Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate. If it wasn’t already, it’s officially the holiday season and the most wonderful time of the year!
Let’s start this edition of Vegas News with my favorite Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens display of the year. I’m always amazed that this is inside a casino. Read about it here and see pics below.
Speaking of Bellagio, there will be a new show at Mayfair, the supper club inside the casino. Read more here.
The LVCVA has an overview of holiday attractions in Las Vegas here.
The tourism board also put together a list of Vegas hotel room sales here.
I can’t believe they’re still using the term “cyber” in 2025, but that’s another story.
Caesars is updating the Flamingo lobby. No word if they’re adding employees, so guests don’t have to stand in line forever. You can see renderings below and read more here.
Caesars Palace will renovate the Augustus Tower rooms next year and the Julius and Palace Towers in 2027.
The info about the renovations was in a press release about Caesars extending its partnership with the Las Vegas Grand Prix through 2030. Read about both here.
Anecdotally, there was a lot less whining about the F1 race this year than ever. The first practices weren’t well attended, but the race sold out. Altogether, F1 says there were 150,000 people at the race. Based on the Caesars announcement, I wouldn’t be surprised if the deal was extended as discussed here.
The Sand Dollar Lounge at Plaza is closing. Read more here.
I watch most of the F1 races and found this to be surprisingly boring after an action-packed race last year. Whatever, Mickey Mouse was in the house at Bellagio to celebrate the winners.
The free Neon City music festival during race weekend seemed to draw well. Figures weren’t released, but free entertainment always draws well. Read about it here.
There’s a Guinness Pop-up downtown on 12/5 and 6. You can get tickets here.
I’m pretty sure that the Top Gun attraction coming to The Strat was already announced, but the press release showed up in my feed this week, so I’ll share anyway. The company will be going private, and I’m curious to see if this actually happens. Read about it here.
There’s a Norwegian Cruise Line celebration of Elton John next year. They’re the cruise partner of Caesars. I’m not sure if this will be part of the comp options, but it can’t hurt to check. Read about it here.
There’s a Las Vegas auction house with a slew of random antique auctions coming over the next month or so. Check it out here.
The Cosmopolitan updated its tennis court for pickleball. It’s free for hotel guests and MGM Rewards Gold+ members and above, or $50 per hour. Read more here.
Golden Steer is the only Las Vegas restaurant to make OpenTable’s Top 100 restaurants of the year. Read more here.
Morimoto at MGM Grand is open again after a refresh. You can see highly stylized pics or renderings here.
Visitation fell again, and gaming revenue rose because of baccarat. The most fascinating part of the data is how downtown hotel occupancy and room rates are falling by a greater percentage than on the Strip. That’s in the second half of this article.
Last week, I shared some info on M Resort, which is hosting ZorkFest next week. I’m sharing the new hotel rooms again since the reveal happened between today and the last Vegas News column.
Penn Entertainment’s hotel partner is Choice Hotels, and there’s a status match. Read more here.
Gold Coast is replacing TGIFridays with a Gastro Pub like it’s 2022! See some pics of a wall here.
William Hill is now operating the sportsbook at Virgin. Party? Read more here.
Boomer’s sportsbook is taking over for William Hill at Ojos Locos casino. You’ll probably never go to this casino, but you can read more here.
There are three Boring updates that you should believe when you see them, since the tunnel system basically covers one square mile for the time being.
First, the company says a station to drop people off near the airport is planned for the first quarter next year. Second, a tunnel going to the airport directly is still TBD. See the tweet here.
Third, there are three stations planned for Chinatown next year. See the tweet here.
Speaking of Chinatown, Chubby World is coming to the area. Read more here.
Chubby is a big restaurant group that already has a handful of restaurants around town. Learn more here.
I went to the newest restaurant, Chubby Skewers, a few weeks ago. Read and see more here.
Station Casinos now has $3 Shrimp cocktail for those who like to eat water rats.
Excalibur is following Station Casinos by offering $3 margaritas. See the pic here.
The college basketball season is just starting, but The D is already promoting a free March Madness watch party here.
Stage Door and Battista’s Hole In The Wall are finally reopened. You can once again get a hot dog and beer for less than $5 and a bunch of mediocre Italian food. Yay! Read more here.
Stanton Social at Caesars added Italian to its name. Read more here.
The All You Can Eat deal at Guy Fieri’s Vegas Kitchen + Bar inside The Linq is now $25, a $5 increase. If it raises prices by $5 every six months, it will be $50 in a few years. See the pic here.
Last but not least. This has nothing to do with Las Vegas directly. Jim Gaffigan released a 40-minute special about bourbon on YouTube. See below.
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Marc grew up on the mean streets of the South Bronx. He's the rare combination of Yankees and Jets fan which explains his often contrarian point of view. He learned about gambling at a young age working down the street from a bookie who took action on anything from the mainstream sports to the last three digits of the purse for certain horse races. Yeah, that's a thing. Today Marc is a freelance writer and social media consultant which allows him to work anywhere there's a wifi signal. This allows him to work from the sportsbook at Red Rock Resort or the food court at The Venetian where you’ll find fast and free wifi. Writing about steak, booze, gambling and Las Vegas is a tough job but somebody has to do it.