Mark’s Las Vegas Blog - Your Source for Vegas Info

I was down on the strip and got some photos of the renovation of the Mirage volcano. It’s weird to see it just, well, naked! It’s hard to believe it’s been there almost 20 years now. That’s a lifetime in Vegas years!

For those who don’t know, Steve Wynn opened the Mirage in 1989. It was the first new casino resort built on the Las Vegas strip in many years and at the time was the most expensive hotel-casino in the world.

It kicked off a huge boom and ushered in the era of the “mega-casino.” At first Wynn was called crazy, that it’d never work etc. I think he proved them wrong! It looks just a bit dated today but still remains one if the jewels of the strip.

Before the Bellagio was build (also a Steve Wynn property at the time) the poker room at the Mirage was considered “ground zero” of the poker world and you could always see the biggest stars of the game playing for huge stakes.

Here’s what the volcano looks like as of April 2008:

One of the most famous sights on the Las Vegas strip has to be the Bellagio Fountains. Built at a cost of 10 million dollars it was one of the most striking visuals ever in a city known for it’s sensory overload. It’s one of my favorite sights to see and another on the “must see” list when you visit our fair city.

A little known trick is the best view of the fountain show is across the street. But you have to take an elevator for the view. What’s the elevator to you ask? Well it’s up to the observation deck in the Eiffel Tower replica. It’s only a few bucks but offers an awesome view of that part of the strip, including the fountains. Check out these pics:

It was pretty windy that day & if the wind is too high they don’t run the fountain show. They shot of a couple of test shots & figured it was ok. Lucky for me!

From up there you also have a great view of the Planet Hollywood, the HUGE CityCenter project (it really is massive and it’s still 2 years from being finished) and most of the middle strip. Like everything else in Las Vegas the view is better at night and both the fountain show and the tower run until midnight most nights, weather permitting.

I was out on the Strip yesterday and found myself walking by the former site of the New Frontier.  It was one of the last “old Vegas” casinos left and was imploded last November. IT didn’t quite have the love and nostalga some of the others had but it’s still a little sad to watch Vegas history pass.

Even though towards the end it wasn’t a glamorous place it still had it’s fair share of Strip history:

Elvis has his first Vegas appearance there in 1956 and it hosted the final show of Diana Ross and the Supremes in 1970. Siegfriend and Roy had a 7 year run there until being hired away by Steve Wynn to appear at the soon to open at the Mirage in 1988 and they would remain there until Roy’s tragic accident in 2003.

It was also the site of the longest union strike in American history, lasting over 6 years before being resolved!

A group that owns the Plaza hotel in NYC plans to build a replica on the site. Thing is, there’s already a “Plaza” hotel here, down at the end of Fremont St. I’m not sure how they’ll resolve the name issue but it’s up in the air at this time.

 All that’s left is the main sign and a parking sign at the opposite end of the property.

 Just an empty lot now. Or is it? You see something in the picture? Let’s zoom in…

Yup. That’s an office chair! It’s just sitting in the middle of the dirt! I dunno how it got there but it’s all that’s left!

Ok I lied there’s more. Around the side the guard house is still there from the demolition project.

The gold building in the background  of some of the pics is the new Trump Tower. It had just opened up a few days before. I’ll get over and check it out close up soon.

With the Stardust gone as well that part of the strip is looking pretty desolate. It’s a weird thing to see just nothing where a huge hotel and casino once stood, especially one that was there for so long. Time will tell if the Plaza project works out. For now, just dirt and memories.

I hadn’t been up in the Stratosphere tower in a while and now that the weather’s getting nicer I figured it was a good way to spend a few hours and take some pics.

For anyone that’s never been up there, it’s one of the Vegas “must do’s”. It only costa a few bucks but offers the best views of the valley.

You have to enter through the retail mall on the second level and wind your way around until you get to the elevator banks. For safety reasons since 9/11 they require everyone to pass through a metal detector. Then you get your picture taken and can purchase it after you come back down.

Now comes the fun! You get in a double-decker elevator which are some of the fastest in the world. They bring you up 108 stories in under 40 seconds! Yes your ears pop it’s that fast!

When you step out you are on the lower observation deck. It’s fully enclosed and has a 360 degree view of the Las Vegas Valley. You really get a sense of the scope of the valley and a great view of the mountains that surround Las Vegas.

On the upper level is the outside observation deck. It only goes partway around because of the thrill rides up top. Sadly they took the roller coaster down a couple of years ago but the BigShot is still there. The rides they addes are the X-Scream and the Insanity. I’ll admit I’m not brave enough to go on these but I’ve spoken to quite a few that have and they say it’s like nothing else!

Here’s a couple of shots of the X-Scream from up top & outside:

It was too windy that day for the Insanity ride but trust me it’s, well, insane! Here it is though.

Another “only in Vegas” thing at the top is the world’s highest Starbucks. They’re literally all over out here and why not have one up at 109 stories? Want proof? Here you go!

Here’s a shot of the downtown Fremont St. casinos:

A view of the huge sign at the Las Vegas Hilton:

And finally a view of the Las Vegas strip:

The Stratosphere tower is the tallest structure west of the Mississippi River & like almost everything out here is uniquely Vegas. Take a couple hours on your next trip out here & check it out. You won’t regret it! If you’re really brave check out the rides and let me know if you had the ride of your lif

The Trump Tower opened this week here in Las Vegas. It’s the Donald’s first venture into the Vegas valley. He’s been quite successful in Atlantic City and has wanted to be in Vegas for a long time.

Unlike his East Coast properties his tower here is only condos. There’s no casino on site. It’s a concept called “condotel” where you own the unit but rent it out when you’re not using it.

In typical Trump style it’s been designed as a luxury destination. The whole outer glass is a shiny gold and really gleams in the daytime sun. There’s a spa, pool and coming later a high end restaurant.

But here’s the rub. As some have pointed out (and I agree) there’s some down sides. Yes it’s beautiful place, but…

1. There’s no casino. It’s just rooms and the usual amenities.  Which leads to…

2. It’s in kind of a bad location. Yes you can see it from the strip. But it’s not ON the strip. The closest casino (ironically belonging to Trump’s rival Steve Wynn) is about a half-mile away. All that’s really close is the Fashion Show Mall.

3. The rate is estimated to be $350 a night. That’s a LOT to stay at a place with no casino, no shows, and no restaurants. You can easily find a room on the Strip under $100 if you look around.

Time will tell if Trump’s place will work in our market. He does have plans and the financing for a second tower though.

My opinion? This is just his first venture here. He’s had success in Atlantic City and had long wanted to be in Vegas as well. Plus add in his rivalry with Steve Wynn & I’m sure we’ll see more of Donald Trump in the future.

One of the places I’ve been meaning to check out forever is the Burger Bar over in the Mandalay Place. I finally had the chance to head over there the other day. Let me tell ya it was worth the wait!

Their whole thing is about gourmet hamburgers.  For a restaurant that’s mostly about burgers the choices are quite impressive. They have regular beef, turkey, veggie and even Kobe beef if you so choose.

Also they have one of the biggest list of options I’ve ever seen. Any kind of topping, bun, and side you could imagine. You want sweet potato fries? No problem. 8 kinds of cheese? Sure thing. Pesto sauce? Absolutely. Even truffles if you so desire.

Even the most pickiest eater (like myself) should have no problem customizing the burger of your dreams. Add a huge selection of bottle & draft beer  you have the makings of a meal!

“But do they make good burgers?” I’m glad you asked! They make FANTASTIC burgers! I had the Angus beef burger with Swiss, peppered bacon & Blue cheese cooked medium-well (I call it the Mark ) with some fat fries. It was quite tasty thank you very much.

Even though I do love In & Out it was a treat to have a gourmet burger made to my taste. One thing though is it’s always busy at dinnertime (hey no one wants to eat at an empty restaurant!) so either plan for a wait or try to go off-peak. We went in the afternoon & easily found seats at the bar.

If you love a good burger I highly recommend the Burger Bar. They’re located in the Mandalay Place between the Mandalay Bay and the Luxor. Check it out & let me know what you think!

Finally! We’re over the cold weather and it’s into the 80’s. It’s that short time where it’s between wearing jackets and being 100 degrees!

Being that it was such a nice day my business partner and I hot the strip to check out some of the newer attractions.

One thing that the Strip has been strangely lacking is outdoor patios looking over the Blvd. Coming from South Florida it’s practically a national pasttime to sit at an outdoor cafe along A1A and have a meal or a cocktail & enjoy the view.

Finally someone’s decided to take the plunge and have some outdoor eateries. The new Trader Vic’s at Planet Hollywood opened a while ago but it’s been a bit on the chilly side to really enjoy. So being the warmest day we’ve had in quite a few weeks we decided to check it out.

They’ve done a great job integrating the Trader Vic theme into Las Vegas. It has a nice inside restaurant if you so chose and also an outside bar and tables to have dinner or just have some drinks.

It was a good choice! Local musician Tommy Rocker was set up playing some appropriate tunes and as you can see from the pics the view from inside and outside was quite nice!

After we walked past the massive City Center project. It looks like a huge Erector set! Even with all the construction going on it’s still 2 years from bgeing finished. It’s quite an undertaking and the property will redefine the strip for years to come.

We then checked out another new outside restaurant and bar Diablo’s Cantina at the Monte Carlo. It was briefly closed after the fire at the MC but is back open with it’s regular hours.

It’s a two story place. You can either sit downstairs or head upstairs and enjoy the view, which we did. They have a decent menu of Mexican food and some specialty drinks incliding some unique margaritas.

The food was pretty decent and provided a nice view of the strip. It was late afternoon when we were there and wasn’t too busy. I’ve been by there late at night and the place really gets hopping! They also have a live band playing most night and really adds to the festive atmosphere.

There’s a couple of other restaurants that offer outdoor seating on the strip. Morels Steakhouse and Bistro at the new Palazzo and Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris are nice places to enjoy the strip experience as well.

It’s nice to see that the strip hotels are wising up and giving us some places to enjoy the outdoors and also have some fun watching the people that come visit our fine city from all over the world.

We really had a great time out & about seeing some of the newer sites on the strip & we’ll be seeing more now that the weather is so nice!
 

So I was headed out to the strip last night & noticed the Mandalay Bay was dark and the light on top of the Luxor was out. Pretty unusual for 9 pm! I went over & tried to check it out but they had the parking garage closed at the MB because the lights were off inside.  So instead I headed over to the Luxor.

By the time I got there the light on top had turned back on & the moving lights on the sides were back on as well.

Come to find out power to the Four Seasons, MB, Luxor and the Excalibur had been knocked out about an hour before.  The casinos have back-up generators that kicked in and kept the lights on in the casinos but it took a while for power to be restored throughout the resorts.

Some people were stuck in elevators for a time but fire & rescue came and got them out. That was about the worst of it honestly.

It was a weird sight though because we’re so used to seeing the strip totally lit up.
The cause of the power failure was a blown transformer and they had everything back to normal in a few hours. Never a dull moment here!

It was really no surprise when it was announced a few days ago that the Hooters casino-hotel would be revamped into a boutique hotel and casino.

Since the San Remo was changed over to the Hooters theme 2 years ago it’s not been a big moneymaker. There’s a couple of reasons why. It’s in sort of a bad location being “off-strip.”

Perceptions are weird here. If something’s on the strip is thought of as closer than off strip, even though the distance from the Tropicana to the Hooters is less than the distance from the Mandalay Bay to the Excalibur!

Also, this is Vegas. Sin City. Hooters in North Dakota is a big deal. In Vegas? Not as much. You can see a lot more skin at the pools and many of the cocktail waitress uniforms are more revealing than the orange shorts & tank tops that Hooters girls wear. Hell at the new Hawaiian Tropic Zone they wear bikinis!

I do sort of miss the San Remo. They had a great 24 hour prime rib special and some decent odds at the tables. We had gone there the first night I had moved here & I won a few dollars.

The Hooters wasn’t a bad idea really just wasn’t the right fit for Vegas.

It’s that time again! Nascar comes to Las Vegas! The UAW-Dodge 400 race was here over the weekend and was another sellout. The race has become one of the bigger events in our little town and draws people from all over. Almost 150,000 attended this year and by all accounts was a huge success.

One new twist was they drove the truck haulers in a parade down Las Vegas Blvd. I’ve seen the convoy of trucks before on the road and it’s quite an impressive sight. But add the backdrop of the strip into the mix and it was just amazing. Literally thousands lined both sides of the street to catch a glimps of the spectacle. Here’s a couple of shots.

Several of the drivers made appearances around town as well. My favorite driver, Tony Stewart, made an appearance at one of the Home Depots here in town. I had hoped to get an autograph & meet him, but it seems like half the city had the same thought! The line was a mile long! Unfortunately I didn’t get to meet Tony but he had brought one of his cars and had it on display.

Las Vegas native Kurt Busch also made an appearance at the new Sierra Gold Ultra Lounge, which is part of the PT’s Pub chain here in town. Kurt is a spokesman for PT’s and it was only fitting for him to have his appearance at their new upscale lounge.

The owners of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway have invested millions in upgrades to the track and it’s become one of the showcases of Nascar.

Rumor has it they’re going to give us another race too. our race has always drawn a good crowds and c’mon, who doesn’t wanna come to Vegas? Pretty much all the drivers and crew feel it’s one of their favorite stops on the long schedule.

Nascar and Vegas. A good fit!