Las Vegas is a city of big events. I look at our Sunday Vegas News column the same. This column exists to highlight big news! There’s plenty of news every week but this week is just missing that one big juicy nugget. Actually, maybe there’s one nugget but it won’t be BIG until it becomes official. This week what we lack in bombast, we’ll make up for with quantity and quality. Let’s start with some good news.

The Palazzo And Stratosphere Renovating Hotel Rooms

Hotel room renovations and upgrades are all the rage in Las Vegas. The new hotel room product allows casino operators to charge more for rooms. Guests always enjoy staying in a room that looks and feels contemporary and clean. It’s as win-win as you’ll find in Las Vegas.

The Palazzo has been one of my favorite casino-resorts on the Vegas Strip since opening. The casino is airy and spacious while the rooms are all big beautiful suites. The Las Vegas Review-Journal is reporting that all of their hotel suites are being renovated. The rooms should be complete by the end of January 2018. There will also be a new bar and renovations on the casino floor. The article has a few renderings and it seems as though the suites will keep the same bi-level layout.

There’s a brief mention about room renovations coming to the Stratosphere. The information is hidden deep inside an article by Bloomberg about Golden Entertainment purchasing the Stratosphere. The new owners will be remodeling all 2,427 hotel rooms at the hotel. When complete you should expect mid-week prices to be a bit more than the low $30 a night rates.

I reached out to Golden Entertainment for a timeframe and they said we should have more information soon. I’ll keep an ear peeled. We might hear some more information about this when the Golden Entertainment earnings call takes place this week.

Rumor Of The Week: Virgin Hotel, Resort And Casino Las Vegas

This is proposed as fact but it’s unconfirmed so I consider it a rumor. Richard Branson’s Virgin Hotels has been looking at a potential casino-hotel to purchase, according to Vegas Inc. A deal is imminent and our good pals at Vital Vegas say that an off-strip property will be purchased and rebranded. There are currently eight Virgin hotels listed as coming soon on their website but there’s no mention of Las Vegas. The Virgin brand is very respected and this would certainly be welcome in Las Vegas.

Step inside the Virgin Hotel in Chicago and you’ll see a bold statement that there is no “nickel and diming” and “no surprise fees.” Would that fly in Las Vegas? The rooms are beautiful and a the potential of hotel without a resort fee might shake things up in Las Vegas. I’m curious to see how this unfolds.

Which off the strip hotel might be on the market? The Hard Rock is the first property that comes to mind. The casino has been rumored to be on the market for awhile. They just announced that they’re renovating the Hard Rock Cafe to host a major show called The Voice: Neon Dreams. Perhaps the new show venue will also become the Virgin Megastore casino that Mr. Vegas Bright is dreaming of.

This seems close to happening. Stay tuned.

Las Vegas Raiders Stadium Has A Completion Date!

Maybe they should start construction before making such bold proclamations (on twitter).

Target date for the completion of @RAIDERS @VegasStadium is 1,000 days from today. Our labor force will get it done!! pic.twitter.com/tDSwLxGKaI

— Steve Sisolak (@SteveSisolak) November 3, 2017

Get Ready For The Super Bowl

Let’s get talking about the Big Game since football is on the mind. A few weeks ago Casa di Amore announced their Super Bowl party at the Westgate. This week the Plaza revealed details on their Super Bowl party. I guess it’s time to start planning for the Super Bowl.

Act now if you’re looking for comp rooms during the weekend of February 3 and 4. Las Vegas will be busy for the weekend of the Big Game and room rates will rise. As room rates rise, lower and mid-level comp rooms will go away.

Best Coffee Shop On The Vegas Strip Is Closing

Sambalatte will be closing at Monte Carlo this week. Not only is the coffee great but the outdoor seating area is fantastic. Hopefully, Eataly at Park MGM keeps the outdoor cafe area when construction is complete. Diablo’s Cantina and 800 Degrees Pizza will also be closing this week. Primrose, Bavette’s and Double Barrel Roadhouse seem to be your only options to eat at Monte Carlo right now. You can read more here.

Quick Hits:

These are interesting bits of news that either don’t need further explanation or I don’t have anything to add.

Pitbull will continue his non-residency residency, ‘Time Of Our Lives’, at Planet Hollywood in 2018. You can find dates and more information here.

Rod Stewart will return to Las Vegas for a run of shows at Caesars Palace Las Vegas in June 2018. You can find dates and ticket information here.

Recently, Caesars Entertainment said that they expect Gordon Ramsay’s new restaurant to be one of the busiest on the Vegas Strip. This week they revealed some more information. Read more here.

Downtown Grand has a special Thanksgiving meal for $20. That seems like a pretty good price. You can see the menu here.

Downtown Las Vegas has metered parking on the streets. There’s now an app to find spaces, pay the meter and extend how long you might need to stay parked. You can see and read more here.

There are more table games and fewer slot machines in Nevada this year than 2016. You can see the data here.

Could we see Pachinko in Las Vegas casinos? Maybe! Read more here and watch the video below to learn what Pachinko is.

Last and Least: Rio Shuttle Discontinued

RIO All-Suite Las Vegas Hotel and Casino has offered a shuttle to the Vegas Strip for 17 years. Caesars decided to end the service this week. This isn’t much of a surprise now that they’re charging locals to park at their Vegas Strip properties. The move will dissuade some visitors from parking at the free valet and garage at Rio and taking the free shuttle to the properties that charge for parking. (Old link to the shuttle details: RIO LAS VEGAS – SHUTTLE TO THE STRIP )

The estimated cost to take an Uber to and from Caesars Palace, Bally’s or The Cromwell is from $7 to $10. You can see current parking rates for all Caesars Vegas properties here.

REGISTER TODAY! ZorkFest – December 2017 in Atlantic City

So Much Buzz!

Read more about the vision behind this passion project. Also, special thanks to 360Vegas (zork360) (Listen episode 245 – 28 minute mark), Faces and Aces Las Vegas (Listen HERE) (and please consider using Hard-8 promo-code vegasstrong ), Cousin Vito (zorkvito) (Listen episode 57), You Can Bet on That (Listen #139: The Summit 2017) for mentions on their podcasts. Be sure to also check out the kind words by Pizza in Motion about ZorkFest, and recent mentions by Miles to Memories (zorkmtm) and The Gate.(zorkgate)

We expect there to be lots of good surprises at ZorkFest, including the latest news that Marc Meltzer will be a special guest at ZorkFest. Register Today!

Be sure to sign up with a Hard-8 promo code to save! Visit our supporters, share you thoughts, suggestions and best travel and casino tips!

Be sure to see Seth’s most recent article for more insight on some of the great learning sessions planned.

Among the sessions on the agenda:

• Crossover of Hotel & Casino Loyalty – Hotels want in on the casino world in a big way and the blend of loyalty programs delivers on that desire
• Sweet Spot Award Redemptions – Knowing which points to use when and where matters a ton when maximizing value
• Behind the Scenes of Casino Marketing – When you know how the system is built it is way easier to optimize and maximize behavior
• Booking Tools & Search Engines – A well-prepared consumer has a lot of resources in their toolbox; these are some of the best for award and revenue alike
• Loving the LCCs (Low Cost Carriers) – There is absolutely a place for the “low-end” products and the net result can be pretty spectacular
• Social Media FTW – When life hands you lemons, tweet up a storm; how to do it right to get things fixed

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