Bellagio Review: 10 things you have to see at the Bellagio Las Vegas

Photos of the Las Vegas Aladdin Hotel now online

The Las Vegas Aladdin was one of the old hotels of Vegas, and had been around on the strip in one form or another since 1966. If anything represents the excesses and the high stakes of Vegas, its the Aladdin: continued expansion leading to a huge sprawling hotel that covered 36 acres; mob involvement; implosion in 1998; $1.4 billion rebuild in 2000, closely followed by bankruptcy when the new look Aladdin, complete with 2,600 rooms and an entire mile of shopping within its walls, was simply ignored by the passing public!

The Aladdin was rescued and so continued trading, but since 2007, it’s been turned into Planet Hollywood. It’s still the same building underneath, but it looks completely different from the outside.

So if you go to Vegas now, you’ll see barely a trace of the Arab-themed splendour that was the Aladdin, which was possibly the Strip’s biggest white elephant. To give you a taste of what it was like, I’ve added a few new photos of the Aladdin as it was to the Gallery, courtesy of Susan Jancso, a prolific writer, photographer and lover of Las Vegas. Susan will shortly be publishing a book on Las Vegas, and can be reached at mailto://amhirlap@sbcglobal.net if you want to find out more.

The pictures of The Aladdin can be found under a new section of the gallery called Old Vegas, which I’ll be adding to over the coming weeks.

I also have tonnes of new reviews to add, as I’ve just returned from yet another Vegas visit, so stay tuned!

Fire at The Monte Carlo Hotel

The Monte Carlo Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip has been hit by fire, with the roof and top floor of the 32 storey building being engulfed in flames. Fortunately, everyone was evacuated without injury, and the fire was put out an hour after it was started, but it caused major grid lock up and down the Strip.

Looking at the video of the fire, it had the potential of being a catastrophe, as it really seemed to take hold of the roof. This must have been a nightmare for the Monte Carlo’s owners, MGM Mirage, not only in terms of bad publicity, but also because it was their MGM Grand hotel that caught fire back in 1980. That time, the fire killed 80 people and injured over 700 – this time, however, nobody was even injured.

The automatic sprinklers did their job, confining the fire to the outside of the building and preventing it from taking hold. This, combined with the smooth evacuation of the building (which is no mean feat, given it has over 3,000 rooms, most of which were occupied), helped ensure there were no injuries, and MGM Mirage deserve recognition for their fire policies, which clearly work.

The Palazzo confirms opening date

The Palazzo, one of the new Las Vegas hotels currently reaching skywards, has confirmed its set to open on December 20th 2007. Some people are surprised by this given its current state of construction (see pic above, taken on 7th July 2007 and courtesy of Mark Adams), but the Las Vegas Sands Corp., owners of the Palazzo, are confident they can make this date.

When it’s complete, the Palazzo, when combined with its sister hotel the Venetian, will be “the largest integrated destination resort in the world” with 7,128 hotel rooms and 2.3 million square feet of meeting space on the Las Vegas Strip.

It should also be a good little earner, given that the Venetian has just posted revenue of $235.5 million for the quarter for the Venetian.

[Source: Forbes, LasVegasTodayAndTomorrow]

Frontier to close July 15th

The Frontier, which has been on the expected-to-be-demolished list for some time now, has finally got a closing date: midnight July 15th. The Frontier was looking increasingly ropey, and the only “attraction” (if that’s the right word!) was Gilley’s, the red-neck club featuring topless bull-riding girls and bikini mud wrestling.

So in just a month’s time, gone will be the legendary sign boasting “cold beer, dirty girls”, and in its place will rise the swanky $5 billion 3,500 room Plaza hotel and casino. Quite a contrast! Another legendary Vegas icon will have been imploded and another mega-hotel will rise from its ashes.

It also seems that the Plaza development is being expanded, with a lot more retail space planned for the hotel, and maybe some more condo units.

[Source: Las Vegas Review Journal, SkyscraperPage]

New Photos of the Wynn Hotel Las Vegas now online

The Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas is a luxurious upmarket hotel directly opposite the Fashion Show shopping mall. Built by legendary Vegas resort owner Steve Wynn, The Wynn is a $2.7 billion hotel and casino with 2,716 hotel rooms, 111,000 square foot casino, 22 restaurants and food outlets, and the only golf course in Las Vegas.

The Wynn is currently one of the more impressive hotels on the strip, and certainly outshines its current neighbours. Clad entirely in bronzed glass, the Wynn eschews the themes of other Vegas mega-resorts further south, and focuses instead on pure upmarket luxury.

One of the great things about The Wynn is the beautiful landscaping and waterfalls (not to mention the huge glass structure itself!). Not only is this beautiful in its own right, it makes taking great pictures of Treasure Island and the Fashion Show extremely easy!

See for yourself, with the new Wynn photo gallery that’s now online.

The New Frontier soon to be the new Montreux Hotel

This is the New Frontier Hotel on the north side of the Vegas Strip. The photo was taken in 2005 on my first visit to Vegas, and was one of the first hotels I saw. I was staying in Circus Circus (as ever), and was walking up the strip, and had no idea what to expect. The Frontier, with Gilley’s bar and its giant sign proudly proclaiming “Cold Beer, Dirty Girls!” was exactly what I was expecting of Vegas – tacky on a gigantic scale!

Which was part of the reason why I was so amazed as I carried on walking up the strip and saw that the real Vegas is nothing like the impression that the Frontier gives.

And that’s exactly why The New Frontier’s days are numbered…

Make your own Bellagio Fountains with Coke and Mentos

If you’ve ever been to Las Vegas and marvelled at the Bellagio’s fountain display, but could never find a way of describing their beauty to friends and family, here’s a solution for you – simply create your own, using 251 bottles of Coke and 1500 Mentos mints!