Las Vegas Vacation Blog Blog

The Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas will close May 2, FOX5 has learned.

An employee said notifications were sent out Monday morning and a hotel official confirmed the closing a few hours later.

The resort, which opened in 2003, is among the top luxury destinations in southern Nevada and recently won the AAA Five Diamond award.

Despite the accolades, the Lake Las Vegas area fell on hard times during the recession. Last year, the three golf courses within the resort were closed or went bankrupt.

USA Today said the move will put nearly 400 employees out of work.

The 348-room resort — 17 miles away from the Las Vegas Strip — is owned by Village Hospitality, an arm of Deutsche Bank, according to USA Today.

“They have decided to cease funding the hotel,” Ritz-Carlton spokeswoman Vivian Deuschl said. “We reluctantly agreed to close the hotel.” Deuschl could not say how much money the resort is losing, USA Today reported.

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After his potential megafight with Manny Pacquiao stalled, Las Vegas boxing star Floyd Mayweather Jr. has agreed to fight “Sugar” Shane Mosley at the MGM Grand May 1, according to multiple reports.

Mayweather last fought in September, when he won a unanimous decision against Juan Manuel Marquez.

Mosley was scheduled to fight Alberto Berto on Jan. 30, but the latter pulled out after he lost several family members in the Haiti earthquake. Mosley’s last fight was in January 2009, when he defeated Antonio Margarito.

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Forget falling profits and a grim jobless rate. The United States knew for sure it had entered a recession during a football game last February.

How so? Super Bowl wagers in Nevada’s sports books dropped more than 11 percent compared to the previous year. At $81.5 million, the Pittsburgh-Arizona thriller — a 27-23 Steelers victory — marked the lowest handle (money bet on a contest) for the bookies since 2004. The drop in six-figure bets in particular jarred oddsmakers.

As Indianapolis and New Orleans prepare to battle in Super Bowl XLIV in Miami on Feb. 7, sports book chiefs believe the recession won’t sack the house this year.

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Thanks to Gov. Rod Blagojevich Prison Uniform Night and the stripper-riffic “Over 18″ Night, the ECHL Las Vegas Wranglers have shown a propensity for thinking outside the box for promotional ideas. Little did we know the box actually contained Samoas and Do-si-dos.

Mark your calendars now: On Friday, March 12 at the Orleans Arena against the Bakersfield Condors, the Wranglers are scheduled to hold “Girl Scout Night” in celebration of the 98th birthday of the Girl Scouts of the USA. Part of that celebration is the sure-to-be-instant-classic hockey jersey shown here, modeled after the Girl Scout uniform.

From the Girl Scout Blog:

The Wranglers will be wearing Girl Scout uniform inspired jerseys that will be available for silent auction throughout the game. The Girl Scouts are also offering a special ticket rate of $10 for that night’s game. A portion of the proceeds from the jersey auction and tickets sold by the Girl Scouts benefits the Las Vegas local Girl Scouts of Frontier Council. Other Girl Scout-themed activities are planned throughout the evening.

The Wranglers already have a commercial for the event up on YouTube. That’s some piece of acting by John Schwarz, No. 28 in your programs:

The possibilities for this game are endless. Like sewing on badges for different penalties earned during the game. Like referring to the puck as a “Thin Mint” all night. Like replacing the goal song with “Kumbaya.” Oh, and what we wouldn’t give to see a fight in these sweaters. They aren’t Boy Scouts, you know …

Thanks to Puck Buddy Rachel L. for the tip.

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The Dodgers will play the Cincinnati Reds in a split-squad exhibition game at Las Vegas’ Cashman Field on March 31.

Los Angeles also will play San Francisco that day in Glendale, Ariz., and Cincinnati will meet Oakland at Phoenix. The two Dodgers’ squads then will meet up for an exhibition against Cleveland at Dodger Stadium on April 1.

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Partly sunny skies with temperatures climbing up into the 60s are in store today through the weekend for the Las Vegas Valley.

But big changes in the weather are coming as a series of wet storms begins passing through the valley starting Sunday night, according to the National Weather Service.

The weather service said that a change in the jet stream will bring four to five different storm systems across the valley next week.

All the lower elevations are expected to see rain next week, although some of the systems moving through will bring more rain than others, forecasters said. Rainfall amounts could be as high as 3 inches in some areas, or a significant portion of their yearly rainfall, the weather service said.

The higher elevations will likely see several feet of total snow accumulation by the end of next week, especially areas above 8,000 feet, forecasters said.

Road conditions could be hazardous next week for areas that get heavy snow, the rains could make roads slippery and create flooding situations, forecasters said.

Temperatures were starting out today at 43 degrees at 5:56 a.m. at McCarran International Airport. The normal low at McCarran for today’s date is 36 degrees and the record low is 20 degrees, set in 1962 and 1949.

Around the valley just after 6 a.m., temperatures were 44 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport, 37 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport and 43 degrees at Nellis Air Force Base.

Temperatures were to climb today to 50 degrees by 9 a.m., to 63 degrees by noon and reach a high of 65 degrees at 1 p.m. The normal high for today’s date is 57 degrees and the record high is 73 degrees, set in 1945.

If you’re heading out tonight, you’ll find the temperature falling to 58 degrees by 6 p.m., 51 degrees by 9 p.m. and 48 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

Saturday’s morning low will be 43 degrees and Saturday’s high will reach 62 degrees, forecasters said.

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The International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which opened on Thursday in Las Vegas, is expected to draw more exhibitors as the economy is recovering from the worst crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

The Consumer Electronics Association, which is hosting the CES, predicted around 2,500 to 2,700 exhibitors at this year’s show, with more than 330 of them appearing for the first time in the event, believed to be the world’s largest consumer technology trade show.

“With a record number of new exhibitors, scores of new product introductions, several new spotlights of the show floor and a dynamic lineup of keynotes sessions, the 2010 International CES will be our best show,” said Gary Shapiro, President and CEO of the CES.

According to the show organizer, about 110,000 attendees will come for the four-day show, a drop from 113,000 attendees last year. The show hit its peak attendance of 152,000 in 2006.

“We knew we would shrink, but the standard for tech trade show is to be down 20 percent to 30 percent,” said Mr. Shapiro. “We will be down less than that.”

“The strategy will be for a more dense show that is also more convenient. Despite that is still a very fragile economy, we have a show that is comparable to last year’s. It gives me hope in the U.S. economy,” he explained.

The 2010 show will feature 20 market-specific TechZones highlighting trends and emerging markets, more than in the previous shows.

Apple will be the focus of the iLounge, which will feature products and technologies for the iPod, iPhone and Mac. The iLounge was expected to take up 4,000 square feet when first planned, but demand from exhibitors led to an expansion to 25,000 square feet.

In-car technology will have a major presence at this year’s trade show, as that area of the tech business is expected to rev up more than 9.3 billion dollars in sales last year.

New CES TechZones include eBooks, Experience 3D, Femto, Lifestyle Gadgets, Mobile DTV and Netbooks.

Most major consumer electronics giants from LG to Sony will be at the event, but Mr. Shapiro said there is likely bigger representation of smaller companies.

More than 250 sessions will take place during the show, and 800 expert speakers will be featured, including new-media executives from CBS, Hulu, Sony Pictures Technologies and YouTube.

The top speakers this year are Steve Ballmer of Microsoft, Paul Otellini of Intel, Paul Jacobs of Qualcomm, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo of Nokia, Alan Mulally of Ford, and Zhou Houjian of China’s Hisense. Mr. Zhou is the first keynote speaker from China in the show’s history.

Hit by the financial crisis, U.S. sales of electronics and appliances fell almost 27 percent from Nov. 1 to Dec. 24 in 2008, according to SpendingPulse, a division of MasterCard Advisors, though appliances probably saw a greater decline than electronics.

During the same period in 2009, the sales of electronics and appliances in the United States increased 5.9 percent.

“We’ve turned the corner,” Jason Oxman, senior vice president of the Consumer Electronics Association, said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

“Looking into 2010, we expect a strong show because companies exhibiting in the CES recognize that consumers in 2010 are going to be feeling better about their ability to buy their products,” he predicted.

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US Airways is closing its Las Vegas hub and many of the pilots who fly for the airline spent some time expressing their thoughts on the ground Wednesday. Some US Airways pilots hit the picket line at McCarran International.

“So what we’re hoping for is to alert local citizens, local business communities and local politicians that this is important and we’d like their support and help in writing to US Airways and having them reconsider,” said James Ray.

Pilots say the shut down will further limit flight options in and out of Las Vegas. It will also leave around 300 local workers without jobs.

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Casino shares have shot up amid investors’ optimism about the Las Vegas CityCenter development.

The massive, $8.5 billion casino and hotel development, spearheaded by MGM Mirage(MGM Quote), has been a source of both worry and excitement in the casino industry, as it the market wonders whether the impressive development will steal market share from other casino companies — and maybe even cannibalize MGM’s own businesses.

On Tuesday, investors begged to differ, apparently over renewed optimism that the CityCenter will result in heavier visitor traffic and create a win-win situation for all on the Vegas strip.

MGM Mirage stock has surged by 7.2% to $10.40, on volume of 40 million shares by mid-afternoon. The three-month average daily trading volume of MGM is 25.3 million.

Meanwhile, Wynn Resorts (WYNN Quote), which observers say could lose market share to MGM with the development of CityCenter, rose by 5.3% at $67.40. Amid all the worry, MGM has provided reassurance that there is enough business to go around.

More than 4.6 million shares had traded hands by mid-afternoon. The three-month average daily trading volume for Wynn is 3.8 million.

Las Vegas Sands(LVS Quote), which many feared would also be crushed under the might of the CityCenter, has, for its part, shot up by 7.9% to $17.90 on a volume of more than 53 million shares by mid-afternoon. The three-month average daily trading volume for Las Vegas Sands is 29.3 million.

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