W Hotel In Vegas To Be Company's Flagship
Desert Passage Mall To Drop Arabian Theme
UPDATED: 9:18 am CDT August 30,
2005
A few details have been released about the first planned W Hotel in Vegas, and the project is bigger than most people thought.The property, intended to be a flagship for the trendy boutique hotelier, will have more than 3,000 rooms and condos, a 75,000-square-foot casino, about one dozen restaurants and super-trendy clubs (I added the super-trendy, but trust me) and more.The hotel will be constructed at the corner of Harmon Avenue and Koval Lane, just behind the Aladdin (soon to be Planet Hollywood) and MGM Grand and right next door to the massive Hard Rock expansion. Construction on the 21-acre, $1.7 billion property should start in early 2006 and is expected to be complete by 2008.
As the throngs descend on Las Vegas for the Labor Day Weekend, more than a few will be spending their holiday at the races. Those who do will get a chance to see Vegas4Visitors among the competition.The California Independent Funny Car Association will run the drag strip at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Sept. 2 through 4. The Desert Star Team, with owner John Stanton from Tucson, Ariz., will be among the participants. John's funny car has Las Vegas ties, with a Vegas4Visitors logo displayed on the car as one of his sponsors.The logo of his newest sponsor, Post Tension of Nevada, is also prominently displayed.If you're going to be in town and want to go to the races, visit this site for more information.
First, everyday Joes -- a mortgage broker, a motorcycle salesman and so on -- were featured on VH1's StripSearch, a hunt for the hottest guys in the country to form a new male review.Now, they are poised to take on the biggest strip of their careers: the one in Las Vegas.American Storm is the name of the group of seven finalists from the show, and they'll be shaking what their mamas gave them in a new production at The Riviera.According to a news release, it will be more than just men taking off their clothes. Instead, the show takes the shape of a "naughty history lesson," working its way from Christopher Columbus to cowboys and Indians, Al Capone to modern day business, and a salute to the armed forces. So, basically, guys in fantasy-fulfillment uniforms taking off their clothes.The show runs at the Wednesday through Monday at 7:30 p.m., with an additional performance at 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays in the Crazy Girls Showroom. Tickets running from $40 to $50. You can call (877) 892-7469 for tickets or see a preview (and have a chance to buy a new calendar) at American-Storm.com.
Shortly after announcing the timetable to move forward on the Aladdin overhaul, the folks at Planet Hollywood have announced a deal with the company that separately owns and manages the attached Desert Passage mall to integrate the Arabian-themed shopping venue into the new movie glamour theme of the upcoming hotel.No specifics were announced, other than to say that the entrance from the Strip and Harmon Avenue will be revamped and part of the mall will be opened up to provide greater access to the casino, but it seems certain that the agreement means the Middle Eastern detail will probably be replaced with a Tinseltown theme.Construction on the hotel makeover is expected to start by October and be done by next fall. You can figure a similar timetable on the mall.
You know the line, "Come and listen to a story about a man named Jed."But, this story is about a man named Jethro, or at least the actor who played him. Max Baer, who portrayed Jethro on the 1960s sitcom "The Beverly Hillbillies," has been trying for years to create a casino in Carson City or Reno using the TV show as a theme.He's still working on that, but in the meantime the Beverly Hillbillies Gambler Casino will make its debut in North Las Vegas, although on a much smaller scale than Jethro had imagined. The existing casino at 2501 E. Lake Mead Blvd., which will be rebranded with the Hillbillies theme, has just 30 slot machines (compared to 2,000 or so at most Strip casinos) and a restaurant, but Baer hopes it will help establish a brand that he'll be able to use in Carson City in the future.
This is the last week for your chance to vote in the 4th Annual Vegas4Visitors Readers' Poll.We've already gotten thousands of votes from all over the world in a variety of categories, including best hotel, best attraction, best show and much more. If you haven't voted yet, you need to hurry up and do so. The polls close on Aug. 31, which just so happens to be my mother's birthday -- but the two have nothing to do with each other.Speaking of birthdays, there will be no column next week as I take a well-deserved break for Labor Day and my birthday. The column will return the week of Sept. 12 with the first of our results from the Vegas4Visitors Readers' Poll.
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First, everyday Joes -- a mortgage broker, a motorcycle salesman and so on -- were featured on VH1's StripSearch, a hunt for the hottest guys in the country to form a new male review.Now, they are poised to take on the biggest strip of their careers: the one in Las Vegas.American Storm is the name of the group of seven finalists from the show, and they'll be shaking what their mamas gave them in a new production at The Riviera.According to a news release, it will be more than just men taking off their clothes. Instead, the show takes the shape of a "naughty history lesson," working its way from Christopher Columbus to cowboys and Indians, Al Capone to modern day business, and a salute to the armed forces. So, basically, guys in fantasy-fulfillment uniforms taking off their clothes.The show runs at the Wednesday through Monday at 7:30 p.m., with an additional performance at 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays in the Crazy Girls Showroom. Tickets running from $40 to $50. You can call (877) 892-7469 for tickets or see a preview (and have a chance to buy a new calendar) at American-Storm.com.
Shortly after announcing the timetable to move forward on the Aladdin overhaul, the folks at Planet Hollywood have announced a deal with the company that separately owns and manages the attached Desert Passage mall to integrate the Arabian-themed shopping venue into the new movie glamour theme of the upcoming hotel.No specifics were announced, other than to say that the entrance from the Strip and Harmon Avenue will be revamped and part of the mall will be opened up to provide greater access to the casino, but it seems certain that the agreement means the Middle Eastern detail will probably be replaced with a Tinseltown theme.Construction on the hotel makeover is expected to start by October and be done by next fall. You can figure a similar timetable on the mall.
You know the line, "Come and listen to a story about a man named Jed."But, this story is about a man named Jethro, or at least the actor who played him. Max Baer, who portrayed Jethro on the 1960s sitcom "The Beverly Hillbillies," has been trying for years to create a casino in Carson City or Reno using the TV show as a theme.He's still working on that, but in the meantime the Beverly Hillbillies Gambler Casino will make its debut in North Las Vegas, although on a much smaller scale than Jethro had imagined. The existing casino at 2501 E. Lake Mead Blvd., which will be rebranded with the Hillbillies theme, has just 30 slot machines (compared to 2,000 or so at most Strip casinos) and a restaurant, but Baer hopes it will help establish a brand that he'll be able to use in Carson City in the future.
This is the last week for your chance to vote in the 4th Annual Vegas4Visitors Readers' Poll.We've already gotten thousands of votes from all over the world in a variety of categories, including best hotel, best attraction, best show and much more. If you haven't voted yet, you need to hurry up and do so. The polls close on Aug. 31, which just so happens to be my mother's birthday -- but the two have nothing to do with each other.Speaking of birthdays, there will be no column next week as I take a well-deserved break for Labor Day and my birthday. The column will return the week of Sept. 12 with the first of our results from the Vegas4Visitors Readers' Poll.
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In Next Week's Column
Next week: The latest from Las Vegas.Plus, don't forget to send your questions about Las Vegas. I've got room for more, so send them in today!Click here to go to the main page of Vegas4Visitors.com and see all of the fantastic resources Vegas4Visitors has to offer you when planning your next trip to Las Vegas.Rick Garman is the head writer for Vegas4Visitors
