The New Palazzo

Saturday, January 19, 2008 was the official Grand opening of the Palazzo Hotel and Casino. It had been open before that, but the big names, Wayne Brady, Aretha Franklin, etc showed up for some Grand Opening hoopla. My husband and I were in town so we decided to check it out. Not surprisingly, it looks very much like the Venetian, but with less extravagance, like murals on the ceilings, and more simple elegance. The casino was nice, similar to the Venetian. There were only a few restaurants open while we were there, but I have heard that many more are forthcoming. Names such as Mario Batali, Wolfgang Puck, Charlie Trotter, and Emeril Lagasse will have restaurants there. Also, rapper Jay Z has his 40/40 Club there.

The most appealing elements were the lobby and atrium. The atrium is a grand area with beautiful, huge skylights, a waterfall, various potted greenery, and escalators to the shopping level.
The shopping level is sort of a mix of the Wynn’s Esplanade with their high end names, and the Venetian’s Grand Canal Shoppes, sans canal. It actually attaches to the Venetian Grand Canal, but the gondolas do not venture in to the Palazzo shops. The most remarkable store is certainly the beautiful Barney’s New York. The décor inside is similar to that of an art museum. It is almost completely white, open and has a beautiful spiral staircase in the center. As you would expect of Barney’s, there are various designer clothes and shoes to lust over. Don’t worry about your husband, there are many comfy chairs to sit in and play solitaire on his Blackberry.
The remaining shops include names such as Jimmy Choo, Coach, Chloe, Tory Burch, Christian Louboutin, Diane Von Furstenberg, Van Cleef & Arpels, Anya Hindmarch, Poleci, Lambertson Truex, Phillipe Charriol, Edidi, Piaget and Michael Kors, among many others. Less than half of the shops appeared to be open, with many displaying “Opening Spring 2008” signs on their windows.

As far as the suites, which I have only seen pictures of, they appear to be very similar to those at the Venetian’s Venezia Suites. That is to say, they are nice, but nothing we have not seen before. Even though it is being marketed as it’s own new hotel, it’s actually sort of like THE HOTEL at Mandalay Bay vs Mandalay Bay, it is really just an extension of the Venetian. They even share the same players card, called Club Grazie.
So if you are a fan of the Venetian, you might as well check it out. I’m glad I went, since it’s always nice to check out a new property, but I wasn’t wowed like I was the first time I saw the Wynn.

Miss Michigan Kirsten Haglund Wins Miss America Pageant 2008

Filed under: Miss America

Miss Michigan Kirsten Haglund Wins Miss America Pageant 2008

Filed under: Miss America

Miss America Kirsten Haglund in Pictures

Filed under: Miss America

Miss America Kirsten Haglund in Pictures

Filed under: Miss America

Nightclubs

In response to a question about nightclubs, here is some, hopefully, helpful information.
Bottle service is when a patron buys an entire bottle of liquor rather than paying for a drink at a time. You may still be charged for the mixers, but if you know that you or your party will be drinking a lot of one type of liquor, this might be a good choice. The bottles are substantially more expensive than what you could buy at a liquor store, but then again, individual drinks are also easily $8 - $15 each. Many times you also get a host to take care of making your drinks for you. Purchasing bottle service usually waives your cover charge as well. You may want to ask about that.

As for what nightclubs are best suited for different age groups, you can look at http://www.vegas.com/nightclubs/ to see details for of each nightclub. It also details what sort of music is played etc. I don’t actually do a lot of clubbing, but I will try to visit a few on my next trip.

Another tip is that many VIP / front of line passes are available on eBay for very cheap, like $1. I know that also if a club is trying to get patrons, they may hand out the passes occasionally for free. Once, as a friend and I were walking through Treasure Island, we were offered VIP passes to Tangerine. They also give out passes to Coyote Ugly on the Mezzanine at New York, New York frequently. Also ask the concierge at your hotel.

Miss America Preliminary Award Winners

Filed under: Vegas Photos, Event Finder, Miss America

Miss America Preliminary Award Winners

Filed under: Vegas Photos, Event Finder, Miss America

New Year’s ‘08

New Year’s Eve in Las Vegas is something everyone should experience at some point in their lives. From the looks of it when I was there, that is happening. As you may know, the strip is closed to auto traffic for about 8 hours, or more depending on cleanup. Around 6 pm police cars barricade the road in preparation for the night’s festivities. One thing I didn’t realize, but it makes sense, is that they also close many streets leading to Las Vegas Blvd. Therefore, using a cab is not really an option for most people. I assumed that getting a cab would be difficult because so many people would be in town vying for them. But actually, New Year’s Eve is one of the worst nights for a cabbie, profit wise. Since many cab drop-offs require the use of the strip and streets leading up to the strip, cabs can’t get around very well. Also, they can’t cross the strip via Tropicana, Flamingo, or Spring Mountain, among other streets. By law they are not able to pick up or drop off passengers on a street at all. My husband and I were lucky. We stayed at the New York, but walked to MGM Grand early in the evening to get a cab down to the Wynn for our dinner reservation at Alex. (I’ll write about that another time.) Then at about 11:00pm we were able to get a cab from the Spring Mountain side of the Wynn, near Chanel, and take it back to MGM in time to stand in the street at midnight and enjoy the fireworks. Ah, the fireworks. While they are by no means the best fireworks I have ever seen, the atmosphere surrounding them was unparalleled. As many times as I have been to Vegas, I have never seen anything like the strip being closed down and completely packed with people. My husband and I were able to wedge our way out in front of Grand Canyon Experience, on the MGM side of the street, and although we totally enjoyed it, we did not have the best view of the fireworks. I assumed that they would be launched from every hotel, but that was not the case. They were launched from MGM, but not from New York, which we would have had a much better view of. Our view of MGM was partially obscured by that Grand Canyon Experience building. Though we could still see the fireworks up the north end of the strip as well. It was a really cool sight seeing them all around the Eiffel Tower.
Once the fireworks were over, about 7 minutes later, we had the task of getting back to the New York. It seems easy right? It’s just on the other side of the street, which we are standing in the middle of. Well, actually, the center, median portion of the strip is barricaded off by police officers. You cannot cross directly. Instead, you have to work your way down to a cross street, such as Tropicana. Then you go up Tropicana to turn onto the other side of Las Vegas Blvd. I held tight to my husband’s jacket, so as to not be separated in the mob of people doing the same thing. Let me say, standing in the center of Tropicana and Las Vegas Blvd was totally cool. Normally standing there would be a death wish, but it was just full of partiers. You could just stand there and look down the strip at the mobs of people. We eventually made it back to New York safe and sound. I am embarrassed to say, by this time, I was tired. That morning we actually woke up in Green Bay Wisconsin from a Packer’s game. As I have said before, flying in and out of Vegas is cheap. Anyhow, after that travel, my ample wine at Alex, and our experiences that evening, I was ready for bed. Thank goodness I had a 75 minute massage scheduled for New Year’s Day; something I strongly advise, but book in advance. It’s not a unique idea come morning.