Category Archives: CityCenter

From the S&G Twitter feed …

For those of you who aren’t following it, here’s what you’ve been missing: • Station [Casinos] shuts Cherry @ Red Rock [Resort], ends flirtation w. Strip-ish nightlife. In Summerlin? Right casino, wrong place. http://tinyurl.com/ye36uqm • @IOC_Brand Jim Perry, Virginia McDowell … Continue reading

Posted in California, CityCenter, Current, Economy, Election, Entertainment, Florida, Harrah's, IGT, International, Isle of Capri, Kansas, Lyle Berman, Mississippi, Politics, Regulation, Station Casinos, Technology, TV | Comments Off on From the S&G Twitter feed …

That casino smell

As you step through the front doors of Aria‘s check-in foyer, a too-heavy musk is jammed up your nostrils. It smells like the same suffocating attar that’s employed in Venelazzo, except maybe heavier. The good news is that if you … Continue reading

Posted in Archon Corp., Atlantic City, Baseball, CityCenter, Current, Economy, Florida, Harry Reid, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Politics, Sheldon Adelson, Sports | 4 Comments

Quote of the Day

“However, weekend room rates at Aria are equal to or great than those at Bellagio in only 6/13 periods (46% of the time).” — from a J.P. Morgan room-rate survey. You just can’t beat a classic.

Posted in CityCenter, Current, Economy, MGM Mirage, The Strip, Tourism | 1 Comment

CityCenter’s original spore

Here’s the “bubble drawing,” roughed out by Jim Murren and MGM Mirage Design Group head Bill Smith back in February 2004, the tiny acorn from which CityCenter sprouted. Our thanks to MGM Mirage for sharing it with us. It will … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, CityCenter, MGM Mirage | 8 Comments

Garth Brooks, City Center’s art: the reviews

Much has been made of the $40 million in art lavished upon CityCenter. Virtually all of it is stunning in isolation but how does it work in context? CityLife dispatched me on a mission to evaluate CC’s many installations. As … Continue reading

Posted in Animals, Architecture, CityCenter, Current, Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Pets, Politics, Steve Wynn, The Strip | 5 Comments

Quote of the Day

“Spacey, ethereal and sterile.” — a friend’s description of the Crystals shopping mall.

Posted in CityCenter, MGM Mirage, The Strip | 2 Comments

From the S&G Twitter feed …

Whilst I try to decipher my notes from the New Year’s Day performance by Carlos Mencia, here’s what you’ve been missing if you don’t follow the S&G Twitter feed (Twitter handle: @stiffsgeorges): • Pittsburgh‘s Rivers Casino sacks exec team, brings … Continue reading

Posted in CityCenter, Cordish Co., Current, Entertainment, Florida, Harrah's, International, Maryland, MGM Mirage, Neil Bluhm, Pennsylvania, Planet Hollywood, Racinos, Riviera, Singapore | Comments Off on From the S&G Twitter feed …

Crystals, the sequel

If this video segment gives you a strong sense of déja vu, it’s probably because the retailers in Pansy & Daisy Ho‘s new Macao mall are pretty much the same cast of characters you’ll find in Crystals at CityCenter. However, … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, CityCenter, Current, Macau, MGM Mirage, Pansy Ho, Planet Hollywood | Comments Off on Crystals, the sequel

Case Bets: Mohegan Sun, Alabama, Weidner, Dubai & a big bet on MGM Mirage

Could default or bankruptcy be in the offing for Mohegan Sun? The tribal supercasino’s attempts to get out from under an onerous fee arrangement with Sol Kerzner and Len Wolman are not only facing heavy weather, Mohegan Sun is also … Continue reading

Posted in Alabama, Carl Icahn, Charity, CityCenter, Current, Dubai, Economy, Election, Entertainment, Fontainebleau, Harrah's, MGM Mirage, Pinnacle Entertainment, Politics, Riviera, Sahara, Sheldon Adelson, Station Casinos, Taxes, Technology, The Strip, Tribal, Wall Street | 1 Comment

Mutiny!

One of the dirty little secrets of the “cruise to nowhere” business is that these vessels are crewed with seamen imported from foreign countries. (Americans, despite being citizens of one of the preeminent seafaring nations, apparently aren’t good enough.) So … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Boyd Gaming, CityCenter, Current, Economy, Florida, Harrah's, International, MGM Mirage, Ohio, Penn National, Planet Hollywood, Regulation, Riviera, Sahara, Station Casinos, The Strip | Comments Off on Mutiny!

‘Tis the season

Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson cuts the ribbon on Boot Hill Casino. The gentleman at the rear in the red tie is the Kansas Lottery’s Ed Van Petten, taking time out from carrying water for Mike Ensign. Having been on the … Continue reading

Posted in Alex Yemenidjian, Archon Corp., Boyd Gaming, Cannery Casino Resorts, Carl Icahn, CityCenter, Colony Capital, Columbia Sussex, Don Barden, Donald Trump, Economy, Election, Entertainment, Environment, Fontainebleau, Harrah's, Harry Reid, Internet gambling, Isle of Capri, Jack Binion, James Packer, Kansas, M Resort, Macau, MGM Mirage, Neil Bluhm, Oscar Goodman, Penn National, Pets, Phil Ruffin, Politics, Sheldon Adelson, Stanley Ho, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, Technology, The Strip, Tourism, Tribal | 8 Comments

“You can’t escape CityCenter.”

No, but I really wish I could when I read yet another story posing the boneheaded question, “Can CityCenter save Las Vegas?” The query is as dumb as the answer is obvious: No, it can’t. No one megaresort property can. … Continue reading

Posted in CityCenter, Economy, MGM Mirage, Movies, The Strip | 5 Comments

Earth to Adelson, Earth to Adelson …

Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson claims he can finish his two resuscitated Cotai Strip™ casinos (below) and build three more in the next five years. Let the record show that Adelson currently also has casinos in various states of … Continue reading

Posted in CityCenter, Cordish Co., Current, Economy, Florida, International, Macau, Maryland, MGM Mirage, Movies, New York, Pennsylvania, Politics, Racinos, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Singapore, The Strip, Tribal | 2 Comments

Quote of the Day

“No, we’re here to look at the art.” — sightseers, to a doorman in the North Valet area of Aria who’d asked if the couple was there to pick up a car. It’s a sentence probably not often heard heretofore … Continue reading

Posted in CityCenter, Current, MGM Mirage, The Strip, Tourism | 4 Comments

CityCenter: succes d’estime

Enough procrastination! Such is the immensity and information overload that is CityCenter, that it may be some time before this spectator can fully wrap his brain around what is — for better or worse — the Strip’s equivalent to that … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, CityCenter, Current, Detroit, Dining, Encore, IGT, International, MGM Mirage, Movies, Sheldon Adelson, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, Technology, The Strip, Tourism, TV | 7 Comments

We have (another) winner

Betcha they didn’t do this at Aria when the first decent-sized jackpot was hit. The gentleman on the right is Carlos Quintano, from Great Bend, Kan. Only 15 minutes after the doors of Boot Hill Casino & Resort* flew open, … Continue reading

Posted in Archon Corp., CityCenter, Colorado, Kansas, Texas, Tribal | 1 Comment

They took away the Reading Room …

… only to give us Assouline, a store that specializes in big books with lots of pictures and can found in Crystals. However, you needn’t bother shopping there unless you have money out the assouline. Or as a company exec … Continue reading

Posted in Arizona, California, CityCenter, Colorado, Economy, MGM Mirage, Mississippi, The Strip, Tribal | 3 Comments

CityCenter giblets

While I’m gathering my thoughts — and notes — from yesterday’s Orgy o’CityCenter (and trying to maintain a Cone of Deafness, as far as other commentators), here are a few stray tidbits: Even MGM Mirage CEO Jim Murren can’t hide … Continue reading

Posted in Cirque du Soleil, CityCenter, Colony Capital, Cosmopolitan, Current, Donald Trump, Dubai, Economy, Entertainment, Fontainebleau, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, Technology, The Strip, Tourism, Transportation, TV | 3 Comments

We have a winner!

S&G reader Dawn was the first to guess which state in our great nation has the second-most casinos (after Nevada, natürlich). It’s the Sooner State, Oklahoma — where the wind comes sweeping down the plains, as native Jeff in OKC … Continue reading

Posted in Arizona, Cirque du Soleil, CityCenter, Current, Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Oklahoma, The Strip, Tribal | 2 Comments

Quote of the Day

“So, are there any other new casinos opening?” — wire-service reporter, to UNLV Center for Gaming Research Director David G. Schwartz, at the end of a conversation about the debut of Boot Hill Casino, in Kansas. Ummm, heard of a … Continue reading

Posted in CityCenter, Current, Kansas, MGM Mirage, The Strip | Comments Off on Quote of the Day