Saturday, May 08, 2010

Ditch Fridays at the Palms Opens

The Las Vegas pool season is heating up. Most of the pools are open and in full swing. This weekend the Palms hosted the season opening of their "Ditch Fridays" weekly pool party. Sean Paul performed on Friday to celebrate the opening.



For more information, check out Ditch Fridays.

Friday, May 07, 2010

Rio to open Crown Theater and Nightclub

The Crown Theater and Nightclub will open at Rio in the space formerly occupied by the Rio’s 3121 (where Prince performed a series of shows last year). The new venue will play host to a mix of live concerts and late night entertainment.

From the Rio website:

When it comes to experiencing Vegas nightlife, get ready to be treated like royalty. Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino's new 11,000 sq. ft Crown Theatre and Nighclub- brought to you by the prior operators of the LA's famed Viper Room takes Vegas nightlife to the next level. This state-of-the-art venue is the only nightclub in town to tout a 50-foot stage, which hosts the biggest names and a new act every night.

Thursday, May 06, 2010

MGM to Improve Players Club

MGM will improve their current loyalty program according to today's earnings conference call. The new Players Club will be tiered, will track all consumer spending (not just gaming), and will be more transparent and easier to use.

This is great news because the old system didn't make much sense at all to me. You would get points but never be sure how to redeem them or how much they are worth. Also it never seemed that playing would improve your hotel rates outside of a few selected mailers.

With Harrah's Total Rewards everything is right in front of you in terms of what you've earned and what you need to earn to reach a certain status. Harrah's also has everything linked to their website, so you can just log on to see what rooms you can get for what price depending on your play.

I'm not saying Harrah's is perfect. Certain things about them leave a lot to be desired, but at least Total Rewards is easy to use. MGM probably has better properties, but in the past I would lean towards Harrah's because it seems like it is easier to get free or cheap rooms using Total Rewards. Maybe with MGM's new system that might change, and both rewards programs will be on a more even playing field.

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Cheap Trick coming back to Vegas

"Sgt. Pepper Live" featuring Cheap Trick will take the stage for a limited engagement beginning June 11 at the Paris Las Vegas Theatre. Tickets will start at $75 and will go up to $275 for VIP packages.

Cheap Trick previously had performed this show at Las Vegas Hilton last fall.

A celebration of The Beatles' influential album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the show is an energetic performance that features an orchestra and a captivating experience of light and sound as Cheap Trick perform the entire album live as well as select Cheap Trick songs that lend themselves to orchestral arrangements. Geoff Emerick, the renowned engineer of The Beatles' classic 1967 album, supervises the audio production. Never performed in its entirety by The Beatles due to the complex studio technology of the day that was employed in the making of the album, "Sgt. Pepper Live" allows Cheap Trick to incorporate their brand of power-pop into the classic songs while paying tribute to music legends in an unforgettable musical experience.


Source: Paris Press Release.

Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Dollar Rooms at Sahara

Sahara will be offering $1 rooms to their Facebook and Twitter followers. During five 24 hour sales throughout the year followers will receive special booking codes to take advantage of the dollar rate.

It doesn't really say how many rooms will be given away during the 24 hour periods. I assume there has to be some kind of limit or else they would get thousands of people booking for a dollar, which can't be good for business. Or maybe there's some kind of catch like you get a room for a dollar but have to book another night at full price. Either way $1 rooms sound like a good deal, and it's good to see a struggling property like Sahara get creative with their marketing like this.



Source: Sahara Facebook.

Sunday, May 02, 2010

Venetian Show News - Wayne Brady and Chazz Palminteri

After a hiatus from doing his improv show, Wayne Brady will be back at the Venetian with a more relaxed schedule. Brady had been taking time off from this show to film episodes of Let's Make a Deal.

When Wayne Brady isn't using his showroom, Chazz Palminteri might be. His one man show version of A Bronx Tale will be playing from now until May 9th, and again from October 7-18.

Robin Leach interviewed Chazz, and he had this to say about the show:

"I’m excited to bring my show back for all the people who missed it the first time here. I always enjoy visiting Las Vegas and feel right at home in The Venetian. I really felt strong that it would go over with Vegas audiences, but I never thought the reaction would be so fantastic. I’m ecstatic that it worked so well. I didn’t dare dream or think that way, but I am so pleased. It’s a great story like a Shakespearean play, and people can relate to the characters. It worked on Broadway. It worked in the 30 cities I took it on tour. I just never thought it would work as well as it has in Vegas -- and that’s incredible and amazing. It connects with everyone from 14 years of age up to 90 years of age, be they male or female. It works even more effectively because the audience is seeing me on the stage. There’s that presence -- it’s visceral. They can say, 'That is the guy. This is his story.' If we keep having this success with it, there will be several return engagements. If I can come here on and off for 12 weeks of the year, I couldn’t be happier. I’ve always liked Vegas. It’s now becoming my second home. I love the restaurants, the beach clubs and the night action. I’m fanatical about being healthy and staying healthy, but the play is a real physical workout each time, so there can’t be any double shows in one evening."

Personally I'm happy to see this show in Las Vegas. I have heard very good things about it. I might be in Vegas in October so I might have to go see it.

Source: Vegas Deluxe.