2005 Archived Off-topic Reports

[Winter Park FL]

I have heard that binioins is currently a hell hole. Does Anybody have a recent review of accomodations?

[Cienega32]

Controversy in the strip joints!

No lappers?
No direct tipping to the dancers ala the g-string wallet?

Has the world gone terribley wrong?

The dancers now can't go to college.
The jilted housewife now has to stimulate her hubbie herself.

The horror...
The horror...

[Wastrel]

It's official: sale of the Golden Nugget is now final, approved, license issued, done, done, done. Used to be a modest amount of action at the back bar until the Poster boys took over a few years ago and castrated the place. I really don't think those guys liked women. In any case, when they took over they ran most of the decent mid-range hookers out of downtown, which pissed me off to no end. Apparently Wastrel's one man boycott finally brought them to their knees, though they never have apologized. I don't think they ever did get a permanent gaming license issued; I believe they've been operating on a "provisional license" since they came in. I can only hope that the new owner, who appears to be a normal grown up sort of businessman from what I can tell, will exercise some sound business judgment and take a more sensible attitude. Word is that some of his plans might require getting rid of the light show canopy over Fremont. Sounds good to me.

Assorted rumors: MTR Gaming is in serious deep water with Binion's, and they may have a buyer lined up to get them out of it. One rumor has it closing on October 17th for an unspecified time period. I don't know how solid that is, but I wouldn't want to pre-pay now for a two week stay in January.

Boyd /Coast and Station Casinos are sniffing around the Lady Luck for a possible purchase. That could set some kind of record for ownership turnover, with what, about three or four new owners in about that many years? Not that anyone much cares about that joint except some blue haired little old lady bus tour type visitors.

[Vegas Baby]

I hear the Sahara is sold. Deal pending for 700 mil.Turnberry group got some more condos going up.

[Cienega32]

I guess we can add the Huntridge Theater to the list of "bye-byes" as they try to work a way to tear it down.

I remember when they had $1 movies there in the early 80's. I think the first movie I saw there was Das Boot.

Same time that the old MGM Grand used to show the old classic movies. Big plush reclining double seats, table in front with a cocktail button on it. Gran Prix at Ceasars. Ahh, the good ole days.

Jan Laverty (our ex-Mayor) and her brother owned the supermarket right down the street at Bruce & Charleston. What a joint that was. Ceiling tiles falling with every rain. It fit the area. The bright spot of that stretch was the old Casa Taquila owned by The FLores mom and her (very hot) daughter Gloria. Best Margeruitas in town!

[Cienega32]

Apparently not ....

As you know , the FRONTIER is also slated for demolition soon ; I think Donald Trump is the developer
[ Gee , I wonder what he'll call the place ?? ]

I've written below that WYNN's new place is worth a visit ; but I'm always gonna miss the DESERT INN that it replaced = it was definitely the classiest Casino in town

.... and I hope you locals played golf there back when it was the DI , becasue a round there now is $$$$$
[ you read that right = five hundred bucks !! ]

I thought the Trump International Tower was being built in the back? I know he partnered up with Ruffin so I guess the casino won't be around too long in it's present appearance.

Oh well. As long as I can still hit the Slipper after a nice steak at The Flame...


The DI - I was saddened when they took down the glass front on that building. Always a sharp look when the sun was going down. Nice purple hue really gave it a look. I think Wynn may have had that in his head when he did the Wynn. That, too, has a very sharp look to it at different times of the day.

I'll tell you what really makes you feel dated is walking around Fremont and seeing all the signs that used to be at their original places and remembering. Out of state friends don't quite get it when I look at the signs with a "sad look" on my face.

Same look I know I have when I see all these fences surrounding different areas with their "Coming Soon! An exciting new way for [insert company name here] to make a quick billion $"...

See the plea for help spray painted on the side of the building north of Charleston on the strip?

[PsyberZombie]

Is NOTHING sacred in the town anymore???

Apparently not ....

As you know , the FRONTIER is also slated for demolition soon ; I think Donald Trump is the developer
[ Gee , I wonder what he'll call the place ?? ]

I've written below that WYNN's new place is worth a visit ; but I'm always gonna miss the DESERT INN that it replaced = it was definitely the classiest Casino in town

.... and I hope you locals played golf there back when it was the DI , because a round there now is $$$$$
[ you read that right = five hundred bucks !! ]

[Cienega32]

I was conducting my El Cheapo Las Vegas tour yesterday with some buddies here from Europe. We were enjoying 99 cent Hienies at the Slots A Fun and Westward Ho. A pit boss friend of mine at the HO advised me to drink up as both his and my days were numbered. It seems the Peterson's have sold the place. It's scheduled to close November 17th.

There goes the neighborhood. Another high end high rise condo project in Cienaga's 89109 Hell. With the exception of the Bill Bennett Estate, I believe this was the last family run joint on the strip. I guess I'm sequesterd to Fleamont Street. But then again, I never found a $20 blowjob on the strip.

Now THAT is sad news. I used really enjoy sitting under the mushrooms and do the chick-check after work. Quite a nice parade once upon a time. Grab some cheap dogs and drinks from the Slots A Fun and relax while the sun goes down. I remember watching them do the Con-Air scenes overhead one day.

I noticed that the quaint little village buildings on Sahara just west of the strip are gone too in order to make way for a hi-rise.

Is NOTHING sacred in the town anymore???

[GA Boy]

I saw this show last summer while I was out there. Man, If you like rock and roll and hot ladies it is there!. Hottest show I've seen in a while that I could really say I went there for the music. Worth every dime and I'll see it again next time I'm out there.

[Norman Stormin]

I was conducting my El Cheapo Las Vegas tour yesterday with some buddies here from Europe. We were enjoying 99 cent Hienies at the Slots A Fun and Westward Ho. A pit boss friend of mine at the HO advised me to drink up as both his and my days were numbered. It seems the Peterson's have sold the place. It's scheduled to close November 17th.

There goes the neighborhood. Another high end high rise condo project in Cienaga's 89109 Hell. With the exception of the Bill Bennett Estate, I believe this was the last family run joint on the strip. I guess I'm sequesterd to Fleamont Street. But then again, I never found a $20 blowjob on the strip.

[PsyberZombie]

Do you know if the Titanic & Treasures of the Kremlin exhibits allow cameras?

No Cameras allowed at any of the exhibits I mentioned... Sorry !!

BTW , I for·got to mention an·other 'Touristy' thing to do =

See the show We Will Rock You at PARIS . It features the music of Freddie Mercury & QUEEN

The guy who plays the character 'Pop' was inter·viewed in last Saturday's LVRJ = apparently they've recently cut 30 minutes of spoken dialogue out of the show to bring the running time down to a more typical LV time of 90 minutes . He claimed that the cuts compromised the Plot and character development , but there's not much plot ; and how much 'character development' do you need be·sides "boy·meets·girl" ???

Another show I wanted to see , but just ran out of time , is the ABBA·inspired musical Momma Mia

I'm a huge Abba fan ; and when people look at me like I'm Nutz when I admit that , I simply explain that I'm in good company =

Nirvana's KURT COBAIN was also a big fan ; and used to drive every·body on the band bus crazy by playing their CDs over & over & over again ....

[Cienega32]

Nice work PZ!

On the 9-11 visit of yours I flashback to those days and remember how eerie it was not to see any air traffic at all, being under or near the general flight paths in & out of town. Eeire indeed.

Do you know Penn has a home down by Blue Diamond Road somewhere? A very "unique" looking structure of different colors. I didn't know who owned it when I first came across it but had a "That explains it" reaction when I looked up the property on the County Assessor's website and saw his name.


Do you know if the Titanic & Treasures of the Kremlin exhibits allow cameras?

[PsyberZombie]

Just got back from a week in LV , and here's a little off·topic Report

• Good Touristy Spots to hit = The TITANIC Exhibition at the Tropicana ; TREASURES OF THE KREMLIN at the The Venetian ; and the ART EXHIBIT at Wynn [ although Steve Wynn dictates the audio tour him·self , and is a bit 'wordy' ]

• WYNN Hotel & Casino is worth checking out . They even have a BRIONI Store in there , where men's suits go for $ 4000 — $ 8000 . No Wonder Lexy the Week·end Warrior likes them so much = if you can afford one , you can afford HER !!

• Best Meal of the week = BARTOLLOTA'S at Wynn . Try the Orata if it's on the menu

• Celebrity Sightings = Charlize THERON and TELLER [ the silent half of Penn & Teller ] at Caesar's Forum Shops on Wednesday after·noon

• Returning from Caesar's to Paris , I passed through the very spot where that guy Ressa plowed down 14 people , killing two , in front of Bally's ; less than 30 minutes before it happened

• Wednesday night , ate at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant . Tony BENNETT was there having dinner , too . The entire Strip south of Bally's was closed to traffic because of that incident earlier ; we had a window seat and it was weird = NO traffic at all on Las Vegas Blvd , in either direction !!

Weirdly , I was in LV on 9 / 11 / 01 , staying at HARRAH'S . That Friday night , we had dinner at Picasso at Bellagio ; and in commemoration , they darkened the entire Strip for an hour while we looked on = Historic !!

The next day , we flew out of LAS the very first day it was re·opened to commercial aviation = by far the *worst* experience I've ever had in Vegas !!

Enough for now !!

[Norman Stormin]

Since today is a Federal holiday (Mexican Independence Day), I have an extra day to get in trouble this weekend. And judging from the event calander, there will be plenty of it lurking around every corner. This comes as a welcome relief after last weeks doledrums. I made the rounds downtown Tuesday and Thursday and you could fire a cannon down Fremont Street. Although I ran into several downtown providers who had received early outs from LVDC. They are making room for the 35,000 bikers who will be headquartered downtown for their 5th annual Bikefest.

This should prove very interesting since there are a couple of new bars recently opened which are of questionable sexual preferance persuasion. A pseudo biker bar called Hogs and Heifers two doors down 3rd Street from a genuine TV/TS bar. I can only imagine the forbading fun after a drunk biker discovers the beauty who just sucked him off has a third appendage. And the Beauty Bar on Fremont should also be a hot spot. I plan to make the Gold Spike my 'HEAD' quarters. Conveniently located between the two aforementioned where $4 will get me two forty ouncers of draft compared to $4 for a 12 oz bottle at Hogs. Head can usually be had here for a Jackson.

Other venues of drinking and debauchery: Hofbrauhause kicks off Oktoberfest tonight. The Eagle's Lodge (across from Cashman Field) celebrates its 100th birthday with free beer all weekend. The Son's of Erin has a "half way to St Patrick's Day" open bar drunk tonight at the Rum Runner on Boulder Highway. The Mexicans have a fiesta of free food and beverage at the community center (21st and Stewart) this afternoon. Whoop it up with the 21st street gang? And the coup de grace is a wet T shirt contest at the Harley shop on Eastern at 5 pm.

Can you snobs in Slumberland top that agenda?

[Wastrel]

Anybody know how to get cheap hotel rates with promotional codes or anything for October 9-11 or October 16-18? All the hotels on the strip are going for well over 130 dollars!

I love helping with these kinds of questions, becuase I usually can. I don't know what your priorities and preferences are on balancing such things as location, comfort, amenities, and price, but October is a busy time and even many off-Strip and downtown properties are affected with rates that are more salty than average for a non-weekend booking.

I suggest you try this: do a search of those dates on www.i4vegas.com www.travelworm.com and www.vegas.com in that order, peruse the results, compare what you see, narrow your choice down to several properties, then compare what you can get from the property's website directly. Assuming that you really want to stay on the Strip, you can get decent but not great accommodations for under a hundred in those time periods. For example, you could get the Riviera for about $90 or $70, the Stardust for $70, the Imperial Palace for about $80, the Tropicana for about $90. Of these, personally I lean toward the IP; not the greatest rooms in town, but I like the location for doing the Strip. Your second window beginning on the 16th looks like it generally has a little softer occupancy and better rates than the 9th, but not much better. These are not smoking great deals for these hotels, but at least they're not obscenely high for a busy time period. Most casino promos aren't honored for nights when occupancy is pretty firm, as it appears to be when you want to book your room. If your location is flexible, the Golden Nugget downtown has some soft rates from a couple of the sites at about $60 in that time period for some reason. You can still get a perfectly serviceable downtown or off-Strip room at a few places for about 30 to 40 bucks for those dates, but I get the feeling that's not what you're after.

The three sites I've listed above are third party booking agents that sometimes buy blocks of rooms in advance at wholesale rates and resell them for whatever price clears their inventory, sometimes undercutting the hotel's advertised rate, and sometimes not. They do build in a hidden charge without telling you, usually about 5% extra, buried in "taxes and fees" when you book, so I'd want to see a rate at least 10% better than the hotel's quote when using them. Also, bookings through them are not just a reservation that can be modified or cancelled, they are paid in full in advance with no refunds or changes permitted, and you'll want to verify with the hotel that your third party booking was transmitted to them and get the hotel's confirmation number, not just the booking site's transaction number, to avoid any last minute snafu's when you arrive.

Hope this is useful to you, and feel free to ask in this thread if there's more that might help. I'll be available for another day and a half, then probably unavailable to clarify or elaborate on anything I’ve written here for a substantial time after that.

It looks like October is getting tighter by the day, so I probably wouldn't want to wait too long to make a choice and lock in the rate and dates.

W