What the Forbes Travel Guide Ratings Reveal About “Luxury” in Las Vegas

The Villas at Caesars Palace

The Forbes Travel Guide Star Award Winners were released a couple of weeks ago. You may remember that I shared some of the relevant press releases in Vegas News.  I didn’t add commentary because I had more to say than fit the quick-hitting column structure. Surprisingly, I take the list somewhat seriously when it comes […]

Vegas News | Brothel Tours, Bellagio Changes, Free Booze At Golden Gate, And More!

Vegas News Update - TravelZork Vegas News

Five times a year, I lead Vegas News with details about the newest display at the Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Garden. As usual, the fall display is my least favorite. It’s beautiful as always, but not my preference. Christmas is my favorite if you’re curious. See pics below and read about it here.  The process […]

Vegas News | Bellagio Boat, Paris Is Hard All Day, And More Vegas Deals

Vegas News Update - TravelZork Vegas News

The rumors about a second Carbone in Las Vegas are true. This location will take over the Picasso space at Bellagio. It won’t just be Carbone 2: Electric Boogaloo, it will be a seafood-focused restaurant. That makes sense as long as Lago is open and still great. Read more here. The most fun quote from […]

Vegas News | Summer Deals, Fireworks, And Downtown Butts

Vegas News Update - TravelZork Vegas News

The first order of business is the July Fourth weekend.  One night celebrating 🇺🇸Three epic fireworks shows 🎇July 4, 2025 – live viewing from our pools🧨 @GVRcasino 🧨 @redrockcasino 🧨@durangoresortlv https://t.co/rI6IFgdKJm pic.twitter.com/nEYtJwF9u6 — Station Casinos (@stationcasinos) June 2, 2025 Seven casinos are shooting July Fourth fireworks this year:  You can watch for free or pay […]

Vegas News | New Poker Rooms, Free Concerts Downtown and More!

Vegas News Update - TravelZork Vegas News

We skipped most of the Vegas News last week to give a heads up about reserving M Resort hotel rooms for Zorkfest before the NFL announced whether or not the Raiders would be playing a home game on the same weekend. The good news is that rates haven’t changed much, if at all, even though […]

Vegas News: Book ZorkFest Rooms ASAP and a Roundup Of Casino Operator Earnings

ZorkFest 2025 "Just the Right Amount of Loyalty and Comps"

In case you missed the announcement, ZorkFest 2025 is taking place December 5-7, 2025, at M Resort. This is TravelZork’s annual conference to discuss travel and casino loyalty. The event offers expert-led sessions focused on maximizing travel rewards (miles and points) and casino comps. The dates are more important than usual this year, and reserving […]

Evolving With Las Vegas

This week, I was sitting in a panel at Duck Duck Shed, reflecting on Las Vegas—its past and where it’s headed—and I couldn’t help but think about how I’ve personally evolved here. It’s kind of come full circle since I first started visiting just after I turned 21. When I began visiting Las Vegas, I […]

Vegas News | New Slots, MGM’s Big 3 And Rod Stewart Gets A Haircut!

Vegas News Update - TravelZork Vegas News

It’s your bi-monthly edition of Vegas News! We’re going to change things up in my weekly column for the next couple of months. The news will still be delivered every other week. In the weeks I don’t share what’s happening in Las Vegas, we’re going to explore what you’ll experience at ZorkFest in November. There […]

Vegas News | Head Off-Strip To Enjoy The Durango Casino And More

Vegas News | Head Off-Strip To Enjoy The Durango Casino And More

Earlier this week I received an email from Aristocrat for a slot machine I found last month at Cosmopolitan. I receive lots of press emails but this one hit me because it was for a game I randomly discovered just wandering around The Cosmpolitan one afternoon.

Vegas News | Palms sold, A buffet opens, Plexiglass comes down!

plexiglass in Vegas comes down - Vegas News May 9 2021 | Palms sold, A buffet opens, Plexiglass comes down!

The Great Vegas Reopening (TM) is in full swing. Capacity limits and plexiglass are gone at Wynn and Cosmopolitan. Most are quite relieved and happy with the news that plexiglass in Vegas comes down! There should be more casinos to follow. I’m hoping the worst of the coronavirus is behind us. That would mean life for everyone is getting back to normal.

Vegas News | Short Pouring Just Before Pool Season

Vegas News February 7 2021 | Vegas Short Pouring Drinks Just Before Pool Season

This week Vital Vegas tipped us off to The Linq short pouring mixed drinks. This is useful to prep for future casino visits. A few years ago I wrote about the unintended consequences of drink monitoring systems at casino bars in Las Vegas. I don’t mind the practice because I usually play fast enough to not worry about getting complimentary drinks.

Retrospective: Wynn Palace and Design DNA

Most hotel operators, especially those in the hospitality world, are known for touting the word revolutionary. Revolutionary new designs, services, offerings, and amenities are all the rage in the PR buzz word dictionary for hoteliers today. Is Wynn Palace Design revolutionary?

Vegas News | Rio and Circus Circus Redux, Rodeo, and Residency Rumors

Vegas News 8 December 2019 | Rio and Circus Circus Redux, Rodeo, and Residency Rumors

We start this week’s Vegas News mentioning that The National Finals Rodeo (NFR) is in town! There will be cowboys and cowgirls all over Las Vegas for another week. The weeks after Thanksgiving and before Christmas used to be a quiet period to visit Las Vegas. The rooms were cheap and too many people didn’t visit. That’s not quite the case anymore with the rise in popularity of the NFR.

Vegas News | MGM Rumors Continue and New Players Clubs in Las Vegas

Vegas News 22 September 2019 | MGM Rumors Continue and New Players Clubs in Las Vegas

We made it through another Vegas summer! High temperatures appear to be in the double digits for the rest of the year. Low temperatures will be in the mid 50’s by the end of the week with highs less than 80. This summer in Las Vegas wasn’t as brutal as recent years, but it’s still nice to be able to drive with the windows down again.

There are lots of rumors floating around about the future of a few Las Vegas casinos. “Rumors” might have accelerated to “talks” but the deals still aren’t agreed to so there’s nothing officially happening…yet.

Vegas News | Casino Earnings, Cat Cafe and Lots Of Beer!

Vegas News 11 August 2019 | Casino Earnings, Cat Cafe and Lots Of Beer!

This week in Vegas news was dominated by casino operators reporting earnings. Sometimes these calls offer insight into future plans for the businesses. Other times these casino earnings calls offer financial information that helps explain the Vegas experience. This earnings period has a combination of both without any major breaking news.

Vegas News | Tropicana, M life Changes, Rumors and More

Vegas News 4 August 2019 Tropicana, M life Changes, Rumors and More

I’m always in awe of Las Vegas. There’s so much happening. There’s also a lot that’s almost happening. This week we’ll touch on both ends of the spectrum without even mentioning the possibility of All Net Arena being built or the Virgin train.

Vegas News | Take Cover! – Vegas Earthquake

Vegas News 7 July 2019 | Take Cover! - Vegas Earthquake

My week of vacation on the Vegas Strip was a great time and personally enlightening. I’ll just touch on a couple of newsy items today and will dive deeper with some kind of trip report. Coincidentally, there wasn’t much news while I was taking a break. (Well, except for a Vegas Earthquake!) This will be […]

Vegas News | MGM Grand Blowout, Super Bowl Parties and more

Vegas News 20 January 2019 | MGM Grand Blowout, Super Bowl Parties and more

News often happens for a reason. Sure there’s news in Las Vegas all year long but there are a few times a year we hear official announcements from large casino companies. MGM Grand Blowout, Super Bowl Parties and all the Vegas scoop!

Vegas News | Short, Sweet, Chock Full of Info

TravelZork Las Vegas News 18 November 2018 Vegas News | Short, Sweet, Chock Full of Info

We haven’t missed a Vegas News post since TravelZork first launched the weekly Vegas News feature. To keep the streak going, this will be a shorter version than usual due to some kind of parasite that seems to be fighting to get out of my body.

Vegas News | Caesars and MGM Dive Into New Vegas

This is going to be a different look at the news from Las Vegas. We’re going to focus mainly on earnings from MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment before diving into a few quick hits. The earnings reports didn’t have much top-line news but they both touched on leisure travelers similarly, and that was interesting. (And, also a look at New Vegas….)

Vegas News | Robots, Sports Books and Name Changes

TravelZork Las Vegas News 15 July 2018 Vegas News | Robots, Sports Books and Name Changes

The past two weeks have given me the best of both worlds in Las Vegas. You may remember that I took most of the first week of July off to enjoy life as a tourist on the Vegas Strip. Las Vegas is an amazing place to visit and it’s a great place to live! Time for the news in Las Vegas!

Vegas News | Wynn Parking, MGM Sniffing and Golden Knights Losing

Las Vegas News 10 June 2018 Wynn Parking, MGM Sniffing and Golden Knights Losing

Vegas News | Wynn Parking, MGM Sniffing and Golden Knights Losing — All good things eventually come to an end. The Vegas Golden Knights had a miraculous season but lost to the Washington Capitals in the Stanley Cup Final. There will be movies and/books to detail how inconceivable this season was. In the meantime…

Vegas News | Plans, Rumors and a Sock Store

Las Vegas News 6 May 2018 Vegas News | Plans, Rumors and a Sock Store

You may have noticed that we made an emergency news post during the week. We didn’t think that the news about 18 Fremont and Wynn Paradise Park plans should wait until Sunday. Having said that this news post will be a little shorter than some others.

Vegas News | March And Madness!

TravelZork Las Vegas News 18 March 2018 Vegas News | March And Madness!

I try to keep my love of sports to a minimum for Vegas News. I know that not everyone who loves Las Vegas has the same passion for sitting in a sportsbook that I have. However, we need to begin with a little sports talk.

Steve Wynn | The King Has Fallen, But The Kingdom Will Thrive

Steve Wynn and Sinatra

Steve Wynn took all the lessons learned with the Golden Nuggets, both in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, and turned them into the Mirage, the resort that became the model for themed resorts for years to come. That success has driven us through the wild success of Bellagio, Wynn and Encore, Wynn Macau and Cotai, and the wildly inventive ideas coming to this day with Wynn Paradise Park, Wynn West, and Wynn Boston Harbor.

Vegas News | Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire

TravelZork Las Vegas News 21 January 2018 Vegas News | Where There's Smoke There's Fire

Wynn Resorts announced that they will be reporting earnings on Monday morning. Hard Rock May Finally Be Sold. While the deal isn’t confirmed there’s too much smoke not to see a fire. + more news and scoop

Vegas News | A Las Vegas Holiday Quickie

TravelZork Las Vegas News 26 November 2017 Vegas News | A Las Vegas Holiday Quickie

This will be the shortest Vegas News post in about a year. Not much happened in the past week despite constant hunting high and low for anything that could pass as news. Earlier this year someone mentioned that they had FOMO. The Fear Of Missing Out is real and it turns out that I have that as well. I have to know everything happening in Las Vegas. I can’t miss out on anything!

Las Vegas | Wynn Paradise Park Is Still BANANAS!

Wynn

Steve Wynn first revealed an idea for Wynn Paradise Park in early 2016. The plan for the expansion of the casino-resort has always been to build some kind of lagoon experience on the golf course. After two years of design consultation, the idea is finally taking shape with dates and some more details.

Wynn Las Vegas – Is There An Echo?

Wynn Las Vegas Room Controls

The plan was to have Wynn become the first resort in the world to use the Amazon Echo to handle tasks including lighting, room temperature, draperies, the television and the audio-visual components in their room. The press release said that the Echo would be installed in all rooms by summer 2017 calling it a “digital butler.”

Caesars Looks Outside Of Casinos For Revenue

Caesars Looks Outside Of Casinos For Revenue

Most casino operators in Las Vegas prefer to have a revenue split close to MGM than Caesars. In fact, Caesars wants to have a revenue split closer to MGM Resorts. The two casino operators have different approaches to their companies. MGM Resorts is expanding with new casinos and a massive profit growth plan. Meanwhile, Caesars Entertainment is looking elsewhere to generate revenue.

Vegas News | More Drink Monitoring, Wynn Expansion Shrinks And More

TravelZork Las Vegas News 14 May 2017 Vegas News | More Drink Monitoring, Wynn Expansion Shrinks And More

Drink monitoring systems may not affect you if you’re visiting a video poker bar in a casino specifically to play video poker. It’s a different story if you’re passively playing video poker expecting complimentary drinks. The systems aren’t ubiquitous…yet.

First Quarter Was Great For Las Vegas Casino Operators

Casino Earnings Reports Casino Financial

First quarter earnings were great for the largest Las Vegas casino operators. New Year’s Eve bled into the first quarter. The extra day of revenue was helpful for casino operators. The year always starts with a bang. The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is the largest convention and expo of the year with well over 100,000 attendees.

Vegas News | So Many Vegas Rumors And So Much News!

TravelZork Las Vegas News 16 April 2017 Vegas News | So Many Vegas Rumors And So Much News!

This week will be a bit different format for Vegas News. The article begins linking to another story because you love parking and jumps right into rumors. There was so much news last week that I’m just giving a bunch of quick hits for you to read directly from the sources.

Vegas News | Happy Vegas Super Bowl Day!

Vegas News | Happy Vegas Super Bowl Day!

Happy Vegas Super Bowl Sunday! If the new president really wants to make an impact on America, he’ll make Super Bowl Monday a holiday. Anyway, Las Vegas has been packed all weekend with football fans getting ready to watch and wager on The Big Game. The sports book this morning at Red Rock Casino was already buzzing.

Vegas News | From Luxury On The Vegas Strip To Fried Chicken In The Suburbs

TravelZork Las Vegas News 29 January 2017 Vegas News | From Luxury On The Vegas Strip To Fried Chicken In The Suburbs

Casino-resorts are what stir the drink for just about everything in Las Vegas. On the Vegas Strip and around town, these properties not only offer hotel rooms to sleep in but casinos for gambling, malls for shopping, bars for drinking, restaurants for eating and so forth. Everything else you can find in Las Vegas is just a bonus.

Las Vegas – Gaming | Three Quarterly Casino Earnings Reports To Watch

Gaming | Casino Earnings

It’s quarterly earnings season where corporations share information on their previous quarter. Hopefully, some of the luxury and large casino operators will also spend some time looking forward informing up what they have in store for Las Vegas. Here are the reporting dates for Las Vegas casino operators that I’m looking forward to.

At Wynn Las Vegas, Your Room Has Ears – Amazon Echo

Wynn has plans in place to install a white Amazon Echo in every room in his Las Vegas property, starting with the Tower Suites and working down to every last room. The purpose, not your everyday household Echo skills, but specialized tasks to operate curtains, lights, and the TV and AC. All things that the touch panels in both Wynn and Encore already do. The thought it amazing, voice control of your room for the ultimate luxury experience. Here’s the Steve himself talking about it.

Vegas News | Vegas Strip Parking, New Hotels Opening, Rick Rolling And More

TravelZork Las Vegas News 04 November 2016 Vegas News | Vegas Strip Parking, New Hotels Opening, Rick Rolling And More

Just another day in Las Vegas yesterday (Friday) started at El Cortez around noon and ended a Bally’s around 14 hours later. Spending days and nights with people who don’t live in Las Vegas is a blast. Everything seems so new and fresh. It’s great to see Las Vegas through the eyes of people who visit only a couple of times a year.

Las Vegas | Wynn Black Friday Sale : (AKA How Much Money Can You Burn?)

Wynn Black Friday 2016

Black Friday, as we all know, has become a tradition. Waking up at the crack of dawn to freeze to death waiting in line for a discounted digital camera you’ll likely never use, or something to that ilk, only to realize how miserable you are after the whole day is said and done. But for the Vegas-phile, this often means pretty good deals on rooms for a short period of time at some great properties in Vegas. So of course, this little beauty pops into my inbox… Wynn Las Vegas Black Friday Sale ..

Wynn Palace Puts Off Her Debutante Ball…Again.

Wynn Palace Puts Off Her Debutante Ball...Again.

Just like a young woman who is not quite ready for primetime, so goes the way over at Steve Wynn’s new crown jewel Wynn Palace. Set for an early 2016 opening date, the date was pushed back again to June 25th.

Las Vegas | Wynn Shows Us Paradise in Paradise

Wynn

If you’ve not been under a rock, you’ve no doubt seen our articles on the shifts, slides, changes and happenings at Wynn that have been going on for quite some time now. Dining and chef changes, restaurant closures and openings, new gaming and nightlife concepts. The evidence is that now that Wynn Palace is coming […]

Las Vegas | How Wynn Is Shuffling The Nightlife Deck

Wynn Las Vegas

Steven Wynn is bipolar in mood. He’s happy with one thing, namely Wynn Palace, and that happiness leads to unhappiness with existing properties, namely Wynn and Encore back stateside. Need evidence? Look around. New art, chefs shifting around, restaurants closing, renovating, reopening. It’s like someone’s playing Wheel of Fortune in his brain and he’s hoping […]

Las Vegas | Alon May Not Have Money But They Have Plans

Alon

Once financing is secure Alon Las Vegas will be built on the land once occupied by the New Frontier across the street from Wynn Las Vegas and next to the Fashion Show Mall. Alon is being developed by James Packer and Andrew Pascal who most recently helped open SLS Las Vegas. Pascal knows the luxury […]

Las Vegas | Sunday News | The Strip North End’s Possible Developments

Vegas Lucky Dragon Flamingo Linq

Welcome to the first week of a new Sunday column at TravelZork. This will be a synopsis and analysis of recent news, rumors, openings and closings in Las Vegas. This column won’t cover everything in Las Vegas but will analyze and speculate about some of the bigger bits of news we see or hear about. North […]

Las Vegas | Wynn Cooks Up Something(s) New

Wynn

Anyone who knows Steve Wynn, the personality, knows that beyond being a perfectionist when finishing a project, that same drive continues as his properties operate and are broken in. Public spaces are fine tunes, stores are changed to better perform, the casinos are reorganized for better flow and use. But most importantly, Wynn stays on […]

Las Vegas | Five Things TravelZork Is Looking Forward To In 2016

Travelzork

A New Year means a new Vegas. Well, in reality, things come and go so fast in Las Vegas it would be more accurate to say a New Week a new Vegas. But that’s part of what makes the city, and other gaming meccas around the world like it, so addictive beyond the boozing and […]

Overview of Wynn Las Vegas and Encore Red Card

Wynn Encore Las Vegas Red Card

Photo : Blackjacker1979 Introduction Wynn and its adjoining sister tower and casino Encore make up one of the most luxurious properties in Las Vegas. The target guest at Wynn is an affluent traveler that may not care as much about players club points than visitors to some other casinos. Unlike most casinos on the Vegas […]

Hotel Review: The Salon Suite at Encore Las Vegas – Part I

Salon Suite At Encore

The Salon Suite at Encore Las Vegas – Part I The Salon Suite at Encore Las Vegas – Part II Other Vegas Hotel Reviews : LUX King at the SLS Las Vegas Steve Wynn and luxury are a forgone conclusion. Beginning with his days at the Golden Nugget, it was readily apparent that Mr. Wynn […]