Las Vegas News

Latest News from Las Vegas, Nevada

Welcome to our Las Vegas News section where we focus on bringing you the latest news about tourist developments in the City and information we feel will be of interest to our readers. For daily generic news, please refer to the Google News widget at the top of this page or check out the following websites: Las Vegas Sun, Las Vegas Now, Fox 5 Vegas and Vegas News.

Wynn Resorts tacks on mandatory $20 resort fee

Following some of its Strip neighbors, Steve Wynn's resorts are the latest in Las Vegas to institute a mandatory resort fee on its hotel guests. Wynn Las Vegas and Encore on Thursday began implementing a $20-per-night fee for use of resort amenities. The fee includes use of the fitness center, in-room Internet access, local and domestic phone calls, and allows guests to print their boarding passes. The fee is tacked on to a guest's final bill regardless of what amenities are used. "In an ongoing effort to enhance our guests' resort experience, Wynn Las Vegas and Encore will implement a $20 resort fee to all reservations," Wynn Resorts said in statement today. "Responding directly to extensive customer feedback, the resort fee will offer value to customers with a bundling of the most sought-after amenities."

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At 110 degrees, summer sizzles with record heat in Las Vegas

With temperatures at record levels Sunday, Las Vegas Valley residents tried to stay cool while keeping kids occupied at parks and pools. At 110 degrees, that's not always an easy task. McCarran International Airport hit 110 degrees at 3:10 p.m. Sunday, setting a record for June 6, according to the National Weather Service. The previous record was 108 degrees, set in 2002. This is also the earliest date on record Las Vegas has reached the 110-degree mark. Before Sunday, the earliest day of the year Las Vegas reached 110 degrees was June 8, 1955, weather service meteorologist Chris Stachelski said...

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Friendly and clean sure beat out mean

Ask frequent traveler Tom Slater which U.S. hotel provides him with the best customer service and he praises the Embassy Suites in Ohio over the many Las Vegas resorts he has stayed in. This, from a guy who comes to the hotel capital of the world at least 10 times a year and is assigned casino hosts who are paid specifically to make his stay in Southern Nevada more pleasant. At the Ohio hotel, which boasts little more than standard amenities, rank-and-file employees greet him by name and smile as they open doors for him and engage in friendly conversation.

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Who pays for the showgirls who accompany the mayor?

The showgirls are just one more indication that Mayor Oscar Goodman may enjoy politics, but his genius is in marketing. Along with the oversized martini glass, the Bombay Sapphire gin endorsement contract, the mob lawyer past and quick-draw quips, Goodman knows how to draw attention to himself - and sometimes even the city he governs. It's fitting then that the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority - the public entity that promotes this sun-drenched adult playground to the world - picks up the tab for his feathered friends. Goodman is chairman of the LVCVA board....

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In Miss USA Contest, a Novel Twist

Pageant organizers on Sunday night crowned a 24-year-old Lebanese immigrant from Michigan as Miss USA 2010. Rima Fakih was born in Lebanon, moved to the United States as a baby and was raised in New York City, where she attended a Catholic school. She told pageant organizers her family celebrates both Muslim and Christian faiths. Her family moved to Michigan in 2003, where she later became Miss Michigan USA. Pageant officials told The Associated Press that pageant records were not detailed enough to show whether Ms. Fakih was the first Arab-American, Muslim or immigrant to win the Miss USA title. The pageant started in 1952 as a local swimsuit competition in Long Beach, Calif.

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Lake Las Vegas, 350 workers say goodbye to Ritz-Carlton

For hotel patrons, Sunday morning at the Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas felt like any other. Rich aromas of syrup and dough wafted up from the Medici Café and Terrace, and families wandered the hotel's halls and courtyard. But this Sunday morning was different. At noon, the Ritz-Carlton would close its doors. "I think it was an anchor for Lake Las Vegas," said Eric Villarreal, 37, of Las Vegas, who stayed at the hotel on its final night. "It seems like bigger places like this support smaller businesses here." Villarreal said he saw few other patrons at the hotel on its last night, but the lack of customers didn't seem to affect the hotel's services...

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Assault Rifles Popular in United States and Nevada

LAS VEGAS - For those who want to buy weapons, many arm themselves with handguns. Others, however, are opting for more powerful assault rifles. The AK-47 is an assault rifle from the former Soviet Union. It is a gun now commonly found in America and in Nevada. Nevada does not require registration of long-guns, so there is no way to tally the number of AK-47's in Las Vegas. Bob Irwin is the owner of The Gun Store and author of the new book "The Reality of Armed Self Defense". He estimates as many as 7,000 AK-47s are in the valley. "They've been for sale here for 20, 25 years," Irwin said...

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Fee-Weary Air Travelers Get A Break -- For Now

Five major carriers on Sunday agreed not to follow the lead of a small Florida airline that plans to charge for carryon bags. Their commitment comes just in time to keep travelers from running for the exits during the peak summer flying season, but it is doubtful that it marks a change in strategy. Airlines are going to tack on every fee they feel they can get away with because it bolsters their revenue stream while allowing them to keep base fares lower. They just don't feel like passengers will tolerate losing their sacred free carryons -- at least not right now...

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A look at the enduring bond between Las Vegas and Elvis

Las Vegas love affairs are notoriously short-lived, making the one that is in its 47th year all the more special. It started with an initial rejection, but the young, determined suitor didn't give up. He kept trying to impress in ever bigger and better ways. After he made a movie about us - built around what would wind up being "our song" - we fell hard for each other. It was sealed with a hotel suite ceremony, and we wound up making a lot of money together. We grew apart later, when his drug addiction came between us. But still we couldn't let go. And with the passing of time, we memorialize more what we once had.

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Empty lots hurt nearby casinos on the Strip's north end

The mothballed and postponed construction projects on the Strip are making the recession even rougher on one end of Las Vegas Boulevard. Standing between that northern section and the rest of the Strip is mostly vacant land bought by developers who tore down older hotels during the economic boom and aimed to build high-end resorts. This no man's land contains fenced-off parcels with resorts stalled by the cratering of the economy - the exposed steel skeleton of the partially built Echelon and the empty and unfinished Fontainebleau Las Vegas....

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Can you hear me . later? CityCenter's spotty cell-phone reception

City Center may be a futuristic city in many respects — heck, Aria is even recycling its wine corks — but in one unseen aspect, it is decidedly living in the past: cellular-phone service. While tourists and locals have debated the many merits of the MGM/Mirage-Dubai World development, there has been nearly universal agreement that cell reception in and around Aria, Vdara, Crystals and Mandarin Oriental is nearly nonexistent. Even (yikes!) text messages don't go through...

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Slot operator sees signs of recovery in Las Vegas

During the real estate boom, video poker bars mushroomed across the Las Vegas Valley like weeds after a desert monsoon. But with the recession, many bars have fallen on hard times. Several built within the past few years have closed. It’s a testament to a harsh reality that even such humble desires as a few beers, a few hands of video poker and a dinner special at the bar after work have become unaffordable for many people. In this respect, United Coin Machine Co., one of the largest operators of slot machines in bars, convenience stores and other small, noncasino locations, might serve as a barometer that offers some hope.

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Las Vegas Visitors Spent Less In Every Area In 2009

Visitors to Las Vegas spent less money gambling, eating and staying in Sin City in 2009 compared with 2008, according to a report by the city's main tourism agency. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority said in its 2009 Las Vegas Visitor Profile Study that gamblers wagered nearly $482 on average during trips last year, compared with nearly $532 in 2008. Visitors on average stayed between four and five days during their trips. The annual study said visitors spent $75.78 on average for each night in hotel, 25 percent less than in 2008...

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First Male Prostitute Quits Nevada Brothel

America's first legal male prostitute has left a rural Nevada brothel after a two-month stint that generated plenty of attention but fewer than 10 paying customers. Brothel owner Jim Davis said Friday that his Shady Lady Ranch had parted ways with what was described as the nation's first "prostitude." A replacement has been hired, but Davis hinted it was possible the 25-year-old Alabama native who worked under the name "Markus" could be back. The tiny yellow brothel is 30 miles north of the unincorporated Nye County town of Beatty and 150 miles northwest of Las Vegas...

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Opening Delayed For Vegas 'Animal Encounter'

Las Vegans will have to wait a little longer for the Strip’s newest animal attraction to open. Friday’s debut of Las Vegas Safaris’ Exotic Animal Encounter was pushed back to March 31. A reason for the delay was not given. The animal attraction will open at the site of the Cloud 9 Balloon Park across from Mandalay Bay and will largely feature baby animals, including zebras, giraffes and a rhinoceros.

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