Recent Las Vegas Developments of interest.
The 374 room HRH Tower at the Hard Rock Hotel is scheduled to open Monday
28 December 2009. The HRH Tower is part of the larger $750 million expansion
to be completed in April 2010. The HRH Tower features seven penthouse suites
and eight spa villas. The HRH tower is on Harmon avenue. A new nightclub,
the 14,000 square foot Vanity, opens 31 December 2009. (The 450 room Paradise
Tower opened July 2009 and was designed for corporate meetings and convention
guests.) reported Sunday 27 December 2009.
The 1,201 room PH Towers at the Planet Hollywood Resort is scheduled
to open Monday 28 December 2009. The 52 story PH Tower is oriented towards
the upscale customer who wants an all-suite experience. Built as time shares,
the rooms have full kitchens, washers and dryers as well as state-of-the-art
electronics. The tower is a joint venture between Planet Hollywood Resort
and Florida-based time share company Westgate. About 200 rooms are being
sold as time shares and the rest are to be used for hotel rooms. About
20 people used their time share units on 18 December, about 330 rooms will
open 28 December growing to 500 rooms for New Year's Eve. The full tower
is to be open for the Miss America Pageant on 30 Jan 2010. Prices are $229
midweek and $349 weekends. reported Sunday 27 December 2009.
The CityCenter (MGM Mirage and Dubai World) is celebrating several grand
openings during December 2009. Their grand opening of the 1,500 room boutique
condominium-hotel Vdara Hotel and Spa was Tuesday 1 December 2009. Crystal's
retail and entertainment district opening was Thursday 3 December. The
Crystals retail and entertainment district includes luxury retailers Tiffany
and Louis Vuitton as well as restaurants by Todd English, Wolfgang Puck
and actress Eva Longoria.
The Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas grand opening is on 4 December, and
the grand opening celebration of the ARIA Resort & Casino on 16 December.
Eva Longoria Parker's Beso and Eve at the CityCenter will have their
grand opening New Year's Eve. Beso is her steakhouse with a Latin flair
and Eve is her new nightclub. Beso and Eve are located at Crystal's at
CityCenter. Longoria also has a popular Beso restaurant in Hollywood.
The CityCenter (an MGM Mirage and Dubai World project) is a destination
city within a city. At $8.5 Billion, this 67 acre complex is the largest
privately funded construction project in the U.S. The project straddles
Harmon Avenue on a site previously occupied by the Boardwalk Hotel and
Casino. The project is to be connected to the Bellagio and the Monte Carlo
by a people mover.
Aria, the 61 story, 4,004 room casino hotel will have a 150,000 square
foot casino, 215,000 square foot pool deck and 1,800 seat theater that
will feature the Cirque de Soleil with the life and music of Elvis Presley.
Reported 3 December 2009.
Barry Manilow's new show on the Las Vegas Strip opens 5 March 2010.
Manilow will start his two-year run at the Paris Las Vegas. Tickets on
sale Tuesday 1 December 2009. He has been performing at the off-Strip Las
Vegas Hilton. His last performance at the Las Vegas Hilton is 30 December
2009. Reported 1 December 2009.
The Binion's Gambling Hall and Hotel will be closing their hotel rooms,
coffee shop and keno operations. All 99 rooms in the Binion's hotel and
266 rooms in the property's former Mint Tower will close 14 December 2009.
This being part of a cost cutting operational move. The casino facing the
downtown Fremont Street Experience pedestrian mall will remain open as
well as the poker room, sports book and the Binion's Ranch Steakhouse.
It is well known for hosting the World Series of Poker for 34 years.
Binion's opened in 1951. After changing hands, the MTR Gaming Group Inc.,
purchased the property and kept the Horseshoe and World Series of Poker
names. The MTR reopened it in April 2004 as Binion's Gambling Hall and
Hotel. The World Series of Poker moved to the RIo All-Suite Hotel and Casino
in 2005. MTR Gaming sold the property to TLC in March 2008. Reported 30
November 2009.
Garth Brooks is making an extended run at the 1,500 seat Encore Theater
at Wynn Las Vegas. The Garth Brooks run starts 11 December 2009. There
are no plans for Brooks to tour outside of the Vegas deal or to generate
new music. Tickets for the first dates go on sale 24 October with ticket
prices of $125. The 90 minute show will feature Garth accompanied by only
an acoustic guitar. There will be on show on Friday, two on Saturday and
one on Sunday. This will allow Brooks to take his kids to school every
morning in Oklahoma.
Garth Brooks will take the place of Danny Gans who died 1 May 2009 where
Gans moved to the Wynn in February 2009. Gans previously had a nine year
engagement at the Mirage.
The Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel and Casino opens their 490 room tower.
The 17-story Paradise tower includes eight pool suites along the resort's
3-acre pool comples. There is also a penthouse with three bedrooms, full
bar and hot tubs. Another tower with casino space along with 374 rooms
is scheduled to open in December 2009. This area will be branded differently
from the rest of the Hard Rock and even have a separate check-in desk.
The casino will flow into the existing slots and table games area. The
Las Vegas Rock Hotel and Casino is just east of the Vegas Strip. Soft opening
last weekend in July 2009 with formal opening first weekend in August 2009.
Also planned in Las Vegas:
CityCenter - 6 towers, $8.5 billion, MGM Mirage / Dubai World partnership
to open in phases starting later this year 2009. December 2009 opening
for the luxury Mandarin Oriental nongaming hotel.
Cosmopolitan - a planned 3,000 rooms for year 2010.
Cancelled or up in the air include:
Fontainebleau - 4,000 rooms is in federal bankrkuptcy court to get
funding to open late this year 2009.
Caesars Palace - Harrah's Entertainment has on hold it's 660 room Octavius
tower until further notice.
The Las Vegas economy, like many places, has been affected by the recession.
Here are some recent facts from the Las Vegas CVA for May 2009. Las Vegas
hosted 3.2 million visitors in May 2009 down 5.8 % compared to last May
when 3.4 million people visited.. Weekend citywide occupancy rate for May
2009 was 91.8 % compared with 92.7 % for May 2008. Midweek citywide occupancy
was 80.3 % for May 2009 compared to 88.1 % for May 2008. Convention attendance
was 341,846 which is down 32.9 % from 509,482 for May 2008.
The Average Daily Room Rate (ADR) for Las Vegas in May 2009 was $96.96
compared with $135.17 in May 2008. That's right, ADR is down 28.3 % year
over year.
Danny Gans, singer, comedian and well known as a vocal impressionist,
died in his home on 1 May 2009 at age 52. Gans was a permanent performer
at The Mirage starting in 2000, where the Danny Gans Theatre was built
for him. In February 2009, Gans moved to the Encore Las Vegas. The Encore
is connected to its sister resort, Wynn Las Vegas. Reported 1 May 2009.
The developers of the $3 billion Fontainebleau Las Vegas filed suit
against a group of banks for terminating an $800 million loan before construction
is complete. The 63-story, 3,815 room development located on a 24-acre
site is reportedly about 70 percent complete and was scheduled to open
in October 2009. Reported 28 April 2009.
The Fontainebleau Las Vegas is located on Las Vegas Blvd. South in Las
Vegas situated near the north end of the Las Vegas Strip on the site previously
occupied by the El Rancho and Algiers hotels.
Cher's last performance for the series at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace
will be 20 December 2009. Cher's has added 33 performances beginning 19
September 2009 and running through 20 December 2009. Ticket prices range
from $95 to $250 for the 90-minute show. The show includes 18 dancers along
with aerialists, special effects and costume wardrobe created by designer
Bob Mackie. Reported 17 April 2009.
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