Other News: Is New Vegas TV Show Good?
Flamingo Adds Self-Service Check In
Updated: 12:07 p.m. EDT October 6, 2003
Lots of people are asking my opinion on the new TV show "Las Vegas", featuring James Caan and a cast of really pretty people as security experts at the fictional Montecito hotel and casino (which looks an awful lot like Mandalay Bay but what do I know?).
Although I watch entirely too much TV, I'm not really a TV critic. But as a Vegas critic I can say that this is about as far from the reality of Las Vegas as you can get. I mean, really -- a supposedly upscale mega-resort is going to tolerate a gaggle of barely clad, giggling, catcalling hookers openly hanging out at the main casino lounge? And has anyone else noticed that, except for the brief comic-relief segments, almost all the people in every shot -- even the background extras -- are young, incredibly good looking and dressed impeccably? I don't know what Las Vegas they think they're in, but until they throw in a couple of old ladies smoking long brown cigarettes and middle-age guys in shorts and black socks, I'm not buying it.
Seriously, though, I think it's an interesting concept, but it feels like the writers and producers are trying too hard to make Las Vegas look flashy, seductive and exciting when all they really have to do is turn on the camera and start filming.
Construction woes have forced another delay in the opening of the Westin Casaurina, an upscale boutique hotel born from the skeleton of the Maxim on Flamingo Road, just east of the Strip. No official date has been announced, but expect it to open in late October or early November.
If you can't bear the thought of waiting in another check-in line at a Vegas hotel, you should book your next trip to the Flamingo, which has gone high tech with the addition of self-service check-in kiosks in the lobby. Basically, all you need is the credit card with which you made your reservation and you get your room, your keys, directions to the elevator, and even dinner reservations if you need them. Two of the gadgets are currently in use, with more on the way. If the experiment proves successful, Caesars Entertainment (formerly Park Place) plans to add them to all of its hotels.
In a plot right out of a George Clooney movie, more than $1 million worth of art has been stolen from the Gallerie Lassen in the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace. The theft was discovered a couple of weeks ago when employees opened the high-priced boutique one morning and found several empty walls where art had been hanging the night before. Among the pricey items taken are original Christian Lassen paintings featuring Mickey Mouse as a sorcerer and Mickey and Minnie Mouse on a beach, both done with cooperation from Disney. Each are valued at approximately $400,000, which virtually requires me to say, "This ain't no Mickey Mouse operation we're talking about here." Authorities believe the highly recognizable art may be difficult to sell, so they are taking the theft public in the hope that someone may recognize the pieces hanging in someone's den (so to speak) and contact them.
The hit gross-out stunt spectacular "Fear Factor" has returned to Las Vegas for a two part-episode of Sin City-theme yuckiness. In the first half, the contestants had to crawl along a metal pole suspended off the top of the Manadlay Bay tower, swim in a tank full of piranhas, and eat live, giant, disgusting, what-were-you-thinking spiders crawling around on a roulette table in the Excalibur. Once a winner is declared, he or she will be forced to bet at least half of the possible $100,000 prize on one hand of blackjack.
Construction woes have forced another delay in the opening of the Westin Casaurina, an upscale boutique hotel born from the skeleton of the Maxim on Flamingo Road, just east of the Strip. No official date has been announced, but expect it to open in late October or early November.
If you can't bear the thought of waiting in another check-in line at a Vegas hotel, you should book your next trip to the Flamingo, which has gone high tech with the addition of self-service check-in kiosks in the lobby. Basically, all you need is the credit card with which you made your reservation and you get your room, your keys, directions to the elevator, and even dinner reservations if you need them. Two of the gadgets are currently in use, with more on the way. If the experiment proves successful, Caesars Entertainment (formerly Park Place) plans to add them to all of its hotels.
In a plot right out of a George Clooney movie, more than $1 million worth of art has been stolen from the Gallerie Lassen in the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace. The theft was discovered a couple of weeks ago when employees opened the high-priced boutique one morning and found several empty walls where art had been hanging the night before. Among the pricey items taken are original Christian Lassen paintings featuring Mickey Mouse as a sorcerer and Mickey and Minnie Mouse on a beach, both done with cooperation from Disney. Each are valued at approximately $400,000, which virtually requires me to say, "This ain't no Mickey Mouse operation we're talking about here." Authorities believe the highly recognizable art may be difficult to sell, so they are taking the theft public in the hope that someone may recognize the pieces hanging in someone's den (so to speak) and contact them.
The hit gross-out stunt spectacular "Fear Factor" has returned to Las Vegas for a two part-episode of Sin City-theme yuckiness. In the first half, the contestants had to crawl along a metal pole suspended off the top of the Manadlay Bay tower, swim in a tank full of piranhas, and eat live, giant, disgusting, what-were-you-thinking spiders crawling around on a roulette table in the Excalibur. Once a winner is declared, he or she will be forced to bet at least half of the possible $100,000 prize on one hand of blackjack.
This Week's Trivia
Q: To the nearest million, how many visitors came to Las Vegas in 2002? ANSWER The Weekly Trivia Question is sponsored by the Online Memorabilia Museum at Vegas4Visitors.comThe Full Story
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