Vegas Strip on truTV

With recent violence on Las Vegas Boulevard, the new TV show Vegas Strip is somewhat timely. The COPS style show will follow police officers in Las Vegas.

Like other reality shows on truTV, some of the situations in the trailer look staged. It probably won't be great, but I'll likely catch a few episodes. There might be some good Vegas scenery if nothing else.

UPDATE: I watched the first two episodes of the show. It actually didn't look staged, although there were a couple of instances that could have been. The show is pretty much the same as COPS, just on the Vegas Strip.

Octavius Tower Open by Christmas 2011?

Caesars Palace president Gary Selesner participated in a Facebook chat recently. He mentioned that the Octavius Tower will likely be open by the end of the year, and updated the status of the new Nobu Hotel.

"Well, first of all, the Augustus Tower, Palace Tower and Forum Tower have all been recently remodeled and match the best rooms on the Strip. But I'm really excited to say that we're in the process of completing our all-new 650-room Octavius Tower, which we hope to have open by Christmas, and we are transforming the Centurion Tower, one of our older towers, into the world's first Nobu Hotel. So we'll have a hotel within a hotel at Caesars Palace. Guests will be able to enjoy all that Nobu is known for at a Nobu restaurant, and retire to a East-meets-West Nobu style room in the tower right above the restaurant. Our best guess is that we will have this open at some point next summer, but all of us can't wait!"

Source: Caesars Facebook Chat.

Las Vegas Hilton needs New Name

Las Vegas Hilton will be ending its partnership agreement with Hilton at the end of the year, so it looks like the hotel will need to find a new name.

When I first heard this news I immediately thought the property should switch back to its former name: The International.

Another possibility is the hotel partnering with an established brand. As boring as it may be, the property becoming a Sheraton, Hyatt or Marriott is probably likely scenario.

Venetian Palazzo Open Bar Package

A new open bar package is now available at Venetian and Palazzo.

The Bar Hop package is $75 per day from noon to midnight, or $150 for a weekend package that runs from Friday at noon to Sunday at 6 pm.

"Enjoy unlimited drinks, house wine, and domestic beer at Salute Lounge, Laguna Champagne Bar, La Scena Lounge, Fusion Latin Mixology Bar, and Oculus, plus complimentary admission to both V Bar and AzureTM Luxury Pool."

The $75 price tag seems a little steep, especially since the drink offerings are limited. I think I would rather just pay as I go and have the freedom to leave the property if I wanted to.

On the other hand getting the whole weekend for $150 could be a good deal if you are planning on using Venetian and Palazzo as your base of operations.

No telling how long this package will be offered, so be sure to check directly with Venetian / Palazzo before making any plans.

Stalled and Abandoned Las Vegas Construction Projects

Vegas Inc. had a story on Friday profiling stalled and abandoned construction projects in Las Vegas.

I was thinking about writing about stalled construction projects a few weeks ago, and these six immediately came to mind:

- Fontainebleau
- Echelon
- St. Regis tower at Palazzo
- Harmon Hotel at CityCenter
- The Shops at Summerlin
- Wyndham Blue across from Rio

The Vegas Inc. story also profiled some lesser known projects:

- ManhattanWest
- Mercer
- Parkline Lofts
- Spanish View Towers
- Uptown
- Vantage Lofts

We didn't really need any more evidence that the Las Vegas real estate market is struggling, but 12 stalled projects really hammers home the point.

UPDATE: August 21, 2015 - I wrote a blog post updating the status of these projects.