Access Vegas Insider Vibe August 17, 2011

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AccessVegas.com Insider Vibe

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Welcome to the Insider Vibe! This is the official newsletter of AccessVegas.Com. We talk about the Las Vegas activities you really care about.

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Newkirk’s Notes – comments on Las Vegas from AccessVegas.Com publisher Ted Newkirk:

Hello From Las Vegas! – Big news about a major new project in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip, and the weather is unchanging (around 105 F for the high, and lows in the mid-80’s F). So, let’s move along.

Las Vegas “Linqing” Up Hotels With New Shops, Dining (Say Goodbye, Imperial Palace) – Like the Imperial Palace? Bummer for you. No, they are not blowing it up. But it will get a completely new look, new casino area, new name, and open it up to create a passage between Carnival Court and Linq.

project linq las vegas

OÆSheas is going bye-bye. Kind-of. The present OÆSheas location will be turned into part of Project Linq (which we assume means more Strip-front dining and roof-top nightlife which has become so popular). OÆSheas itself will be integrated into the ônewö Imperial Palace (which has no announced name yet).

las vegas high roller ferris wheel

Curious to know more and to add your comments and thoughts about this huge new project? Click over to Las Vegas “Linqing” Up Hotels With New Shops, Dining (Say Goodbye, Imperial Palace) where you can read the complete story and add your comments at the bottom of that page.

Ring Around The Rosie, We All Fall Down – The Harmon Hotel (the unfinished billboard hotel next to The Cosmopolitan) looks like it is going to end up in a cloud of dust. Construction defects apparently prohibit building it out to the original height and Las Vegas needs more hotel rooms like I need more In-And-Out Burgers. (I live just a few blocks from an In-And-Out — love it, but you can only eat so many of them a month). An implosion date has not yet been set as MGM Resorts and the hotel builder are still doing some fighting.

160 New Cops On The Strip? – We usually don’t break the news. I’m not an investigative reporter. However, I overhead a Metro (Las Vegas police) officer last weekend telling a couple of civilians (who seemed like possible recruits for the force) that the department in cooperation with Strip properties were hiring an extra 160 officers to beef up their presence in the tourist corridor. (Note: Both on The Strip and downtown, police now have a very pronounced presence in the wake of a few killings and all the complaints about street vendors, panhandlers, and similar).

Are the hotels helping fund this? Is it more effective for them to fund fully sworn law officers instead of hiring more of their private security? Are there any conflicts of interest (if the officers are essentially being funded by a private company)? I know we have plenty of local journalists reading this. Have at, should make a great story!

Viva Less Elvis – Cirque du Soleil completely revamping Viva Elvis (at Aria) due to less-than-desired ticket sales. It will downplay Elvis and focus on traditional Cirque (acrobats and the like). Interestingly enough, we’ve gotten tons of great feedback (and no negative reports) on Viva Elvis. Could it be that the problem is the location (seemingly way back from The Strip in Aria) and not the show itself? Time will tell.

The Churn Continues – During the boom, the big number constantly floated around was that 5000 new people were moving to Las Vegas each month. We joked around that the dirty little secret was that 20-30% of them eventually turned around and left when they found out that there wasn’t a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Interesting recent statistics show an even more remarkable churn. Roughly 5000 people are still moving here each month. But power company new service requests and school district enrollment are both flat. Which means we’re seeing 5000 people a month come while another 5000 give up and leave.

How can this be? As construction jobs continue to dry up, those in that trade are forced to walk away from homes (that they are underwater with and perhaps can’t afford on unemployment) to go seek work in other parts of the country. They are being replaced as residents by retirees (and those close to retirement) plus a pretty healthy dose of entrepreneurs who can work from anywhere. Both groups obviously not necessarily dependent on the local Las Vegas economy. Although Project Linq will be providing 3000 construction jobs, that is minuscule when you look at Nevada’s current unemployment rate in that field.

NASCAR Cafe Sell-Off – So much for earlier news that the NASCAR Cafe (formerly in The Sahara) will be relocated. They are pulling a “Sahara” and selling off everything.

Enjoy This Issue!

Associate Editor: Amy Rayner-Cooley
News Researcher/Editor: Rick Ziegler

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Mask Yourself! Phantom û The Las Vegas Spectacular Invites Fans To Try On The Iconic Mask – Virtually – Application on Facebook Encourages Fans to Celebrate 5 Years in Las Vegas – If you’ve always wanted to don one of the world’s most iconic masks, a new application on Facebook now gives you the chance. After thousands of performances over five years, Phantom û The Las Vegas Spectacular is celebrating by giving fans the opportunity to show the world just how much they love the music of the night with the Phantom Mask Maker application.

The Mirage’s Newest Dolphin Calf Named – A moment to last a lifetime. We all have memories we will never forget, and MGM Resorts International is providing guests the chance to live some of those special life moments at their 15 participating properties through M life, their new loyalty program. One such moment arose recently when an M life member had the unprecedented opportunity to name the bottlenose dolphin calf born July 3 at Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat at The Mirage.

‘Name That Tune’ marks its return with live game show at Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas – Las Vegas favorites, Chris Phillips and Marley Taylor of Zowie Bowie, to host live version of the classic game show. – ‘Name That Tune,’ one of America’s most beloved game shows of all time, makes its live debut at Imperial Palace Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, beginning Thursday, August 18. An up-to-date, fast-paced version of the iconic daytime game show, Name That Tune Live! will give 100 participants per show the chance to win thousands of dollars in cash and prizes. Photo Credit: Ira Kuzma/Vegas Video Network

The Spa at Trump Introduces the New Mom Package For Post-Partum Pampering – From pregnancy to labor to tending to a newborn’s needs, the first days of motherhood are as exhausting as they are unforgettable. In honor of new mothers everywhere (including TRUMP HOTEL COLLECTION’s own Ivanka Trump), The Spa at Trump has created a New Mom Package that offers a few hours of well-deserved ‘me time’ and post-baby rejuvenation. The package is available exclusively at The Spa at Trump’s four locations across the U.S.: Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago, Trump International Hotel Las Vegas, Trump International Hotel Waikiki Beach Walk and Trump SoHo New York.

The Venetian and The Palazzo Las Vegas BOTH Awarded Coveted AAA Five Diamond Ratings – The resorts celebrate the prestigious recognition with ‘Five Day, Five Diamond Scavenger Hunt’ – The Venetian and The Palazzo Las Vegas, two of the world’s largest and most luxurious resorts, both owned and operated by global resort developer Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS), are pleased to once again add to their distinguished roster of accolades the prestigious AAA Five Diamond Award for 2012. This marks the fifth consecutive year The Venetian has been awarded with this esteemed honor and third consecutive year for The Palazzo.

To celebrate, the resorts are hosting a ‘Five Day, Five Diamond Scavenger Hunt’ from Aug. 22 û 26. Visitors and guests will have the opportunity to win exclusive prizes by finding the day’s diamond hidden somewhere different each day throughout both Five Diamond resorts.

Hoover Dam Deluxe Bus TourHoover Dam Deluxe Bus Tour û Considered one of the greatest engineering feats in the world, Hoover Dam is Nevada’s number one sightseeing attraction, the tallest structure of its kind in the world, and one of America’s Seven Modern Civil Engineering Wonders. Travel to the Hoover Dam in style and comfort aboard safe, modern and clean touring buses. Your talented driver/guide will be more than happy to share points of interest and answer all your questions along the way. You’ll experience breathtaking views of Hoover Dam, the Colorado River and Lake Mead.

Click To Book Hoover Dam Deluxe Bus Tour áNow!

What We’re Watching – Vegas Videos You’ll Enjoy

  • Las Vegas Mob Experience Preview Clips – The Las Vegas Mob Experience, interactive attraction chronicles the rise and fall of organized crime in Las Vegas. Actors Frank Vincent, James Caan, Mickey Rourke, Steve Shirippa and Tony Sirrico in the form of apparitions, also serve as virtual ‘celebrity gangster guides.’
  • Vic Vegas Talks About His Food Network Experience, Sommelier’s Aren’t Scary People – In this episode of Top of the Food Chain: If you’ve watched Food Network Star, you know who Vic Vegas is. Hear him talk about his experiences. Then, find out there is no need to be intimidated by a restaurant’s sommelier from Linsey Whipple of Cut restaurant.
  • Getting REAL (Estate) In Vegas – Quite a few of you are poking around the Las Vegas real estate market. In this episode, you’ll find out: What will $135k (the current average home price in Las Vegas) buy me in the suburb of Henderson? What are the best (and not so good) ways to work with an out-of-town Realtor?
  • The Gun Store – If you’ve ever seen a gun in a movie and wondered what it might be like to fire a few rounds, we have the place for you. The Gun Store on Tropicana has pretty much any weapon you’ve seen, on their shelves.

Members Mania – We Love Our Readers!

I like a great burger on our last trip we found Nathan’s in belly of the Bally’s Hotel . We stay at Paris and to find Nathan’s was a good find. A great find only bad thing it was it was on our last day there.

Can you tell me where to get a great burger in Vegas . We go a couple of times a year and have been going for 20 years now and will continue.

Also your site is great and very helpful even to me one who knows pretty much on what to do in Vegas.

Thanks,

Rob

 

Ted Responds:

You can’t go wrong with Strip Burger in front of the Fashion Show Mall (across from Wynn). Great burgers, outdoors with a great view of The Strip. BLT at Mirage serves great tiger burgers has everything from Kobe Sliders to Colorado Lamb. Very creative menu. For the best basic burger in the world (my opinion), you can’t beat In-And-Out with two locations very close to The Strip on West Sahara and West Tropicana. Burger Bar at Mandalay Place is Chef Hubert Keller’s take on the burger and has yet to disappoint me. I have yet to try Holsteins at Cosmo but we’re getting great feedback. There are so many more (I Heart Burgers, Le Burger Brasserie) plus many other dining establishments tend to do up a nice burger.

Let’s get the readers chiming in. Which burger are your favorite(s) in Las Vegas? Where have you been disappointed? Click on over to Where To Get A Great Burger In Las Vegas and leave your thoughts in the comment section!

Hi, I am really sad to write this as I have been vacationing every year in Vegas since the 70’s. First with my husband and then with my brothers and sister. 20ll is the first year we have not attended. Here is the reason. We were so disappointed when we found out that the casinos were shipping their employees on buses to vote. We could not believe that they would vote for Harry Reid, which is a vote for Obama who bashed Las Vegas and caused many cancellations and who is ruining this country. Just see how many people will be able to afford Las Vegas with this government.

I live in Florida, my brothers live in Indiana and my sister lives in Alabama. This year we stayed at my sister’s home in Alabama and spent our time and money in Biloxi, Ms. and had a wonderful time.

We will miss Las Vegas some, but we won’t miss your politics.

Thanks for listening,

Mary Anne

 

Ted Responds:

First, I’d suggest you read the Politics section of my blog post So You Want To Move To Las Vegas, Is It Right For You? and you’ll find out that Nevada isn’t exactly a state that bleeds blue. You might be surprised.

Gaming (and not just here in Las Vegas but all áover the US including areas you mentioned) gave significant support to Harry Reid (D-NV, US Senate Majority Leader) because they felt that the power he has would protect the industry from federal regulation and legislation that might not be gaming-friendly. His opponent Sharon Angle has never been a gaming proponent.

I’ve expounded on this and listed (among the major gaming properties) how each CEO stands politically in a blog post. Click on over to Why Did All The Las Vegas Hotels Support Harry Reid Last Election? where you can read more and add your own comments and thoughts.

We love to hear from you, and value your feedback! Here’s how to participate:

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