaving significantly more dollars in locals casinos every year. Is this a good thing or not?

The story can be found at:
Station's Econ 101

Finally, the word on the Stardust site.

There's a lot of info, so you probably want to read the details for yourselves:

Press Release

And, the new Web site for the resort:

Echelon Las Vegas

Technorati Tags: boyd, casino design, gaming industry, las vegas, echelon, vegas

The Las Vegas Sun reports that the first condo-hotels near the Strip will open in the first half of this year. The Residences at MGM Grand and The Platinum on Flamingo at Koval Lane are nearing completion. The MGM development has sold out two of its three towers and the third is 75% sold. The Platinum sold its 255 units in 39 days.

I looked at The Residences at MGM Grand when the sales office and mock-up units opened several years ago on MGM Grand's Studio Walk. The units were furnished very nicely, but they were basically large hotel rooms with small kitchens. Units were combined to create larger apartments. I may have misjudged the potential for condo-hotels because I couldn't understand paying $600,000-$1,000,000 to live in what amounts to an extension of MGM Grand. Does anyone here have experience with condo-hotels?

Developers Offering a New Kind of Suite Deal with Condo-hotels