Question of the Day - 27 November 2009

This is actually a question we've been asked more than once, so it's relatively easy one to answer.

The Flamingo wasn't one of the properties we randomly selected the last time we conducted this survey, so we placed a call to housekeeping this time and were told that, "The windows on street level get cleaned, but as to the guest rooms? We clean the inside, but the outside? It's been awhile." So, that could explain your lack of view.

Here are the results of our survey the last time we called around to answer this question (last year) -- and again, we'll note, those properties we called were surprisingly helpful, with one strange exception.

• The Rio has its 8,000-10,000 windows (they're not sure exactly how many they have) cleaned by a local company, which alternates every other month between the two towers.
• The Stratosphere's windows are cleaned twice a year.
• It takes a few weeks to clean all the windows at Paris, a process which takes place once every quarter.
• A helpful lady in the purchasing department at MGM Grand explained that she pays a company to clean the windows every month so assumes that's how often they're cleaned, although as she never actually sees them doing the cleaning, she's not sure whether the windows are really clean or if they're being ripped off!
• The Venetian informed us that they have their own staff that cleans the windows every day. Wow. That seems excessive. We wonder whether it's actually an ongoing process, so that there's always some window being cleaned, but not necessarily the same ones every day.
• Now to the mystery of the Luxor, which we figured would be interesting since those sloping sides must pose a challenge to any window cleaner. How the windows are cleaned and how often seemed like a fairly innocuous question, but we found ourselves treated with some suspicion and not much feedback was forthcoming. However, here at QoD we don't pride ourselves on being a crack team of researchers for nothing, so we initiated Plan B, namely a call to the nice folks at Skytag.

Skytag's the company that puts those huge advertising wraps on the façades of buildings and was in fact the subject of a recent QoD (11/13/2009). Once the sticky "spectaculars," as they dub them, come down, a cleaning process is necessary to remove any adhesive residue and they were more than happy to reveal all. Apparently, it's basically accomplished using a giant mop that comes out from the vents at the top of the pyramid. They spray water down the side and the mop, which operates on a cable system, washes up and down until the whole side's been cleaned.

While we're on the subject of windows, here's one last interesting tidbit. If you visit vegastodayandtomorrow.com, which we do with some regularity, since it's a very interesting site, you'll find information about the "window trick." When you're building a hotel with thousands of rooms, if you give each of those rooms its own separate window, the building's façades start to look very cluttered and congested, like a battery chicken factory. So, some smart architect came up with the idea of sharing one window between four rooms, which gives an altogether more spacious impression. Check out the link to see what we mean.