Las Vegas Vacation Blog Blog

Dubai World are hoping its multi billion dollar investment in a 67 acre hotel, restaurant, shops and casino complex in the Las Vegas strip will bear fruit as its businesses begin trading tomorrow.

Dubai World recently sent shudders across world markets after they effectively defaulted on their $60 billion debt by asking creditors for a six-month extension on their re-payments. In this particular venture Dubai World had teamed up with MGM Mirage for the $8.5 billion CityCenter resort project, but both companies have been suffering financially of late and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

The development has been going on since 2006 but in the meantime Las Vegas has witnessed a sharp fall in visitors and revenue as the recession continues to bite. Nevada Gaming Commissioner Tony Alamo commenting on the development said:

“We’re in a 12-round fight. The first six rounds, you guys got beat up. We’re putting all our eggs in the `grow-the-market’ basket. I would be lying to you if I wasn’t concerned — that’s a reality.This is not just the company, it’s the state.”

Kansas billionaire Phil Ruffin, owner of nearby Treasure Island casino-resort echoed the general feeling of trepidation when he said, “It’s going to be bloody out there. We wish them all the success in the world because it would help the whole city of Las Vegas, but I can’t think of a worse time to open up 7,000 rooms.”

Ruffin, like many businessmen, believe that the woes which have befallen Vegas will only subside after unemployment drops nationally thus bringing in more tourists, but conversely as the CityCenter development approaches completion 10,000 labourers will be added to the national unemployment statistics.

Despite the level of skepticism in the air preceeding tomorrows opening,  MGM Mirage CEO Jim Murren appeared upbeat and struck an all together different take on the whole project:

“We’re at the eve of opening up something that was unimaginable this year,” he said. “ That will have a profoundly positive impact on our cash flows, our cross-marketing opportunities for our other properties, and on visitation and revenue to all of Las Vegas. I believe that it couldn’t happen at a better time now that we’ve survived the first six rounds of the fight.”

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The New York-New York Hotel & Casino has its winning Vinny.

The Las Vegas Strip hotel announced the winner of its Vinny vs. Vinny spokesVinny competition on Monday, declaring Vinny Blue “the ultimate go-to guy for all things New York-New York.”

His real name is Thomas Cassell, and he’s originally from New York but now he lives in Las Vegas. Voters cast ballots at the hotel and online.

The battle to be The Vinny included a Nathan’s Hot Dog eating contest, an ESPN Zone arcade challenge and an Irish jig showdown at Nine Fine Irishmen.

Cynthia Kiser Murphey, New York-New York’s president and chief operating officer, said Vinny’s job is to give guests an idea where to go, what to do, what’s hot, and what’s not — all in a New York kind of way.

New York-New York is a subsidiary of MGM Mirage.

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Terry Watanabe, 52, says he lived and gambled “non-stop” at Caesars Palace for six months in 2007, spending a fortune on roulette and slot machines.

After an epic losing streak, he ran up gambling debts of around $15 million (£9 million) and was subsequently charged with theft, to which he has pleaded not guilty.

Mr Watanabe is countering the criminal charges with a civil suit in which he accuses Harrah’s, the owners of Caesars Palace, of fraud, breach of contract, conspiracy and negligence.

He claims company executives manipulated him with a “secret intention” of siphoning off his wealth.

Harrah’s, the world’s largest gambling company by revenue, is adamant there was no wrong-doing.

A spokesman said: “We have a long-standing history of responsible and ethical practices.

“We’re licensed in more jurisdictions than any other gaming company. We stand by our record.”

Mr Watanabe is a Nebraska-based philanthropist and the former owner of Oriental Trading Co, a huge direct marketing company for novelties and party items.

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New Year’s Eve fireworks will return to the rooftops of Las Vegas Strip hotels to ring in 2010 after ground-level displays disappointed revelers last year, event and county officials said.

“We’re moving the fireworks show back to where it should be,” said Pat Christenson, president of the event promoter, Las Vegas Events.

Christenson said the $550,000 fireworks show will be fired from atop seven tall hotels lining Las Vegas Boulevard. The street will again be closed to form a pedestrian mall for the event that tourism officials have dubbed “America’s Party.”

Plans call for fireworks to be shot from the Stratosphere tower, the MGM Grand, Planet Hollywood, Caesars Palace, Treasure Island and Venetian hotels, and the Aria Resort & Casino at MGM Mirage’s CityCenter complex. Aria is set to open in December.

Christenson conceded that last year’s low-trajectory pyrotechnics disappointed some of the estimated 250,000 people attending what became an annual aerial fireworks event in 2001.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and the producer of the show, Fireworks by Grucci, began working last January to meet fire and building regulations.

The fireworks were not held this past New Year’s Eve because of concerns that followed a spectacular three-alarm blaze ignited by welders’ sparks at the Monte Carlo hotel-casino in January 2008. No one was seriously hurt, although 6,000 guests and employees had to evacuate the hotel.

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On Halloween a year ago, Holly Madison was just the latest arm candy girlfriend of Criss Angel at the opening of his Cirque show, “Believe,” at Luxor. She had just ended her relationship with Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, which made her one of the stars of the television show “The Girls Next Door” about life at the Playboy mansion and related environs. A few months later she and Angel split up, and it seemed Madison’s life in the public eye was at an end.

But that is not what happened. Instead, in May, Madison joined the topless production “Peepshow” at Planet Hollywood. The show, created by Broadway producer Jerry Mitchell, opened with Kelly Monaco playing the role given to Madison three months later with the idea of rotating stars every three months. Madison had just enough name recognition, it seemed, to work a three-month run. But Madison soon got herself a one-year contract. Why?

Because Holly Madison, as unlikely as it seems, has become one of the most in-demand and beloved celebrities in Vegas. In fact, as one measure of her popularity, despite her brief time in her Vegas spotlight and being only one of the three original “Girls Next Door,” these days on Twitter she has far more followers than Criss Angel.

Sign of the times: This Halloween Madison was the celebrity host and contest judge at a party at the MGM Grand’s Studio 54. When she arrived, dressed as the Queen of Hearts, there was a red carpet of press waiting for her as well as her own screaming fans, many of them women.

Madison is far savvier in person than she appeared on “Girls Next Door.” For example, she has noticed that blond bombshells like her don’t often attract so many female admirers. And, she notes of her female fans: “I think it is unusual for someone in my category. And that is because ‘Girls Next Door’ was done in a cute, colorful and cartoon way that girls could enjoy, relate to and live vicariously through. A lot of girls would watch it and think if they had the spare time and the cash they would love to do whatever we were doing,” she said in a bubbly mood in the VIP area on the top deck of Studio 54.

Reality fame can be even more fleeting than the old-fashioned kind, but that has not turned out to be the case for Madison, who has become a regular on Vegas red carpets and charity events.

According to Mayor Oscar Goodman: “Holly Madison does a great job promoting Las Vegas. She is a glamorous ambassador for the city. I always have my showgirls with me when I go out, but Holly has a standing invitation to join us in showcasing fabulous Las Vegas.”

And while “Peepshow” is produced by an outside company, a spokesperson for Planet Hollywood now calls Madison an officially “unofficial” ambassador of the resort: Her voice is one of those customers who call the casino hear when on hold.

No one is more surprised by her current success than Madison: “I am totally surprised. It started out with my wanting to do a guest spot in Crazy Horse [at MGM]. But that would not have been a big deal, and then ‘Peepshow’ came along and it turned into a huge thing that I love doing.”

Surrounded by Broadway-caliber dancers, singers and actors, Madison certainly is not the most talented cast member of “Peepshow.” At times she seems awkward on stage. But without fail audiences find her just-one-of-us talents endearing. This also works for the show’s plot (a very light plot, more a theme) since she plays the role of a shy, lonely and inexperienced woman — not a natural fit for the stunning former model.

But Madison’s real success here has come from her relentless work ethic offstage. She lives in Planet Hollywood and unlike some other headliners does not walk about escorted by security. She interacts with hotel guests’ old Vegas style, constantly signing autographs, giving light hugs and posing for pictures with thrilled tourists.

In one of those full-circle moments, Madison’s success in Vegas has attracted E! network, which aired “Girls Next Door,” to start filming another reality show about her (the air date has to be set). “It is about everything I am doing here in Vegas. I think a lot of people are going to be surprised,” she said. In fact, many already have been at the success, resiliency and, say it, intelligence of Holly Madison.

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