360 Vegas

Random Vegas In Vegas history, 3 signs have been knocked down due to high winds.  The first was the Silver Slipper in May of 1978.  The second, in May of 1991, was Bob Stupak’s Vegas World sign.  The third was the Hilton sign, the tallest free-standing sign in the world at 365 feet, had the top portion of the sign collapse in July of 94.  The incident caused designers to be questioned how a sign d...

Patreon Exclusive Content   Many regard Jay Sarno as the father of the themed casino as well as the mind behind family friendly Las Vegas.  His contributions to the strip, Caesars Palace and Circus Circus, are complete opposites on the theme and customer base scale.  While he was many things, a womanizer and a gambling addict, no one can dispute that he was also a visionary.  Jay Sarno was exactly...

Random Vegas A typical arcade game makes about as much per day as a typical slot machine (Vital Vegas) Twitpic of the week Here @summacorp shares a time before the Golden Nugget consumed all of its western casino competition to acquire the Fremont footprint they have today.  It was also the initial incarnation of their greatest exterior façade with the bullnose corner of Fremont and 2nd St, known...

Random Vegas One day of running a 90-second ad intermittently on the Sphere is $750k (Vital Vegas) Twitpic of the week Magical…well, to someone like me this is magical.  To the layman this is an old picture of Caesars Palace,  shared by @Summacorp , before the retheming in the late 90s/early 2000s.  This is so mesmerizing because you don’t often see pictures of Caesars during this time, in this ca...

Random Vegas About one in 3 U.S. Adults said they thought the tipping culture “has gotten out of control,” according to a survey conducted in May 2023 (Review Journal) Twitpic of the week The photo by @Las_when doesn’t date the picture but this is how the Stardust looked when I got the one and only chance to visit the property in 2006, just months before it closed its doors on Nov 1st.  The lament...

Random Vegas Allegiant Stadium generated $2.29 billion in economic impact to the city of Las Vegas including $128 million in tax revenue (@mickakers) Twitpic of the week Following last week’s holiday theme, @_GrandpaD out did himself with a collection of various Vegas locations themed for the holidays.  Everything from Stardust’s Aku Aku tiki statue with a giant Santa hat on to more views of Fremo...

 Patreon Content Preview   Patreon.com/360Vegas   At times the Aladdin has been called “The Vegas Jinx”.  History has documented a long line of potential suitors who, when they took their shot, missed.  In a town where the house always wins, it’s not only an anomaly when one doesn’t, it’s also a cautionary tale.  It isn’t as simple as build it and they will come.  Theme, location, timing and in so...

Random Vegas Fontainebleau isn’t the first property to encounter financing problems causing the project to sit unfinished.  That title goes to the Landmark who broke ground in 1961 but had to halt construction in 62 due to financing issues.  So it sat, 80% done.  During that time it was the tallest building in the state of Nevada.  It sat dormant until 1969 when Howard Hughes bought it and finishe...

 On our first Vegas trip as a couple, I swung for the fences. Determined to have a great time and convince her that her previous terrible Vegas experience decades prior was not the only way to do Vegas, I made sure to fill our days with fun and our nights with great entertainment.  On that trip, we saw Brilliant at the Neon Museum, Fantasy, the Beatles Love, and finished off our final evening at A...

Random Vegas Similar to the myth of Bugsy Seigel and the Flamingo, a popular myth has been told many times over about Howard Hughes and the purchase of the Desert Inn.  The legend says Hughes overstayed his welcome because ownership wanted the penthouse rooms for high rollers coming in for new years.  Instead of leaving, Howard bought the place.  The real story about the Desert Inn purchase is tha...

Random Vegas Surprising no one, the sportsbooks at multiple properties reported record breaking action on F1 betting Twitpic of the week I know it looks like this at every F1 track but damn it looked cool in Vegas.  Whatever you think of F1 and/or its impact on the city you can’t argue they know how to illuminate a track.  That was captured magnificently on ESPN via helicopter, then shared via scr...

People will try to describe the experience you have at the Sphere but let’s start with saying it unlike anything you've experienced before.  It doesn’t matter if you see the film or a live act, this will be different.  Which is exactly what Madison Square Garden Company was going for with the Sphere.  You’ll find a lot of comparisons to IMAX, Disney’s Soaring Attraction, 360 theaters but that’s on...

Random Vegas The Westward Ho was advertised as “The World’s Largest Motel”.  It had 777 rooms and closed in 2005.  When demolished they had to take down 27 total buildings. (@las_when) Twitpic of the week What else can you say but wow?  Here’s hoping Vegas properties will take notice that you can do so much more with LED signage than just running commercials.  If the Sphere hadn’t already endeared...

Premium Content Preview - Patreon.com/360Vegas   The Sahara used to be referred to as the start of the strip, when the strip began to develop.  During that time, people talked about the strip like they do off strip properties today, too far from the action.  Turns out what people really wanted was more options and the development of the strip over the years has been nothing short of remarkable.  T...

Random Vegas The office of Sam “Ace” Rothstein and the Tangiers sports book in Martin Scorsese’s Casino was filmed on the site of an unopened casino at the Jockey Club ( @summacorp ) Twitpic of the week One of the reasons Vegas is like no other place on the planet is the wide array of architecture it has on display.  It has a mixture of traditional, themed and many in a category of their own.  Unf...

Most of you probably don’t know who Kenny Epstein is, but you should. He’s the owner and CEO of El Cortez. Much more than that, he’s the guy that made the conscious decision to not remodel the property but to refresh it while retaining the vintage feel the property permeates. Kenny understands what El Cortez does so well and sees the value in continuing to service those customers. So instead he up...

Random Vegas The music video for U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”, filmed in downtown Las Vegas in 1987, was done in one take, shot in less than 3 hours with a skeleton crew and an unsuspecting cast of extras. All the stuff in the video really happened.  The music video is credited with introducing, or in some cases re-introducing, Fremont St to the masses and creating a demand fo...

Random Vegas Roughly 26 international destinations are reachable from Las Vegas (@lasvegasweekly) Twitpic of the week In Las Vegas, perspective is everything.  While some may look at gambling losses as a negative, those that love the city understand its part of the dance that leads to a win.  This week, @luckytraveling shared a POV that reminds one that even when passed out on a casino floor one c...

Random Vegas Advertising at the Sphere costs approx. $450k for a one-day campaign, $650k for a week.  For comparison, traditional billboards cost $20k a month, Mekka Walgreen’s is $65k a month and a 30 second spot during the 2024 SuperBowl will run you $7.5 million. Pricing for the Sphere does include production development of the ad.  (VitalVegas & News3lv.com ) Twitpic of the week Barbary Co...

Random Vegas Because they used the shell of the Marina Hotel, the entire MGM Grand project was considered a remodel rather than new construction.  Therefore, property taxes were set at the value when the Marina was built. (@AStotland) Twitpic of the week While it may be hard to wrap your head around, motels used to dominate the Vegas strip and beyond.  They must have seen the writing on the wall w...

Who farted?  Do you have that one piece of media that you would like to check out, but never seem to get around to it? Like, you’re scrolling through Netflix, and there’s that one movie that you’re interested in checking out, but not this time. Or the next time, or the time after that. It’s always there, and you’re interested, but not interested enough to dive in at the moment. That, my friends, i...

Random Vegas While already in use at multiple other businesses in the valley, the Las Vegas Club installed the 1st neon sign on a hotel gambling establishment in 1931 (Vintage Research) Twitpic of the week While there are many reasons to not like Caesars Palace, the architecture isn’t one of them.  The move from the Sarno block exterior to an aesthetic that more appropriately reflects the time and...

Patreon.com/360Vegas   Something for everyone, that’s what Vegas has that makes it a magical destination.  It took decades for the market to get that way but it seems every time change is needed, the city finds a way to adapt and evolve.  At the end, the Hacienda looked miniature next to its new neighbors Luxor and Excalibur.  Like many properties before it and since, the Hacienda evolved as much...

Random Vegas By 1980, the states five dominate gaming entities were publicly traded companies.  They were Harrah’s, MGM, Del Webb, Caesars World and Hilton (Neon Metropolis) Twitpic of the week The concept was unique and interesting to begin with.  City Center, a city within a city.  So big it has its own fire department onsite.  Unfortunately, what we got was essentially a very expensive office p...