With a few notable exceptions, nearly every frequently-asked Question of the Day we receive is in reference to one of the big holidays, with 188 Christmas-related queries answered or on file ("Which casinos decorate?" "And when?" "Which neighborhoods have the best light displays?" "Where, near the Strip, can we go to Midnight Mass?" "Will Santa be around?"), closely followed by 166 about New Year’s ("What's going on this year?" "Is it true they close the Strip?"), 63 about Thanksgiving ("Any buffets offering special meals?"), 61 about July 4, and 104 about the best vantage points for viewing fireworks (a New Year’s/July 4 crossover).
You'd be (or at least we are) amazed by how prematurely these questions start trickling in each year. For example, on March 23 this year we received, "Are there going to be any fireworks on July 4th with views from the Strip?", but that was two days after someone had asked "Where would you recommend going for a Christmas Day dinner and does anywhere do a turkey and all the trimmings?" Wow.
The huge subject of tipping garners a lot of attention, with over 150 QoDs on file or in the archives. From "How much should you tip a limo driver who’s furnished by the hotel at no charge?" to "What is an appropriate amount to tip the Maître d’ to get a good seat?" to "Is it customary to tip your casino host?" to "How much and where do you leave a tip for housekeeping?", it inspired us to canvass the opinions of some of our seasoned experts and add a whole section on tipping etiquette to our Visitor Guide.
Transportation’s another hot topic, with 129 incoming emails about shuttles alone, so again, we built a whole free-shuttle feature, which is updated constantly, since they change all the time. Hotel pools ("Which ones are open to non-guests?" "Are any year-round?" "Where can I sunbathe topless?") have generated close to 100 questions -- check out our massive Cool Pools feature, which is already getting updated for the '09 season and has links to our Top 10 Vegas Pools (as voted by you, the readers), Pool FAQs, which should answer many of your questions, and a whole lot more...
Gambling-wise, the workings of RNGs is an FAQ (58 queries on file), but the one that always somewhat bemuses us is our readers' apparent obsession with the Lady Luck and when, if ever, it's going to reopen. We have 99 questions to that effect on file, with the most recent one submitted on March 22 of this year, since, "It has been a year ago this month since the last update on The Lady Luck Hotel Casino downtown..." Um, no news is...no news.
In terms of what order questions get answered in, there are all kinds of factors at work. If we've answered something similar recently, we're unlikely to tackle the same subject again for a while, but we do revisit questions from time-to-time that are worthy of updating, like the lay of the land with regard to resort fees, or which name chefs are currently offering cooking classes. If something's topical ("Where's the best place to catch the March Madness action?"), then we'll endeavor to answer it in a timely manner, although we can't always do a knee-jerk reaction to questions that start with, "I'll be in town next Tuesday and want to know..."
We try to mix up the subjects from day to day, so that has some influence on what's being answered, while which members of staff or outside experts are available at any time is also a factor that colors which QoDs make it to the top of the pile in any week. We all have different areas of interest and expertise and so the QoD managers try to dis
