What’s happening in Las Vegas? A roundup of the latest news and rumors about Las Vegas. The three biggest changes in Las Vegas right now are that Day Clubs & Night Clubs are opening; it’s pool season so the pool clubs are also opening; and shows are really coming back now! I’ll also discuss new hotels, buffets, restaurants, and everything else that is reopening, changing, and closing.
Day Clubs, Pools, and Night Clubs.
Encore Beach Club
– Now Open on Weekends — 11am to 7pm
– You need to buy a table / cabana
– Minimum spend Starts at $750 for a table for 4. Goes up to $7000
Most of these pool clubs in normal times would offer “general admission” at Encore general admission used to be between $25-55. With bypass the line tickets upwards up to $90.
XS Lounge: Friday- Saturday 10:30pm. $750 Min for 2 people. Usually the table seats 6. Now its 2.
Cosmopolitan:
Marquee Pool
– Friday – Sunday 11am to Sunset
– Daybeds start at $400 min spend for 6 people. Includes juice and soda. Goes up to $3000 for a “Granda Cabana”.
Marquee at Night:
– Fridays and Saturdays
– Open 10pm to late
– Tables start at $600
Daylight Beach Club Mandalay Bay:
– Friday to Sunday – 11am to 6pm
– Open admission first come first served
– This is not the BIG pool at Mandalay Bay… this is a smaller private section near four seasons.
– The Foundation Room has also reopened. On the top floor of Mandalay Bay. Wednesday-Sunday — Tables start at $600.
Wet Republic at MGM Grand
– Another daytime pool club – Friday to Sunday
– Reservations required. Min reservation is $350 for a daybed for 6 people.
Omnia Nightclub Terrace at Caesars Palace
– This is a neat outdoor venue with cool views of the strip.
– Friday/Saturday at 10:30pm
– $500 for a Stripview table for six
The Strat (Wet24)
– Rebranded its Pool to Wet24 (it’s on the 24th floor). Admission is free to guests at the STRAT.
Opening on Mar 12 – Liquid Pool Aria
Another weekend day pool
Admission here is $350 for a daybed for 6.
I should point out… all of these hotels generally have a pool for hotel guests, and a separate one that is the “cool club” pool. And you don’t need to be a hotel guest to buy at these club pools. Even if you are a hotel guest, you should make a reservation for the pool even if it’s for the free pool.
Hotels:
Weekday traffic is picking up and hotels are opening up back midweek again. In particular Mandalay Bay, Park MGM and Mirage are back to 24/7 operation
Venetian & Palazzo was sold for $6.25 Billion. Las Vegas Sands decided to focus on Asia. In particular Macau and Singapore. Purchased by Apollo Global Management and VICI properties.
Resorts World is “rumored” to be considering opening smoke free. This is definitely not confirmed. But it is confirmed that Celine Dion will be taking up residency at Resorts World… likely in 2022.
Virgin Hotel opens on March 25. no resort fees: “No Nickel and Diming” policy includes free Wi-Fi and “street priced” minibars. But they do have a bizarre policy of “no outside food or drinks” — In particular their website states “Outside food and beverage is not permitted in our guest rooms. Our resort offers an array of restaurant offering including pre-stocked in-room minibars, and 24-hour room service for your convenience.” Apparently many other Vegas hotels have a similar policy including the Wynn… so I wonder if this will actually be enforced.
Resort fees INCREASED at 3 strip hotels: resort fees at Paris and Planet Hollywood will increase to $39 per night plus tax ($44.21 inclusive of tax).
Resort fees at Cromwell will be increased to $45 per night plus tax ($51.02) inclusive of tax.
Restaurants:
It’s doesn’t look good for buffets at Caesars.
In a question-and-answer that followed the year-end earnings call for Caesars Entertainment, the CEO said “We’re going to be smarter about how we’re in the food and beverage business,” Reeg said, remarking that the company wasn’t going to lose $3 million on every buffet at its properties”
the “arrival experience” at Caesars Palace would be transformed in 2021, after staying the same since the 1960s. New food and beverage projects are also in the works at Caesars Palace.
Before COVID19 there were about 40 buffets in Las Vegas. The only one currently open is at the South Point.
Pinball Hall of Fame: Received a donation of $79K to fund the final construction to finish the Las Vegas Strip construction. Planned to open in May.
Shows & Sporting Events:
Previously because of the pandemic, performers were required to maintain 25 feet of space between the audience. But that was a restriction some smaller venues could not accommodate.
Sisolak signed the new emergency directive on Friday, updating the minimum distance to 6 feet if performers are wearing masks and 12 feet when performers are unmasked.
The order is effective immediately and applies to all live entertainment and performances at all sizes of public gatherings and events.
Absinthe reopens at Caesars on March 17.
David Copperfield returns March 21, 2021 at MGM Grand
Also open: Carrot Top, Piff The Magic Dragon, Tape Face, Fantasy Topless Show,, MJ Live, Thunder From Down Under, X Burlesque, Laugh Factory, Jabbawockeez
Cirque is rumored to be reopening shows at a pace of 1 per month.
With a rumored order of
“O”
“Mystere”
“Love”
“Michael Jackson One”
“Ka”
Rumor has it that Hamilton could be coming to a Las Vegas Strip hotel.
NHL Golden Knights will be allowed to restart with fans at 15% Capacity, that’s 2,600 people per game at the T-Mobile Arena next to NYNY.
No bags permitted inside. The team says this includes small purses and clutches
Leaving The Fortress will take place via arena announcements dismissing specific sections.
Those in attendance will be limited to a “Section Group,” which will include their seating section, restrooms All fans must fill out a health questionnaire from CLEAR, as required by the NHL. Fans are encouraged to download the CLEAR app before the day of the game. EXPECT THIS AT CLUBS, CONVENTIONS, and MORE. PLAY VIDEO.
Allegiant Stadium has started tours. Starting with Season ticket holders. $59 for a walk through or $80 for the tour and drink-with-a- view package. Tours run 75 minutes and show private suites and club spaces, the broadcast booth, the press conference room, locker rooms, the Al Davis Memorial Torch and on-field access.
Mandalay Bay Events Center renamed Michelob Ultra Arena
SoHo Playhouse, a NYC based theatre company, has plans for four new theater spaces in the Arts District, a project estimated at $20 million. Plans include a cabaret space, a 99-seat theater, a flexible black box theater that could serve up to 199 audience members and what Cole calls “a real, formal, off-Broadway-style 299-seat theater.”
The SoHo Playhouse team is focusing on spaces in the Arts District in hopes of being up and running by the end of 2022 or early 2023. They’re looking at existing properties while considering building from the ground up. Two options are in play: a performing arts center housing all four theaters and a series of buildings, like New York’s Theatre Row, that would work in harmony.
Misc:
McCarran International Airport will be renamed after former Sen. Harry Reid.
McCarran, was the author of the 1938 Civil Aeronautics Act, which established the federal government’s role in overseeing aviation by regulating airline fares and investigating accidents.
Harry Reid served as a senator for Nevada for 30 years, and was the former Democratic Senate Majority Leader.
The Greyhound Bus Station in downtown Las Vegas has closed. It used to be right next to the Plaza hotel. It’s moving to a location closer to the airport.
It’s true.. Las Vegas is the 9th island. As reported by KHON news — According to data from the US Census Bureau residents from Honolulu Hawaii are moving to Las Vegas more than any other metropolitan area in the US.
A lot of Hawaiians are raised in the hospitality industry…. And Las Vegas has a ton of that, and a way lower cost of living.
Hawaii-based ABC convenience stores have a whopping eight locations in Las Vegas—their only mainland presence.
I’m looking forward to Zippy’s opening their first mainland location in Las Vegas as well.
Until then you’ll find a ton of Hawaiian food in Downtown Las Vegas. In particular at the California hotel where they serve oxtail soup, saimin and butterfish in the hotel’s cafe.
