News
A man has been rescued from the lake at The Bellagio after climbing a tree to get a better look of the fountains and falling in. Unfortunately, rather than just falling directly into the lake, the branch he was on that gave way was above the concrete wall, which he hit as he fell.
When it became clear he wasn’t surfacing, several passers by dove in to rescue him. Minutes later the police arrived and helped drag him to safety, though it was clear from his screams that he was in some pain.
Bizarrely, I just happened to be there at the scene when it all took place. These pics and vids are from my trusty camera, which annoyingly ran out of memory towards the end. The whole thing was very surreal, particularly when the fountains suddenly burst into life. It was a beautiful night, gloriously warm, and the fountain display was particularly dramatic, but it was a discordant backdrop to the drama unfolding directly beneath me, especially when the man started screaming. Oddly, the crowd around me cheered as the fountains came to their stunning climax, with the rescue effort still in full swing.
As the man was stretchered off into a waiting ambulance, an old man in a wheelchair on the side of the street suddenly launched into a full-on religious sermon, telling us all to repent our sins or else.
He never quite said “or else the fountains of Hell will strike you down, too”, but he might as well have!
It’s my first day in Vegas, and if this is a sign of things to come, it’s going to be a pretty eventful week! Hats off to the guys who jumped in and rescued in him, though. They undoubtedly saved his life, as he was knocked out cold by the fall, and was laying there unconscious on the bottom of the lake.
You can see the videos of the rescue after the jump.
Posted on Saturday, May 31st, 2008 at 5:47 am by Mike Evans
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News
Well here’s news that’s not exactly welcome. Tangerine, the great club at Vegas’s Treasure Island, is due to close - and it’s only three years old! I spent a glorious evening there earlier in the year, and thought the place was great. Sure, the music in the main dance area sucked, but get a different DJ, don’t knock the place down!
Fortunately TI aren’t giving up on the idea of nightclubs altogether. Instead, they’ll be replacing Tangerine with another nightclub that will open on New Year’s Eve. Apparently the reason behind Tangerine’s imminent demise is too much competition from the likes of Tao, Pure, Moon and Jet.
There’s a simple answer to that - get a better DJ! Meh!
[Source: LATimes]
Posted on Sunday, July 29th, 2007 at 11:32 pm by Mike Evans
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News
I’m writing this from the comfort of the traditional British summer, with temperatures struggling to reach 20 degrees C, the worst flooding we’ve had in over 150 years, and the Sun last being seen back in April. Which, as coincidence would have it, was the last time I went to Vegas - and yes, it rained in Vegas while we had glorious sunshine in the UK!
Now that I’m back, though, the Vegas weather is reverting to type. No problems with water over there, but a real problem with sand. Just check out these pics taken by Roy Vegas of the sandstorm that hit on Friday July 27th 2007. Apparently it lasted for only half an hour, but it certainly was dramatic.
More pics after the jump.
Posted on Thursday, July 26th, 2007 at 10:29 pm by Mike Evans
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News
It had to come sooner or later. With all the money pouring into Las Vegas in the biggest building boom the strip has ever seen, some commentators are wondering whether the company is growing too fast, and whether its growth will be sustainable.
Fast Company have speculated that the combination of low-skilled jobs combined with the potential for what it calls for an “ecological disaster” (no water in the desert, apparently!), all add up to “an environmental pileup in the making”
Posted on Wednesday, July 25th, 2007 at 10:50 pm by Mike Evans
Filed under
Future Hotels,
News
Disturbing news reaches us that a new Elivs-themed property is being planned for the south of the Las Vegas strip between the Harley Davidson Cafe and the Smith & Wollensky building just north of the MGM Grand.
This area of the strip is currently occupied by the Hawaiian marketplace, which I’ve never liked. It’s full of stalls selling junk, gets massively overcrowded, looks ugly, and is a nightmare to walk through when you’re on your way to the MGM Grand and New York New York.
The Luxor hotel in Las Vegas is undergoing a huge $300 million refit aimed at freshening the place up and removing much of the Egyptian theme that pervades the place (which you’d have thought would have been quite difficult for a gigantic black pyramid!). The refit is being carried out to ensure the Luxor continues to attract visitors amidst the changing nature of the tourists pouring into the city.
For the huge new billion dollar hotels that are currently being built in Vegas aren’t just changing the skyline - they’re also changing the type of visitor and their corresponding tastes.
Posted on Wednesday, June 20th, 2007 at 11:21 pm by Mike Evans
Filed under
Future Hotels,
News
MGM Mirage purchased over 30 acres of land next to its Circus Circus hotel on the north end of the Vegas strip back in April. This gave the company over 100 acres of contiguous land in a rapidly developing area of the strip. Rumours were rife that MGM Mirage could be planning to build another resort on the scale of the $7.7 billion Project CityCenter.
However, it was precisely because they were investing so heavily in CityCenter that it was thought that the company wouldn’t begin work on the land until sometime close to CityCenter’s compeltion - in other words, sometime in 2009.
This being Vegas, though, things tend to happen rather quickly, and MGM Mirage have now announced a deal with Kerzner International Holdings that will see the development of a multi-billion dollar “integrated resort property” on this area of land, which should being construction a lot sooner than 2009.
Kerzner are the people behind the fabulous-looking Atlantis, Pardise Island hotel in the Bahamas, and so with this latest news, rumours are abound that new Las Vegas resort could be a Las Vegas Atlantis right next to Circus Circus - just without the sea and the ships!
Full details of MGM Mirage and Kerzner’s announcement after the jump.
Posted on Tuesday, June 19th, 2007 at 11:32 pm by Mike Evans
Filed under
Future Hotels,
News
Boyd Gaming has announced that they’ve broken ground on the construction of the new Echelon Place. What this means is that the last of the detritus of the old Stardust Hotel has now been cleared away, and work can begin in earnest on building the mammoth new Echelon Place Hotel Resort.
The old Stardust hotel, the remains of which Echelon Place is being built on top of, was a 2,400 room icon of the strip that had been around for nearly 49 years.
It took just 3 months to erase it from the face of the Earth.
Kind of sad, really - until you remember that the Stardust was mostly famous for Wayne Newton and what can only be described as an out-dated heap of a hotel that was looking older by the day!
In its place will come Echelon Place, which will feature five distinct hotels and condos, each with their own theme, together with 300,000 square fee of retail space, 750,000 square feet of convention space, and entertainment galore.
Incidentally, Wayne Newton signed a 10-year deal with The Stardust worth $25 million a year. Think of how much better the place could have looked if they’d spent the cash on the building rather than the entertainer!
Boyd Gaming included more details of what’s coming with Echelon Place, which you can read about after the jump. Apparently, there are more renderings of how Echelon Place will look, too, but they haven’t been released yet. Needless to say I’ll publish them just as soon as they are.
Posted on Monday, June 18th, 2007 at 11:23 pm by Mike Evans
Filed under
News
Amid the hype of the multi-billion mega-casinos that are being thrown up with indecent haste around the strip, one small project is slowly taking shape that’s been lost amongst all the fanfare.
Called Diablos’ Cantina, it’s a new multi-level entertainment complex that’s being built at the front of the Monte Carlo casino, which will soon be just next to the giant Project CityCenter complex. Diablos will offer a full service restaurant and a bar and club on the second floor.
More details and a picture of how Diablo’s will look when it’s finished after the jump.
Posted on Monday, June 4th, 2007 at 11:09 pm by Mike Evans
Filed under
Future Hotels,
News
Following on from the succession of new multi-billion dollar mega-hotels currently being built at the north end of the Las Vegas strip comes news of, well, another new multi-billion dollar mega hotel.
Called the Crown Las Vegas, the new hotel resort will be built next to the $3.4 billion Fontainebleau that’s currently being built opposite Circus Circus.
Crown Las Vegas will be slightly different from other hotels in Las Vegas though.
At 1,888 feet tall, and with 142 stories, it’ll be the tallest building in Las Vegas by a mile, dwarfing even The Stratosphere.
Actually, it’ll be the tallest building in the Western hemisphere!
More details and pictures of the Crown Las Vegas after the jump.
