“Cosmopolitan” Announces Layoffs

Layoffs at Las Vegas resorts are not unusual in this current climate although it had seemed the worst was over with less layoffs in recent months well if you don’t include the “Sahara” closing down. But now come the news that the “Cosmopolitan” has let go off about 1 percent of its workers which is a small number of their total workers unless you happen to be one of them. The layoffs were in the gaming department and, if you figure 1 percent of their nearly 4,200 employees that would be about 40 employees or so. The “Cosmopolitan” has been getting great reviews since its opening in December 2011 for its buffet and cool bars as well as their hotel rooms a lot of which have balconies something rare in Las Vegas. The big weakness for the property has been its casino operations which the good size casino has the latest machines, friendly staff but is mostly quiet a lot of the time. The property had a disadvantage when it opened as it didn’t have a large customer base to draw on like a new Caesars or MGM property would have but it also seems to have treated the gaming side as an afterthought. The marketing for the property has all been around the experience with clever hip ads but hopefully now they will help the gaming side. The layoffs may be related to the new CEO Thomas Mc Cartney who was previously at the “Tropicana” and, took over on January 1^st of this year. Thomas Mc Cartney did a great job on revamping the old tired “Tropicana” in to a hip South Beach style resort and hopefully he can work his magic on gaming at the “Cosmopolitan.” For all the rave revues of its food, bars and hotel rooms the property needs to improve its gaming side which will hopefully improve the numbers for the “Cosmopolitan” which reported a loss of $58.5 million in the third quarter. While it’s sad for the people that were let go in the gaming department we hope this is part of a restructuring and, wider plan to get people in to the casino instead of just a cost saving.

“Luxor” To Become Hilton?

Since the “Las Vegas Hilton” changed its name on January 3^rd of this year to “LVH” there has been much speculation in town which Strip hotel resort will be rebranded with the Hilton name. The current rumors seem to be around MGM Resorts in discussions with Hilton over rebranding its “Luxor” resort in some way with the Hilton name. If the rumors are true it would seem most likely that the Hilton name would go on the two hotel towers at the back of the property instead of the resort as a whole but it possible they could include the whole resort. The rooms in the towers are in better condition that the ones in the pyramid and also don’t have a sloped ceiling like the pyramid rooms. An interesting side note is that if the “Luxor” in Las Vegas is rebranded with the Hilton name there is already another hotel with the same name the “Luxor Hilton Resort & Spa” in Luxor, Egypt near the original pyramids but this wouldn’t be an issue. For MGM Resorts adding the Hilton name to one of its properties makes sense as it would bring business travels to its property through the Hilton website and with the help of the Hilton rewards program. Another property that might make sense to add the Hilton name would be the “Monte Carlo” but I guess we will have to see what happens but our guess is the Hilton name will appear on a Strip resort property sooner than later. The Hilton brand is already on time share properties near the Strip and, for many years when I visited Las Vegas the “Flamingo” was a Hilton branded property before it was rebranded.

Jamie Gold Poker Room At The Trop

This weekend is the official opening of the new Jamie Gold Poker room at the “Tropicana” with a celebrity red carpet on Friday 17^th February. The opening night party is being held at the recently opened RPM Nightclub and begins at 10:30pm and ticket prices are $30 for men and $20 for women; if you are a Las Vegas local you get a great bargain and you can get in for free with a state of Nevada identification. Then on Saturday at noon the first tournament starts with a second chance tournament at the same time on Sunday. 

“Mirage” Pushes Up Resort Fee

Here at Las Vegas Inside Out we’re not a fan of resort fees because it’s an extra charge on top of the advertised price for a room per day. The resort fees vary from a few dollars to $20 or more dollars per day for stuff that you formally may have got for free when you booked a room. Now news that the latest property to raise its daily resort fee is the “Mirage” which has raised the daily fee to $25 per day which is a $2.50 per day increase over the previous price. Below is a breakdown of the things you get for your resort fee at the “Mirage” the internet access and newspaper is nice as are robes in the room; but other items not everyone will use including cardio center access and notary service. Mostly useless things on the list that seem dated are things such as free faxes or local phone calls as most customers have cell phones and also email not fax.

Complimentary internet access (in room)

Cardio Center access

Daily newspapers

Robes in your room

Complimentary notary service at the Business Center

Complimentary printing of boarding passes

Complimentary faxes

Unlimited local and toll-free calls

New Photos Added

Fountain At "The Venetian"Check out the photo section tag above as we have added new Las Vegas photos to the section with lots more to come.

Car Giveaway At Station Properties

The above video is about the return of the free car giveaway returning to the Station group of locals casinos. For the giveaway each of the ten properties gives a car away for twenty straight days or 200 total cars, the promotion starts today and runs through to February 29th. If you are visiting Las Vegas the closet Station property to the Strip is "Palace Station" check out the Station Casinos website for more information and contest rules.

Free Wi-Fi On American Airlines

Right now on American Airlines if your flight is web enabled you can get 30 minutes of free wi-fi through February 16^th. To find out if you flight is web enabled check for the logo when you book your flight the regular price is $1.95 for 15 minutes or $14.95 for international flights. Now as you fly towards Las Vegas you can book that show or restaurant, read reviews or check your email for free for 30 minutes. Most airline wi-fi isn’t the fastest but if you are checking email or browsing the internet its fine for that.

Cee Lo Green Residency In LV?

The above video is of Cee Lo Green's music video for 'I want you' in which he performs in a Liberace outfit at "Ceasar's Palace." Cee Lo who recently performed at the big games half time show with Madonna and can be seen on NBC's 'The Voice' as a judge is now rumored for a Las Vegas residency.The residency would most likely be a Liberace tribute at "Caesar's Palace" which is the theme for this video. It will be interesting to see if Cee Lo sets up fall time in Las Vegas our guess is a series of concerts first to see how they are recieved.

'Peepshow' Hits 1,000 Mark

'Peepshow' the sexy revue show at "Planet Hollywood" staring Holly Madison has just hit the 1,000 show mark. The show has had a good run and with Holly and co star Josh Strickland signed to the end of the year we can look forward to more shows of the sexy topless cabaret show this year. I have seen Holly Madison several times at the airport and she is always gracious to her fans as well as seems a nice person so we at Las Vegas Inside Out wish her the best with her show. 

Have A Fake Wedding On The Strip

The pop up wedding chapel at the “Cosmopolitan” on the strip has been open for a few months and seems to be getting lots of interest. If you are not familiar with the chapel it’s where you can get faux married either just for fun or for vow renewals or maybe for practice for the big day. So if you are partying in Las Vegas and want to marry a friend without the commitment now’s your chance as well as a faux wedding picture to freak out the family when you get home. The pop up wedding chapel has many packages with the basic package called ‘Hitched in a hurry’ which includes the ceremony plus, two Soffia Coppola champagne cans, two eraser rings and for the wedding pictures one photo booth token. Another package is called ‘On a whim’ but if you want to go all out and splurge on your faux wedding the elite package is called ‘Going to the chapel;’ For this package for the big spenders includes the wedding ceremony, one silk flower bouquet, bottle of Soffia Coppola champagne with the two eraser rings again, two photo booth tokens as well party favors, six cake pops, two logo t shirts and VIP entry for four to the Marquee nightclub onsite.