Feb 09
AndrewBusiness, Travel concerts, Hard Rock, Las Vegas, live music
The Joint, the venue at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV will get a makeover and reopen the weekend of April 18. The venue originally opened in 1995 and boasts one of the most intimate rock venues in the city. Its maximum capacity under the old design was 2,000 people, standing room only. It also served as an after hours night club.
The remodeled version will double the capacity but maintain the intimate setting of its predecessor. The cost of the revamp is estimated at $60 million, part of a larger expansion project of the hotel-casino. A new sound system will be put in, along with almost 40 video screens, and a blogging station for press coverage. The venue will also get a upgrade in its lighting system and include WiFi access venue-wide.
Paul McCartney has been tapped to play the first concert in the new venue on April 19.
Jul 07
AndrewBusiness, Society and Culture Economy, Las Vegas
The last downturn in the city of Las Vegas came in the year after the 9/11 attacks. The city rebounded, returning to a more adult-oriented advertising campaign and largely abandoning the kid-friendly PR gimmick of the 90′s. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas isn’t referring to the Circus Circus Adventure Dome or MGM Grand’s Lion Habitat. It refers to swanky night clubs, topless cabaret shows and, of course, the ultimate 21-and-over pastime, gambling.
This latest downturn has its roots in the economy. Oil prices have forced airlines to reduce flights across the nation, which perhaps hits the city disproportionately because so much of its business comes from out of the region. The lack of disposable income, exacerbated by the rising cost of food and gasoline prices, have forced some families and individuals to choose between day-to-day essentials and vacations. And those vacations are being planned closer to home to save on transportation costs.
The signs of decline of Sin City are easy to peg. Average occupancy rates of the major hotels in the city are down to 80 percent 4th of July weekend, from typical levels near 95 percent. Gambling revenues, according to some reports, are on the decline for the fifth consecutive month. But if you can believe it, the ultimate marker of decline may just the hike in price of the Golden Gate Hotel and Casino’s shrimp cocktail. The dish, which has been steady at $.99 since 1991, now costs a whopping $1.99.
Deals for the penny-pincher were used as lures to get you into the casino, where you were supposed to sit down at a blackjack table or a slot machine and lose more than the money you just saved dining. It used to be a $2.99 steak and eggs deal was the norm. Then it was pushed to late night dining, between midnight and the breakfast rush. Then, only midweek. Now, those deals are virtually gone. One company, Boyd Gaming Corp., opted to pull their deals at nine properties rather than raising the price to less than special levels.
The 4 percent rise in food inflation is partly to blame for the scaling down of all-you-can-eat buffets. Strip clubs are taking a hit as the attendance is down nearly 10% this year. Convention attendance, according to the Las Vegas Convention Authority, is down 7 percent this year. And lower tips affect cocktail waitresses and table dealers whose hourly wage tops out typically around $9 per hour. Tips heavily subsidize their take home pay.
And one largely unaccounted for factor is the rise in casino gambling in states across the nation. For as many development delays in building new casinos, in Boston and in Philadelphia, there are thriving casinos in Detroit, northeast Connecticut, and up and down California. The Indiana Gaming Commission adopted new regulations designed to encourage travel companies to bring gaming tourism to its state. And states like Louisiana and New Jersey have had established gaming industries for decades.
In order to draw their customers back, Las Vegas casinos are lowering the cost of hotel rooms and packaging deals for free spa days and free slot play with room reservations. If you can get there, and that part at least is not getting any cheaper, your vacation may just cost you less than it did this time a year ago. In fact, much less. While casinos aren’t publicly panicking yet, the downturn will inevitably increase the opportunities for lower hotel rates and bonus deals.
The death of Las Vegas may be forestalled by new developments. The city has transformed itself before and is already in the process of recreating itself. The newest trend in Las Vegas are condo high rises and timeshares. Stand alone residential towers and a couple of mega resort construction projects have transformed the Las Vegas trip into…home. Hotel expansions are being swept aside in favor of condominium towers and all-in-one mini-cities like MGM Mirage’s City Center which combine gambling, shopping, dining with boutique hotels and residences so that you may literally never leave.
Will the transformation succeed? It’s clear by the sheer number of new residential towers that investors believe this will be the future of Las Vegas. Likewise, it would be hard to argue the current downturn is a harbinger of the city’s ruin. This is Vegas, after all, which milks the fantasy of prosperity like no other city. So while the short term forecast may look bleak, it is a sure bet that Las Vegas will rise again.
Jul 05
AndrewBusiness, Television Las Vegas
The Las Vegas Hilton has announced the end date for Star Trek: The Experience on September 1. The attraction, located inside the Las Vegas Hilton property, included a lounge, a show and a fairly extensive museum dedicated to all things Star Trek. Quark’s Bar and Grill featured Trek-themed drinks like Romulan Ale and wings smothered in Vulcan hot sauce. Your server might very well be Klingon.
The original show The Klingon Encounter beams visitors on to the bridge of the Enterprise-D and puts them square in the middle of a firefight between the Enterprise and a rogue Klingon commander.
The second show Borg Invasion 4-D was added in 2004. The visitors experience being assimilated into the Borg Collective. The show features a timely rescue by Captain Janeway.
Though the shows are considered the pinnacle of the experience, the museum is easily the best part of the experience. The museum takes visitors through a detailed timeline of Star Trek history and includes film clips and costume displays for all the alien races of Star Trek lore.
The Official Star Trek Convention will held at the Las Vegas Hilton August 6-10, perhaps giving fans one last chance to embrace the experience. Star Trek: The Experience has been in operation since 1998.
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