Hotel

Astral Resort Heading To South Strip

Posted on by in Day Club, Hotel, Nightclub, Pool, Resort and tagged , .
Astral Resort Las Vegas

Last year Asher Gabay bought a vacant motel across from the Mandalay Bay for $7.4 million with plans to built a new resort hotel on land now occupied by a Motel 8. We often hear about potential new resort properties that never go ahead but this one looks like it might happen in an area of the Strip across from resorts such as the Mandalay Bay and the Luxor which is mostly vacant motels or buildings. The planned resort will be called Astral and have a casino with 620 rooms over 34 floors as well as a four level underground parking garage, a sky lobby on the 32nd floor and of course a nightclub as well as a rooftop pool with a day club.

The current Motel 8 is expected to keep operating up until the planned start of construction in Spring of 2020. The project is expected to cost between $325 million and $350 million and with the Raiders Stadium now under construction located close by as well as possible extension of the monorail, the South Strip could be much busier by the planned 2022 opening date of this property.

 

Advertisements

Hard Rock To Close For Remodel

Posted on by in Casino, Hotel, Resort and tagged , .
hard rock sign

The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino is about to go through an eight month remodel as its converted to the Virgin Hotel & Casino Las Vegas with the remodel due to start in September of next year. Employees have also been notified that the entire resort will close about February to May of 2020 to finish the renovations although that time frame could vary depending on construction.

As you might expect with a new name and remodel all 1,500 of the rooms will be remodeled as well as an expansion of the casino and events spaces. The popular music venue The Joint is going to get upgraded as well as the five acre pool area. As part of the remodel, new restaurants will be coming but no names have been announced yet.

It will be interesting to see how a Virgin branded property will work in the very competitive Las Vegas market, the Hard Rock resort had its rock theme to draw people with the giant guitar out front and rock memorabilia cases in the casino on display and rock playing in the pubic areas. The Virgin Hotel & Casino will draw visitors from the website and chain of hotels its building but i’m not sure how it will draw traffic away from the Las Vegas Strip; The resort could use tie ins with its Virgin Atlantic airline but it will be interesting to see what else they do to draw the Las Vegas visitor or local to the new resort.

[amazon_link asins=’B00VSUGTOW,B077RL952H,B003U5CXHK’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’lasvegasinsideoutstore-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’64cb0ad3-07d4-11e9-9e02-a529a60fefd1′]

 

Year End Room Savings

Posted on by in Hotel, Resort.
suitcase

Tomorrow is a good time to check out all the Black Friday room deals from Caesars or MGM and all the other Las Vegas resorts but as always check the fine print including the resort fees so you know what your final price is. Many visitors figure year end in Las Vegas might be expensive because of the huge room rates for New Years as well as high room rates for Christmas and in fact outside those times the room rates can be very good.

ChristmasDecember in Las Vegas can be a very inexpensive if you can be flexible with your dates and can avoid the dates when the National Finals Rodeo is in town. The NFR brings big crowds to Las Vegas so avoid it to save money it runs December 6th to the 15th so the first few days of the month or after the 15th and before Christmas would be good days to pick. If you have to be in town during the National Rodeo Finals and don’t plan to attend then the furthest you can get away from the event the more money you will save.

Many people do spend Christmas in Las Vegas i have done it before and it can be fun but room rates for Christmas are higher so if you want to save money the days right after Christmas can be much lower as its pretty slow in town so its a good time to save money; As you get close to New Years the price goes up but the days right after Christmas as well as the days after New Years in January can also be a good time to snag a cheap room.

One note about visiting Las Vegas at this time of the year is the weather is generally pretty good but it is also possible it could rain or have a heat wave but one thing to note whatever the weather is Las Vegas is in the desert and at this time of the year night time temperatures can be much lower than the temperature during the day.

[amazon_link asins=’B01LQM8Q2E,B0747M45CQ,B01LQM8SCC’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’lasvegasinsideoutstore-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’7e65e266-eece-11e8-b639-ddd57ee687aa’]

 

 

Circus Circus 50th Birthday Today

Posted on by in Casino, Hotel, Resort and tagged .
Circus Circus, Las Vegas

Circus Circus today celebrates its 50th birthday the North Strip big topped themed resort was opened on this day in 1968 by Jay Sarno who conceived Caesars Palace and became president of the new Circus Circus. The original cost of Circus Circus in 1968 was $15 million which doesn’t sound like much in today’s dollars but that was a lot of money in 1968.

Circus Circus is the third oldest property on the Strip after both the Tropicana and Caesars Palace and maybe even fourth if you count the SLS which dates back to December 1952 and was most of that time called the Sahara. I have to admit i’m not the biggest fan of Circus Circus although it has its fans and its on Strip RV Park is a big draw.

The property makes money for MGM and even though for many years there have been rumors about Circus Circus closing I don’t see if happening anytime soon especially as the property makes money. After the Resorts World project and The Drew on the North Strip open maybe MGM Resorts will reexamine Circus Circus and its future but for the moment it seams safe.

Happy Birthday and congrats to Circus Circus on its 50th birthday

[amazon_link asins=’B0756DLS8R,B000WCVZZK,B00TO8QRC4′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’lasvegasinsideoutstore-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’6931e9ed-d1d8-11e8-8164-2bc245094e73′]

SLS $100 Million Renovation

Posted on by in Casino, Hotel, Resort and tagged , , .

The north strip SLS has begun a $100 million renovation which will see all 1,615 rooms upgraded as replacement of slot machines and a redesign of the current pool area over the next years. Currently the SLS is pretty much on its own on that section of the north strip but with The Drew and Resorts World Las Vegas planned openings over the next could of years its seems the SLS is getting the property ready for the new competition; The new resorts will increase traffic to the north strip and the SLS is looking to get some of that business.

Fremont Major Expansion

Posted on by in Casino, Hotel, Resort and tagged , , .
Fremont Hotel & Casino

The Fremont in Downtown Las Vegas is often a hotel i stay in when i visit Las Vegas and now comes the announcement from Boyd Gaming of a possible expansion to the property. Boyd Gaming has submitted permits to build a 32 story hotel tower with 509 rooms at the back of the property on Ogden Avenue.

The plans submitted also include a remodel of the existing 447 rooms which are in a 15 story tower that was build in 1956 which at the time was the tallest in Las Vegas. The casino size will also increase by 22,000 square feet and will include a new race and sports book and an expansion of the parking garage.

No date has been announced yet about when construction would begin but when it does start its expected to take about 30 months and cost $32 million. As i said previously i often stay at this hotel and its always a shame to see things change but its the nature of Las Vegas things often change.

The California another Boyd property downtown has been getting a make over of its 2nd floor casino space and Downtown in general has been getting more competitive in general in recent years as properties have upgraded. Boyd’s Gaming has three resorts in Downtown Las Vegas the California, Fremont and Main Street Station  and its not really a surprise that after paying down debt they would look at making there existing properties more competitive in the marketplace.

NoMad Reservations Open

Posted on by in Casino, Hotel, Resort and tagged , .
Park MGM Las Vegas

The luxury boutique hotel on the top floors of the Park MGM called NoMad is now taking room reservations for its planned soft opening of October 12th. The NoMad name is a reference to its New York location which is North of Madison Square. In my case my i don’t know if i would book a hotel during a soft opening which is a time they work on getting their staff up to speed and working out the problems: Some people however like to the the first guests in a hotel just like being on the maiden voyage of a ship.

If you plan at staying at the NoMad floors of the Park MGM the property has a high limit casino, separate pool area restaurant as well as bar. If you are interested in booking a room at the NoMad the room rates per night are $299 for a classic room with a king bed to $479 for a grand suite with two queens as well as other room options the daily resort fee is $37 plus the usual taxes.

[amazon_link asins=’1595800557,B00HFNAAG4′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’lasvegasinsideoutstore-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’b4b71e82-c52d-11e8-969f-ffa982f232b9′]

 

Eastside Cannery Remodel?

Posted on by in Hotel, Resort, Restaurant and tagged .
Eastside Cannery

It looks like changes are happening at the Eastside Cannery the Boulder Strip property that Boyd Gaming purchased in 2016 . Boyd Gaming recently closed the Carve Steakhouse and The Deli leaving the 24 hour Snaps Cafe as the only restaurant open at the Eastside Cannery at the moment.

Boyd Gaming has said they are not closing the property although with the recent closing of the bingo room at the property and the downsizing of the sports book change is happening at the Eastside Cannery. At this point its not know if these moves are just cost saving choices or because of an upcoming remodel we will have to see as this a popular casino for many of the readers.

Park MGM Still A Work In Progress

Posted on by in Casino, Hotel, Resort and tagged , .
Park MGM Las Vegas

Park MGM Construction

 

As you can see from the casino entrance  picture above the Monte Carlo may have recently been renamed the Park MGM but construction at the property is far from over. If you plan on staying at the property soon you might want to take that in to account, that being said the noisy construction seems to be mainly around the front of the property Strip side. The main casino entrance from the Strip is closed but the casino itself is open as is the buffet and, it will be interesting to see after construction is done how the revamped property will look.

Military Discount At Palms

Posted on by in Hotel, Special and tagged , .
Palms Sign, Las Vegas

If you are a member of the armed forces you get 15 percent off room rates at the off Strip Palms and also Palms Place; The discount at the Palms applies to their Superior and Premier guest rooms as well as their Ivory Suites and at the Palms Place it applies to their Palms Place suites and one bedroom suites. For more information as well as the terms and conditions check out the Palms website.

[amazon_link asins=’B0749PM9JF,B06X15GHF9,B01KJMDK1E’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’lasvegasinsideoutstore-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’26ac788a-5489-11e8-b414-45a3618a1ace’]