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T-21 baby!
And like twenty something shopping days to Christmas, if you care about that.
If I had a Las Vegas advent calendar, it would definitely need to have a picture of a cactus dressed up in Christmas lights. I would have said this even before hearing about just what they do to the Ethel M cactus garden. As if cacti aren’t cool enough. The chocolate factory is cack but I’ll definitely be going back to get a camera full of pictures of lit up desert plants. Meantime, and seeing as how Santa will have been and gone by the time I can post one of my own, here’s a shot from the Las Vegas Review Journal.
Megan Edwards has a couple more:
http://www.meganedwards.com/Vegasland/Ethel-M-Holiday-Lights.htm
Boyd gets Barbary Coast back? Sadly not, it’s still winging its way into the hands of the Evil Empire. I did get quite excited when I saw the (fairly major) typo in this month’s Casino Player. Even though it didn’t really make any sense.
I’ve been in London today but back at a sensible time thanks to complimentary first class train tickets 🙂 Back in time to see most of the first day of the Stardust auction. Missed the start, and therefore didn’t see just how much the last ever craps used went for, but I did see some vintage memorabilia under the hammer, and an awful lot of TV screens.
  
It’s not exactly thrilling viewing I admit, but I was still hooked. Although with another four days still to go, I’m hoping the novelty will wear off soon. Well, today at least. At the same time I’ve been watching Children in Need, to make my Friday night complete. Terry Wogan has managed to gather together the largest collection of truely dreary and middle of the road musical acts you could ever imagine. And whenever you think of a dull band you think of Westlife. We’re not to be disappointed. Add Ronan Keating and someone who used to be in Blue (he’s no less dreadful on his own) to the mix. Keane – well actually they’re not that bad, but really not the rock gods they seem to think they are. But it just wouldn’t be complete without Sugababes, who managed to come up with a mesmorisingly dull dance routine to perfectly compliment the snoring blandness of their music.
Although the Boyd Gaming Press Release originally stated that demolition of the Stardust would begin in the first quarter of 2007, there is now speculation that it could be imploded as soon as New Years Eve.
I’m not sure whether this rumour has much substance – it seems a bit too soon, although if the auction next weekend is as efficient as it looks I guess there won’t be an awful lot left to clear out. Boardwalk closed this year on Jan 9th and it was four months until the freakish clown head and fake roller coaster were removed and the building was imploded on May 9th.
Of the twelve previous casino implosions, only the Hacienda fell on New Years Eve, back in 1996. Somehow I thought it was a lot more. However it would be typical if we just miss this one by a day – we fly back on Dec 31st, after deciding to trade a non-stop return flight and triple diamond club miles for that extra night of fireworks and complimentary plastic hats.
We were in town in February this year when Bourbon Street went boom, although good old Harrah’s kept it quiet until a few hours before they pushed the plunger and I only heard about it the following day. Castaways was blown up with a similar lack of fanfare just a few weeks previously. Apparently, making a spectator event out of watching tower buildings collapse is not considered particularly tasteful any more.
The afternoon before the Bourbon Street implosion we’d got stuck in horrible traffic around there, noticed "something odd going on" and even the road closure notices. Never even thought that might be happening, or you can be sure we’d have found a prime spot to watch the destruction with a big foam finger and a little flag saying "Go Rubble!". I know we wouldn’t have been alone.
Actually we had made more of a connection with Bourbon Street than to Stardust. It was actually the home of our first Vegas beer – two small plastic cups of draft Budweiser. 50c each! On our first trip we were pretty clueless, and – as well as paying for beer – had ended up staying at the Days Inn Town Hall Casino on Koval, just around the corner. It’s also now dust, although with one blackjack table and a dozen video poker machines, the Town Hall isn’t the type of casino to be missed.
Remember when the Internet was flaunted as the marketplace of the future, offering lower overheads to traders and allowing them to pass these savings onto consumers. Stuff costing less online is one of the main reasons, besides porn, that the Internet has become so great.
It’s not just Ticketmaster that seem to have forgotten this vision though, with their convenience charge (charged per ticket – clearly its more convenient when you buy several), building facility charge (think I might use the spa after the support act…) and of course the "if we can’t charge you over the odds to mail your ticket, you still have to pay to pick it up" charge. First class stamp – two quid. Collect from box office – two quid. You now even have the option to print your own ticket for some events. Two quid.
The auctioneers selling off the remains of the Stardust also charge a premium for buying online. The auction fees are 10% if you buy on site, or 13% if you buy online. Who am I to question the logic behind this? I’m actually more concerned with the logistics of actually buying, storing and bringing home something as wonderous as this:
The auction starts a week on Friday at 11am PST. That’s 7pm over here – and can you think of a more perfect Friday night in than phoning for a curry and watching the sale of thousands of pieces of memorabilia from a classic Vegas casino?
Well yeah, you’re right. I do need to get out more.
Could Christmas be any better than having tickets to see a Las Vegas legend?
"Wayne Newton, whose voice and singing style are synonymous with great Las Vegas entertainment, will bring his acclaimed touring holiday show to Harrah’s Las Vegas. "Mr. Las Vegas" will be performing an exciting compilation of his classic hits and favorite songs of the season on a winter wonderland set tailored for Harrah’s. Appearing with Newton will be his talented orchestra, ensemble singers and other holiday surprises."
Already booked. Seriously.
It was obvious the Stardust’s days were numbered a few years ago, when they were making a big deal out of its 45th anniversary. It was never going to make it to the big five-oh. As another legendary Las Vegas hotel shuts its doors today, I feel like I should be writing a little bit about what I remember about the place.
Unfortunately, that is very little. The fact I have a players card (below) doesn’t necessarily mean I played there. I have a whole bunch of players cards from all kinds of casinos I’ve been to just once. And why not? I vaguely remember some cashback promotion at the Stardust for cycling your money through video poker that they never actually coughed the rebate on, and I’m pretty sure that was the only time we’d been there until this summer.
In August the end was very much in sight, although nobody quite knew when. Today’s closing is ahead of schedule, because most of the staff have already moved on to new jobs and there was little point in keeping it open. The gift shop sold merchandise bearing the dates 1958-2006, although it was still such tat that all all I ended up buying was an energy drink. We just stayed long enough to win two silver strikes, both the same one as usual.
We never got to see Wayne Newton there or make a bet in the daddy of all sportsbooks. Which, for people like me who missed the first fourty years of the Stardust, are pretty much the only things I can really say I know about it. Oh, and it still did look pretty cool at night. I do hope they leave the lights on until it finally falls over.
The Stardust will be be imploded to make way for Echelon Place, due to open in 2010.
Continue reading Another one bites the ‘dust
It’s booked, we’re going at Christmas! Eight weeks tomorrow!
It looked doubtful for a while with horrendous flight prices but the triple miles offer made it just too juicy to resist. A few years ago, we’d get a Christmas trip for two for about £600 all in. This time it ended up at over double that, and that’s not even a direct flight on the way out.
The days of an utter bargain Las Vegas holiday are almost a distant memory, but there’s still value to be had now and again. With the 3x miles promotion, silver member status, and the bonus miles for booking on a bmi Mastercard we’ll end up pocketing over 75,000 miles which is worth roughly 1.6 USA flights (45,000 each). It’s very close to being a free holiday!
To put this into context, bmi just gave us both 4,000 bonus miles after complaining about a check-in fiasco on the way back in the summer. Frankly I think it should take less than 12 complaints to earn a completely free flight! The line was over two hours long, and we should have been able to jump it with the silver membership card. One of the perks is "use any check-in desk", but the snooty clerk insisted her desk was for business class only – also turning away premium economy passengers, who had paid extra for a few inches of leg room, a different (they say better, I don’t really know why) meal, and not having to wait to check in. There was not a single member of bmi staff at McCarran Airport, and on a Sunday it was too late to call Diamond Club to see if we really were being stiffed. The triple miles offer is worth about five complaints on top of your regular miles.
We’ll actually be there for Christmas Day, which is a first for us. I have no idea what to expect, so I need to start trying to find out just what will be open. I’ll post my findings here no doubt, and we can learn together… The casinos won’t shut but places inside them may do, and I guess we’ll need reservations somewhere for Christmas dinner. Maybe at the top of the Strat, if it’s open. I’ll choose my festive hat carefully. We have to move hotels on Christmas Eve too, after learning that some hotels do not allow Saturday check-in, even on what will surely be the quietest Saturday of the year. So we have one night in The Fitz, the self-proclaimed "luckiest casino in Las Vegas", before moving (literally) across the road to Fremont. Won’t even need to move the car, just grab the bags and walk under the world’s largest canopy made out of lightbulbs.
Although the schedule hasn’t been announced that far ahead yet, I’m hoping that arriving on the Saturday will give me up to four shots at a televised Ultimate Poker Challenge tournament at Binion’s, which takes place every Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Although on the first Saturday – the day we arrive – I’ll probably need more than one wierd shit energy drink to make it past level 1. May not be a good idea… Staying within very easy walking distance of Binion’s and at least three other downtown cardrooms (Plaza, Golden Nugget, Fitz – there may be more by December, and I haven’t even included the two tables at "the All New Historic El Cortez") will definitely be a plus.
The similarities between Las Vegas and Blackpool are much stronger than I first thought. Let’s look at the evidence…
Continue reading Vegas by the sea
There was never really any doubt that Claire and I would be heading to Vegas for the summer again next year. I just didn’t expect that we’d book it this soon. Last year the flight prices were hideous this time of year before a promotion kicked in on Christmas Eve and we snapped up the seats in a flash.
So when the diamond club reservations system showed availability for the first four weeks of the school holidays – the first time I’ve ever seen it show dates to Vegas that would be vaguely useful to us – we snapped them up even quicker. Best deal ever – two flights in the summer for just £240 (just the cost of the taxes, plus 90,000 miles).
Between us we actually had enough miles for two free business class flights. This was a tough decision, but not being able to combine the miles using online booking, and really not wanting to wait until we can speak to someone to nail down those flights (I’m completely paranoid about losing them once we find a good deal) we made the booking on economy. I’m going to call in the morning and see if there’s any way we can use Claire’s miles now to upgrade, but even if not … what a bargain!
So that’s virtually my entire diamond club balance gone, but the countdown to Summer O’ Poker III can officially begin. Two hundred and eighty six long and probably wet days.
I don’t think this will be our next Vegas trip though. If for no other reason (and let’s face it, any excuse is a good excuse) we need to go at least once more before the summer to maintain silver status with BMI. Possibly twice 🙂 With the current promotion of 3x miles on all flights before the end of the year, and 50% extra on all Las Vegas flights until the end of October, if we can fit in a trip in half term then it’s virtually a free flight. There’s a £500 premium economy ticket that almost has my name on it. Just need to find out if Claire’s "training day" on the Monday is an actual training day or a teachers bonus day.
With 50% extra miles on premium, plus the promotions, we’re looking at somewhere between 50,000 and 75,000 miles depending on just how the offers combine. 45,000 miles gets you an economy flight to the USA. Can we say +EV!
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