Harrah’s ups the ante

Yr. Humble Blogger is a fan of the Las Vegas buffet scene — and owns the waistline to prove it. Starting Monday, Harrah’s Entertainment ratchets up the temptation factor by keeping seven of its Strip buffets open round the clock. In addition to the Carnival World Buffet at The Rio (only M Resort‘s is as good or better, IMO) and the comparably admired Spice Market Buffet at Planet Hollywood, the spreads at Caesars Palace, the Flamingo, Harrah’s Las Vegas, Paris-Las Vegas and — for the truly desperate — Imperial Palace will be available. (I’m reliably told the IP’s buffet is the worst on the Strip, though it couldn’t be much crummier than was the Tropicana‘s back during the spare-every-expense Columbia Sussex interregnum.)

As promotional gimmicks go, I have to give the Harrah’s folks a hats-off for this one. MGM Mirage may have the circuses but Harrah’s has trumped it in the bread department.

While we’re on the subject of Harrah’s, the top third of the iconic Paris-Las Vegas balloon has been almost completely blanched by the elements. (Its dilapidation is particularly evident from Flamingo Road in front of The Rio.) For the umpteenth time S&G has to wonder, Would it freaking kill Gary Loveman to slap a few coats of paint on some of these properties? The Harrah’s executive corps isn’t exactly penurious, so we know the company’s got the cash. Unfortunately, it seems too busy coveting other people’s shiny objects (Planet Ho, The Palms) to maintain what it’s already got.