With a great sigh of relief, we note that Resorts World Las Vegas has gone from being just a logo and some nifty renderings to becoming a living, breathing construction project (video here). Genting Group has hired a construction manager and let $400 
million in subcontracts — hardly the behavior of a company that’s stalling for time. Although it may not look like much at this time, resort President Edward Farrell says Genting “spent hundreds of millions of dollars so far” in site preparation alone. That includes putting up various types of windows to see how they’ll react to the harsh Las Vegas sun. (Genting, obviously, is not going to risk a repeat of the Vdara Death Ray.) One familiar sight is a stand of trees that date back to the Stardust and which Genting is preserving for transplantation to Resorts World.
Construction manager W.A. Richardson Builders has an impressive list of credits that run the gamut from Mandalay Bay to The Cromwell. (It also has Linq on its resumé but we won’t hold that against them; they obviously gave Caesars Entertainment the El Cheapo product it wanted.) While Genting may start serious construction even 
sooner than its “early 2018” benchmark, there’s still preliminary tinkering taking place, what Farrell describes as “a bit of demolition work going on, primarily steel and concrete that was part of original design that’s not part of our design.” Also, the original Paul Steelman design (shown) has apparently gone into the shredder, to be replaced with something more evocative of contemporary China and less redolent of 55 Days at Peking. Clark County stamped its approval on 30 different construction documents earlier this month so it’s safe for us to presume that Genting really means it this time.
* You’ve heard of the cashless casino for a while now. Station Casinos is taking the next big leap forward and inventing the cashless loyalty program. VitalVegas explains how it works. Station is test-flying the program at Barley’s Casino & Brewing Co., a sufficiently low-profile venue in which to work 
the bugs out. “Let’s just say Barley’s is quaint and leave it at that,” writes VitalVegas author Scott Roeben. The official announcement and explanation can be found on Station’s own blog, with user feedback invited. So if you’re tired of keeping track of loyalty cards and are proficient with your smartphone, head on down to Barley’s and then tell Station what you think, maybe leaving a few suggestions if you think there’s room for improvement,
* Westgate Las Vegas continues to struggle with entertainment. (Don’t blame Paragon Gaming; it’s only responsible for the casino floor.) Purple Reign is out, probably headed to Tropicana Las Vegas, while Westgate looks for rescue from Trop castoff Dirk Arthur and his big cats while it vamps for time in developing a new strategy. Neither of these casinos has encouraging track record with shows, a status that will probably remain “quo” for the foreseeable future.
* Speaking of entertainment, House of Blues at Mandalay Bay is thinking pretty far outside the Yuletide box. On Dec. 22 it’s presenting A Drag Queen Christmas, featuring regulars from RuPaul’s Drag Race such as Sasha Velour and Chi Chi DeVayne. The price is a wallet-friendly $23, some of the better news we’ve been able to mention in the same sentence as “Mandalay Bay lately.”
