LasVegas

WWF "Earth Hour" Enjoys Continued Support from Luxury Hotel Chains

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Events, Green

The World Wildlife Fund is holding the annual "Earth Hour" climate change initiative on March 27, 2010. The organization urges people to express their concern about climate change with one simple act, turning off their lights at 8:30pm local time. Last year nearly one billion people participated in the event in 4,100 cities world wide.

The Fairmont Hotel Group has been supporting the endeavor since its inception three years ago. The hotel group has come up with some creative ways to make "Earth Hour" an enjoyable experience for their clients who are at their properties spending money on a luxury vacation. Hotel guests at several properties can enjoy amenities such as; complimentary s'mores roasted at an ocean-side fire pit under the stars (The Fairmont Orchid, Hawaii), candlelight dinners at various hotel restaurants (Hotel Vier Jahresseiten, Mara Safari Club, Fairmont Turnberry Isle, Fairmont Chateau Laurier) and even themed "Happy Hours" (Fairmont Dallas). Other offerings include the opportunity for guests to learn more about the environment with lectures by naturalists and even an astronomer who will use the opportunity of less ambient lighting to show off the night sky. The corporate side of the Fairmont group will also be dimming their lights and have recently moved into new LEED certified offices in Toronto.

Tags: earth hour, earth hour 2010, EarthHour, EarthHour2010, FairmontHotels, las vegas, LasVegas, lights, wwf

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Like Madonna: Get in Touch with Your Masculinity in Montreal

by Alison Wellner (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

When I heard that Hotel le St.-James in Montreal was the preferred accommodation for celebrities like Madonna and Mick Jagger, I have to admit I pictured something slightly different than this gracious, historic hotel in Old Montreal. Although I knew the building dated back to 1870, and I had seen the photos of the white-gloved doormen, I think I was picturing an interior décor something along the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas.

Well, there's no rock n' roll memorabilia on the walls and certainly no Love Jones room service available here. This 60-room hotel started its life as a bank, and in the late 19th century, banks were basically palaces erected to the gods of commerce, with intricate wood paneling, shiny marble floors, elaborate ceilings, creamy paintings in heavy gilt frames -- all of which was impeccably preserved when the building was renovated into a hotel, and echoed in the floors that were added to the original structure.

The feel of Hotel le St.-James is sumptuous masculinity -- the palette is a subdued, tan, deep blues, browns, a faint hunting print pattern on the window treatment, even the curving posts of the four-poster beds seem to thrust towards the ceiling with great confidence. It flirts with severity, but pulls back from it by a few soft and whimsical touches: the pure white linens, the stuffed lion (which is the hotel's mascot) which sits on the mini-bar on each room.

Gallery: Hotel le St.-James Montreal

Tags: hard rock hotel, HardRockHotel, hotel review, hotel st james, HotelReview, hotels, hotels to stay in montreal, HotelStJames, HotelsToStayInMontreal, jake gyllenhaal, JakeGyllenhaal, las vegas, LasVegas, love jones, LoveJones, madonna, mick jagger, MickJagger, montreal, montreal travel, montreal travel review, MontrealTravel, MontrealTravelReview

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Palms Place Penthouse, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Need a Las Vegas lair? Today's home might be a gambler's dream, a sky-high penthouse unit in Palms Place. The ultra-modern two-bedroom penthouse is being sold with all its ultra-modern furnishings which include a pool table, leather furniture and large flat-screen televisions. The most "ruler of all I survey" spot has to be the private spa which actually projects out from the building and faces a wall of glass with views of the Palms Casino and the Vegas strip. The home includes large closets and a stainless steel kitchen that looks more like a place for surgery than dinner but this isn't the sort of place you'd cozy up for meals anyway. The penthouses at Palms Place are available for rent so you can check out a similar place for a few thousand a night. This home is listed at $4 million.

Gallery: Palms Place Penthouse

Tags: estate of the day, EstateOfTheDay, las vegas, las vegas strip, LasVegas, LasVegasStrip, nevada real estate, NevadaRealEstate, palms place, PalmsPlace

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Most Romantic Skyscraper Restaurants - Win their Hearts with These

by Sheryl Young (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Skyscraper restaurants are widely favored for a romantic evening like Valentine's Day, special anniversaries or on a honeymoon. Or, a skyscraper restaurant is a great way to get your first full view of the sights in a once-in-a-lifetime trip to any of these famous cities, even with a whole family.

When it comes to prices we're not talking Denny's. You're going to pay for the view, but these skyscraper restaurants are worth it. Most serve lunch and dinner and some serve breakfast or Sunday brunch. This price scale is based on dinner entrees (main courses):
$ = Reasonable for the View, entrees at $22-$40 per person.
$$ = Expensive, entrees at $30-55 per person.
$$$ = Very Expensive, entrees $55 and up per person.

Eiffel Tower Restaurant, Paris Hotel, Las Vegas, NV. $$
An 11th floor view of the famous Las Vegas Strip, inside this nearly life-size replica of the real Eiffel Tower. Ride the same kind of elevator up as in the real tower, too. French cuisine with accent on seafood and soufflés. (702) 948-6937. Best time for View:Nighttime.

Top of the World, Stratosphere Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, NV. $$
Competing with the Paris, this off-the-Strip hotel restaurant gives a skyscraper view from 800 feet above Las Vegas, and takes 80 minutes to revolve a full 360° circle. Las Vegas Review Journal has named it "Best Gourmet Room" in the past. Its signature dish is Chateaubriand. (702) 380-7777. Best time for View:Daytime.

The Signature Room at the 95th�, John Hancock Building, Chicago, IL. $$
(See a spectacular photo here at the website). A wide choice of popular American cuisine, and classic view of the Magnificent Mile in downtown Chicago. (312) 787-9596. Best time for View: Day or Night.

Sixteen, Trump International Hotel and Tower, Chicago, IL. $$$
Shows Lake Michigan, The Wrigley Building and the Tribune Building often seen in movies. This is a Four-Star rated skyscraper restaurant experience, with a large variety of favorite dishes, with seasonal specials added. (312) 588-8000. Sixteen is closed on Sundays unless it is Valentine's Day weekend. Best time for View: Daytime.

Tags: Boston, chicago, France, LasVegas, Prudential, romantic, romantic restaurants, RomanticRestaurants, skyscraper, Trump

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Dramatic Indoor Treehouse Eatery Opens in Vegas

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Architect David Rockwell has constructed an 80-ft. tall "treehouse" inside Crystals at Las Vegas' $8.5 billion CityCenter to house a dramatic new eatery called Mastro's Ocean Club. Guests enter the restaurant through an elegant portal of wood-lined lowered ceilings and meandering walls into a dining room featuring curved white leather booths and banquettes accenting hand-crafted mahogany beams and sapele wood. On the dining terrace, Mastro's offers views of the angular shapes, towering ceilings and the unique artistic elements of Crystals. The signature grand bar and piano provide a livelier, energetic dining atmosphere with live entertainment seven days a week. Crystals is the nucleus of CityCenter, located on 67 acres between the Bellagio and Monte Carlo resorts on the Las Vegas Strip, features several hotels, entertainment venues and luxury boutiques.

Gallery: Mastro's Ocean Club

Tags: architect, architecture, David Rockwell, DavidRockwell, Las Vegas, LasVegas, restaurant, treehouse

Nicolas Cage's Las Vegas Home Finally Sold

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

The once impressive roster of homes belonging to Nicolas Cage has gradually gotten smaller and smaller. The latest to fall is his Las Vegas home. Kenneth Lowman, Broker/Owner of Luxury Homes of Las Vegas has announced that he sold Cage's foreclosed, now bank-owned Las Vegas home the first day it was on the market. Cage's property located at 5100 Spanish Heights Drive in Las Vegas is now in escrow and is expected to close on Wednesday.

Cage, who had a variety of properties scattered all around the world, picked up this home in 2006 for $8.5 million. In July 2008 he listed it for $9.95 million. The 14,000-square-foot home with a 16-car garage was later discounted to $9.49 million. The seven-bedroom home is blandly extravagant with a sweeping staircase, home theater, elevator and panoramic views of Las Vegas. The home has a pool and spa and is located in a gated community for privacy. After it was foreclosed it got a discount in line with current Las Vegas prices, Lowman sold Cage's former home for close to the asking price of $4,950,000.

Last November Cage's New Orleans homes were sold back to the bank for a total of $4.5 million. His Rhode Island home still appears to be listed at $12 million.

Gallery: Nicolas Cage in Las Vegas

Tags: celebrity foreclosure, celebrity foreclosures, CelebrityForeclosure, CelebrityForeclosures, las vegas, LasVegas, nicolas cage, NicolasCage

Luxury Summit Rises Again In 2010

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

In 2008, I reported from the American Express Publishing Luxury Summit and found that the luxury market was fairly concerned about the state of economy. In 2009 things got so bad, the summit was canceled. Can we take it as another sign of hope that the Luxury Summit is back for 2010? And what better place for renewal of luxury than that glittering symbol of the new luxury, the CityCenter project. The Luxury Summit takes place on April 25-27 at the new Mandarin Oriental in Las Vegas. The program includes presentations by Louis Vuitton North America President Daniel Lalonde, Saks Fifth Avenue Chairman Steve Sadove, Taubman Chief Operating Officer William S. Taubman, and Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh. An early registration price of $3,250 is being offered until February 1 when the cost will rise to $3,450.

Tags: american express, AmericanExpress, las vegas, LasVegas, luxury summit, LuxurySummit

Artisan Hotel Gets A Fresh Start

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Last month I wrote about the troubles befalling the Artisan Hotel in Las Vegas. The hotel has found a new savior in The Siegel Group, a company that owns several properties in the area including the Siegel Suites and the Resort on Mount Charleston, located a half hour away. The Siegel Group has assumed operational control of the property and will keep it under the same name but plans to reposition the property and address some of the operational complaints that have plagued the hotel. Various online reviews have praised the hotel's unique style and position as a quiet retreat from the Strip but have also acknowledged serious issues with service. A press release indicates that The Siegel Group will be focusing much of its attention on addressing deferred maintenance issues and updating the hotel while expanding the amenities and services provided. The hotel has 64 rooms, a wedding chapel, pool and cabana, restaurant and a bar-lounge that is a big hit with locals. Stephen Siegel, Founder and President of The Siegel Group says that the hotel is a "an extremely cool property" and will complement the company's existing boutique hotel collection which includes the St Tropez Hotel located directly across from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and scheduled to open April 2010.

Tags: artisan hotel, ArtisanHotel, las vegas, LasVegas, siegel group, SiegelGroup

Icahn Wins The Fontainebleau, Now What?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Real Estate Developments

It has sat at the end of the Las Vegas strip, big, blue and unfinished for a while but perhaps the Fontainebleau Las Vegas Resort will finally be completed now that casino-loving billionaire investor Carl Icahn has made the winning bid for the bankrupt resort. Tourism in Las Vegas has been sluggish recently and the Strip has a glut of new hotel rooms including those at the massive City Center project.

Reuters reports that court documents show that the only qualified bid received for the company was from Icahn Nevada Gaming Acquisition LLC. He had offered $156.5 million to buy the casino back in November, a bid which put Penn National Gaming Inc out of the running. Reuters interviewed Icahn who said his philosophy is to buy things when no one else wants them. It is a strategy that has served him well in the past. But Fountainebleau is a huge project, one that has already cost $2 billion and could cost another $1.5 billion to finish. It's got a nice Strip location but does Las Vegas need a 3,815-room resort right now? The Fontainebleau will also have a casino, spa, performing arts theater, condo-hotel units, retail space, conference space and nightclubs, lounges, restaurants and even a chocolate factory.

Icah was involved in a deal to buy the Tropicana's Atlantic City casino and we've been watching his machinations with Beal Bank to save the Trump Atlantic City casinos from ruin (and possibly from Trump himself). Icahn has played in Las Vegas before, buying low and selling high with the Stratosphere. In that case he bought the casino out of bankruptcy in 1998 and sold the property in 2007. If this proves anything it's that Icahn may be willing to wait a while to make a profit, a good thing because it will be a while before the Fontainebleau makes any money.

Tags: fontainbleau bankruptcy, FontainbleauBankruptcy, fontainebleau, las vegas, las vegas strip, LasVegas, LasVegasStrip

Las Vegas Hotel To Debut Live Cooking Show

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Luxury Travel & Hotels

People go to Las Vegas for a variety of types of entertainment, gambling, showgirl revues, acrobatics and now a cooking show? The M Resort Spa Casino will be debuting a new live cooking show: Martini Time With Chef Tina Martini. The show starts on January 26 and is similar to a network television cooking show. The 60-minute Martini Time with Chef Tina Martini treats a live audience to entertaining and educational demonstrations, food/beverage sampling and a "handy hints" and "tasty tips" handout. The five-day-a-week show centers on three key areas of living healthy: nutrition, fitness and mind/body. The show takes place in a custom-built cooking studio within the M Resort's buffet. Ticket prices will include a Studio B Buffet lunch or dinner (depending on show times) as well as reserved seating at the buffet immediately following the show. Given the popularity of the Food Network and shows like Top Chef and Hell's Kitchen, this could catch on and be a new Las Vegas trend.

Tags: cooking show, CookingShow, las vegas, las vegas entertainment, LasVegas, LasVegasEntertainment, m resort, MResort, tina martini, TinaMartini

Harrah's Takes Over Management Of Planet Hollywood

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

In 2007 the former Aladdin resort in Las Vegas opened as Planet Hollywood. Now the resort is going through another change. Effective tomorrow Harrah's Entertainment will manage the hotel operations at Planet Hollywood while it negotiates with lenders to buy the hotel. Planet Hollywood recently opened an expansion tower and has 2,500 rooms plus another 1,200 units that include vacation homes.

"Harrah's has been in discussions with Planet Hollywood and its lender group regarding a restructuring of the ownership of the resort. We continue to work on a plan that would allow Harrah's to own and manage the entire casino resort property," said Gary Loveman, chairman, CEO and president of Harrah's Entertainment in a press release. "In the meantime, we are pleased to take on the management of the Planet Hollywood Hotel for the current owners."

Planet Hollywood defaulted on an $860 million loan last fall. While there isn't an official deal for Harrah's to take over Planet Hollywood yet it has applied with Nevada gambling regulators for a license to run the property. Planet Hollywood has a prime location next to the Paris Las Vegas hotel on the Strip which Harrah's also owns. Harrah's also owns Caesar's Palace, the Flamingo and several other properties.

Tags: harrahs, las vegas, LasVegas, planet hollywood, PlanetHollywood

The Stratosphere's New $100 Thrill Ride

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

The Stratosphere isn't the best hotel in Las Vegas but it does offer a few key attractions including its rotating restaurant and the rides at the top of the tower. The resort's latest attraction will be SkyJump Las Vegas, a controlled freefall over the Las Vegas Strip. A $100 ticket gives thrill-seekers the chance to don a jump suit and get connected to high-speed "descender" machine and then leap off a small platform falling 855 feet at up to around 40 mph. The attraction is expected to open in April and will be the highest skyjump in the world. The entire experience from preparation to landing takes 30 minutes.

The current rides include the Big Shot, which shoots passengers straight up 160 feet at 45 mph until they are 1,081 feet above the Strip, the X-Scream teeter-totter that sends passengers 27 feet over the edge of the Tower and Insanity, a spinning ride with a massive mechanical arm extending 64 feet over the edge of the Tower. The hotel has created a niche for itself with thrill rides capitalizing on its Space Needle-style tower.

Tags: las vegas, LasVegas, skyjump, skyjump las vegas, SkyjumpLasVegas, stratosphere, stratosphere tower, StratosphereTower

Gambling For Good, The Legend Of Robin Hood 702

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Big Givers

If you are going to help the poor why not have some fun doing it? It seems like the mysterious Robin Hood 702 is having a great time gambling his way to good deeds. The unknown gambler chooses needy families and gives them his winnings. The Daily Telegraph tells a story in which one couple was flown to Las Vegas and treated to first-class flights and a suite in the Palazzo hotel. Once there, the gambler met them and proceeded to use his own money to begin to win them money. He went down hundreds of thousands of dollars before he rallied and won $35,000 for the couple.

On his website Robin Hood 702, he says that he wants to get money from the casinos and give the proceeds to the poor. People are invited to send in video or web submissions asking for help and if selected he will try to win up to $50,000 for the lucky recipients. He has given television interviews but with his face in shadow. He is reputed to have won and lost six-figure sums in a single night. Robin Hood 702 has been featured on Fox News multiple times. Recently Dr. Schulze from herbdoc.com agreed to help another family and will be picking from one of the submissions on the Robin Hood 702 site.

Tags: gambling, las vegas, LasVegas, robin hood 702, RobinHood702

Artisan Hotel In Las Vegas Faces Foreclosure

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

The Artisan Hotel & Spa in Las Vegas has become the latest to succumb to foreclosure. The modest 64-room property is an off-the-beaten-track favorite with locals and is known for its framed art and hip decor. It does not have a casino and is located at Sahara Avenue and Interstate 15.

The Las Vegas Sun reports that the hotel had filed for Chapter 11 back in December 2008, listing assets of $18.3 million (mostly the value of the hotel real estate) and liabilities of $7.85 million. The main creditor was the Citizens Bank of Oregon, Mo. The hotel struggled to turn a profit and later the bankruptcy case was combined with another bankruptcy case for the co-owner's other Artisan hotel in El Paso. Texas. Earlier this month the IRS asked that the Chapter 11 cases become Chapter 7 cases forcing a liquidation because the company failed to file federal employment tax returns and tax deposits since the bankruptcy cases were filed. A receiver will be appointed to operate the property until the foreclosure sale.

The hotel has many fans but has also had an ongoing problem with service. Reviews on travel website Trip Advisor are very polarized, people either loved this place or had serious issues with the service and room standards.

Tags: artisan hotel, ArtisanHotel, hotel foreclosure, hotel foreclosures, HotelForeclosure, HotelForeclosures, hotels in trouble, HotelsInTrouble, las vegas, LasVegas

Sahara Hotel Closes Rooms In Vegas Hotel Room Surfeit

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

More bad news out of Las Vegas for the tourism industry. The AP reports that the Sahara hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip is closing rooms in two of its towers over the winter season. Sam Nazarian's SBE Entertainment owns the property now and a publicist has said that the two towers will stay shut until business improves. The casino and the main Tangiers tower will remain open. It's not known if the hotel will lay off staff. Several other hotels recently opened on the Strip at the City Center complex so there is no shortage of places to stay in Las Vegas.

Source

Tags: hotel, hotels in trouble, HotelsInTrouble, las vegas, las vegas strip, LasVegas, LasVegasStrip, sahara