I’ve been putting off writing about riding the Vegas High Roller. Not because it isn’t a powerful new icon for the Las Vegas Strip (it is). Not because the ride isn’t smooth as silk. (It is.) And not because Caesars Entertainment hasn’t hit a home run with tourists. (It has.) Heck, my wife dislikes gondola rides and she loved it.
No, it’s because my verdict on the Ferris wheel, which one rides in great comfort, are divided. I’ll try to put the ‘cons’ into perspective. The biggest ‘pro,’ obviously, is the view you get from 550 feet aloft, especially if the upward trajectory of your ride, which moves with serenity-inducing near-imperceptible stateliness, coincides with the Bellagio fountain show. Counterintuitively, I would recommend riding the High Roller during daytime, simply because you will see so much more. So my relatively paltry cavils should be taken in that context. In the day you could see eastward to UNLV, to Sunrise Mountain and farther still.
At night, it’s a big black void, so you’re only getting half your money’s worth. Also, during the first and final quarters of your revolution, what you’re mostly seeing to the west are the backsides of Hilton Grand Vacations and Imperial Palace. Speaking of the latter, you get an excellent view of the chilling, swastika-like layout of its towers, a hateful legacy from Ralph Engelstad. If Gary Loveman hadn’t mortgaged Caesars to the hilt, that horrid place might have been demolished by now. But, at least for the middle third of your voyage you get some dandy perspectives on the Strip.
The party gondolas, by the way, only have room for 20 souls or so, plus bar and bartender. So there’s not much room for things to get rowdy.
Back on the ground, O’Shea’s has been reinvented as such a convivial, handsome nightspot that you’d never imagine what a dive its predecessor was. Less successful is the re-imagination [sic] of the Imperial Palace casino as The Quad. As square as its name, it has the charm and atmosphere of an airport boarding lounge. Well, you can’t win ’em all and the success stories along The Linq vastly outnumber its (very few) failings.
(Caesars, incidentally, was down only 2% — just announced — in 1Q14, which has to be a victory of sorts for them.)
Agua Caliente Band closes Spa Resort Hotel. Loss or net gain? The casino will remain open and the tribe promises to “rejuvenate” it in an unspecified fashion. “It’s the place where it all began — the site of our natural hot mineral spring,” said tribal Chairman Jeff Grubbe. In the meantime, though, 150 employees are wondering if they’ll land jobs at Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa in Rancho Mirage. Given the little we do know, it’s very strange to hear Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet construing the closure as “an exciting next step of what’s happening in downtown.”
One person who helped open the hotel, Vyola Ortner, was unequivocal: “It should have been torn down a long time ago.” She’s got a point. While hotels all around it were remodeled, time stood still at the Spa Resort Hotel. The primeval mineral springs aren’t going anywhere, so the Agua Caliente have to do something to exploit them, even if the present spa is demolished.
