Welcome to LVCasinoInfo.com
Here you will find a complete guide to Las Vegas Hotels and Casinos. You will find property maps of virtually every major casino, 100s of pictures and a ton of other info that hopefully will help you plan a more enjoyable Las Vegas vacation.
Latest Las Vegas News, Comments and Rants
June 29th 2008
Government "Wisdom!"
The Las Vegas Sun is reporting that Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons wants to tax food comps. He claims it would close a $150 million "loophole." This is despite his pledge of "no new taxes." I can only assume Gov. Gibbons has talked with his compatriot in the Sacramento, Arnie Schwarzenegger, as they both are No New Tax guys except they are both all for "fees, closing loopholes and revenue enhancements."
This "wisdom" is no different than the grips I have with the management over at the Venetian (See my June 21st Rant below.) When things are tough, you reduce taxes (or margins) not increase them! You have to be more lean and nimble not fatter and more bloated. So instead of giving us a reason to come to Vegas, the brilliant folks in Carson City just give the 35 million people in California more reason to gamble at the local Indian casino!
One more thing that needs to be noted here... Gov. Gibbons also said "“I want them (the Legislature) to close that loop so that we don’t get ourselves in a further problem dealing with it down the road.” Anyone who has ever watched a political mind at work know exactly what this means... Instead of closing a "loophole" the Governor is just opening up the floodgates. Does anyone really believe that once government taxes food comps that free rooms, shows and drinks are not far behind. Once they gets their fingers on a tax, they never let go just look for more ways to feed the ever growing beast. Just pathetic!!!
June 25th 2008
The Deals are Coming!!!
In the past 24 hours alone, there have been quite a few signs that the casino operators have finally come to grip with reality and the discounts are starting to flow. Room rates are down considerably for the holiday weekend and that trend seems to be continuing into the summer.
A report from the JP Morgan Gaming analyst shows that rates for the upcoming July 4th holiday are down an average of 18% over last year with Caesars taking the biggest hit, down 42%. It is the 13th consectutive week of declining room rates. Amazingly, Planet Hollywood's rates are actually up 18%. Apparently they are very proud of a property that has no real draw whatsoever.
Further anecdotal evidence of better deals ahead... In the past day; I have received email offers from TI starting at $76 with all sorts of goodies thrown in. New York New York is "Taking 20% Off!" according to their offer and Luxor is offering $50 in gas credit for making the drive to Vegas. I also have been looking at rates for my next trip in July to Mandalay Bay. Last month, it was $279 a night and this morning I got an email for $229.
It's about time these places have woken up and smelled the recession. The decline at Caesars, in particular, doesn't surprise me since in the past 2 years or so they have regularly charging over $300 a night on weekends. That is just absolute insanity even in good times. The arrogence of Planet Hollywood to raise rates is just stunning. Yet another reason to avoid that place like the plague. With management running the joint like this, how long before it follows in the Aladdin's footsteps to bankruptcy?
June 21st 2008
The Bad Economic News Continues...
Yesterday, it was reported that Nevada's unemployment rate jumped to 6.2%, a 14 year high. Las Vegas went up 5.9% A deeper dive into the numbers revealed some worrisome facts... Resort employment is down 1.3%, year over year, despite the opening of Palazzo which added several thousand employees. Even more scary for the Strip Casinos is that McCarran traffic is down 5.5% and drive-in traffic from LA is down almost 8%, which is the lifeblood of Vegas, especially during the summer months when the rest of the world has no desire to swelter in Vegas.
Yet despite the fact that people are cutting back on their Vegas travel in a major way, the geniuses over at the Venetian/Palazzo completely gutted all of their decent Video Poker machines over the past week. These weren't the type of machines that the professionals pound for hours on end, just modestly good games the average player would have a chance on while still giving the house theirs in the end.
This mind-set is astonishing to me. For the past 6 months, casinos all over town have been pulling their best games, which is the reason many people play. I know for a fact that there are a decent amount of people who were loyal to the Venetian for no other reason besides their handful of good games. They will now take their business elsewhere and these are people who are serious about their play, upwards of $50-60K a day in action. As a friend from the Las Vegas Advisor message board said to me, "By worrying about pennies, they are chasing dollars out the door." I couldn't have put it better myself. Basic economic wisdom dictates that when the environment becomes more difficult, you need to be more competitive, not less. Giving up a few tenths of a percentage on your gaming hold is a small price to pay to keep your frequent customers happy. Those who gamble 8 hours a day are the very customers they will need to get through this downturn when people stop shelling out $300 for a dinner from a celebrity chef.
I am eager to see how this all plays out in the coming months especially with so many rooms opening in the next 2 years. I still believe in the end, common sense will win out and the result will be a plus for the average Vegas visitor in lower room, food and show prices.
June 11th 2008
Gaming Revenue Down Again
For the 4th straight month, Nevada casino action has been down over last year's numbers. In April, Nevada casinos revenues were down 5% compared to 2007 with North Lake Tahoe taking it in the shorts to the tune of -38% with N. Las Vegas not faring much better at -22%! The Strip seems to be holding up fairly well, only dropping 1.3% but continued declines have to start becoming worrisome.
There is a new economic reality for Vegas that the execs at the major companies are just starting to grasp. They need to grasp it quickly. MGM Mirage in particular needs to look at itself. Though it off-loaded half of City Center to Dubai World, they still have a ton of debt and they are by far the most exposed to the ups and downs of Vegas. You are starting to see them offer some decent discounts, even at Bellagio but they need to get back to the concept of Las Vegas as a good vacation value. In the frenzy of the past decade to build bigger and better, the average schmuck has been getting squeezed. Now that gas is $4.50 a gallon and half of America is upside down on their mortgage, paying $329 a night before gambling and food just doesn't seem like such a great deal.Thousands of new rooms are coming online in the next 2 years, it's going to be interesting to how they get filled.
May 31th 2008
Harrah's Faces Charges
KLAS TV in Vegas is reporting that the Clark County DA is filing 2 misdemeanor charges against Harrah's for actions regarding fire system inspections at Flamingo and Rio. The first charge stems from an incident in which the swell guys at Harrah's cannibalized parts from 1 floor of the Flamingo to pass an inspection on another floor. The second relates to modifications to the fire systems at Flamingo and Rio which were done without county building permits as required.
The seriousness of these charges can not be understated. Any attempt to undermine the building and safety code in Vegas hotels is absolutely UNACCEPTABLE. These places are too big and there is far too many lives at stake to compromise at all on this issue. Not to mention the billions in dollars on the line. Las Vegas can ill-afford another repeat of the MGM fire.
These incidents combined with the many other unpermitted remodels they have done show a systematic disdain for the law and their guests. Clark County needs to drop the hammer on Harrah's in a major way to show that they mean business when it comes to fire and building codes. They also needs to find out if anyone within the Building Department knew about these violations and swept them under the carpet. If so, that person need to rot in prison for a very long time.
May 30th 2008
A few small Vegas tidbits...
One of my favorite Vegas topics is failed Casino/Condo projects and speaking of which... The bankrupt and foreclosed Cosmopolitan may be "saved" by Related Cos. which will re-brand the place a "W" hotel. What make this interesting is that Related attempted to build a "W" a couple of years ago on Harmon between the strip and Hard Rock and it was one of the first of the big projects to go "poof" when the market started to turn. Basically what this news turns out to be is a failed developer trying to take over a failed development. I wish them the best but certainly not holding my breath. My guess is one of the biggies (Harrahs, MGM, Boyd, Sands or Wynn) buys the joint at a bargain basement rate.
Fitzgerald's downtown may be on the selling block. Owner Don Barden is having cash difficulties trying to get a place built in Pittsburgh and may be forced to sell the Vegas casino to raise the money. Not a huge loss, the guy has had a few years to pump some new life into downtown but never pulled it off. Its time for someone else to take a stab at doing something with the place.
Lastly, from the "Highly unlikely and I would be vomit if it happens" category, there is a rumor that Harrah's, a.k.a the Evil Empire, is considering a takeover of Wynn Resorts. This comes courtesy of the Las Vegas Advisor, a impartial opinion I totally respect, so there has to be at least some truth to it but I just dont see it happening. Harrahs is seriously loaded with debt right now due to the leveraged buyout so I dont know where the money would come from in the current credit market. It would also be a disaster from a gamblers perspective as Harrahs has ruined every place it has every purchased. Rio used to be good once upon a time...
May 19th 2008
City Center has become "ARIA."
MGM Mirage announced today that the huge hotel/casino that is the centerpiece of City Center will be called ARIA. It will have 4,004 rooms including 528 suites, a 1/2 million square feet of retail and entertainment called "The Crystal," 300,000 sq.ft of convention space and $40 millions of public art. Aside from the names, most of the other info was previously released.
One thing that I found very curious in the press release... They talked about the hotel, the spa and the shopping. They even had to get the "Green" mention in there as well but the one thing that was missing? Not a SINGLE word about the casino!!! I know that there is less emphasis on gambling in today's Vegas but lets be real. It is the ONLY reason why any of it is there. One can only assume that means 100 tables of 6:5 Blackjack and aisles of 96% Video Poker!
Click Here for the full press release.
May 17th 2008
The Relaunch of LVCasinoInfo.com!
Today marks the launch of the completely redesigned LVCasinoInfo.com! Its been about 6 months in the making but it is finally here. The new site has a clean, consistent interface making the info easy to find with less clicks. All of the hotel/casino info is now stored in a MySQL database to make for easier updating. All with the goal of making LVCasinoInfo.com the number one Las Vegas Reference Guide for visitors.
In the next few days, I will be adding some more stuff that I still need to port over from the old site as well as new property map updates and room pics from my latest trip. There will also be frequent updates on the home page of all the latest happenings in Vegas so you won't miss a beat with the ever-changing Las Vegas landscape.
As always, I appreciate the visit to my site and I hope that you will find the info here will help make your next Vegas trip more enjoyable. If you find any problems with the new site or have any other comments, please feel free to Contact me. I always love to hear feedback. Thanks again for stopping by LVCasinoInfo.com!!!
