We just returned from Vegas and a tournament at one of the "better" places to play. Well let me say it was certainly a mistake we won't make again. We have been in tournaments at several different price ranges and this being the most expensive was certainly the least worth it. Cheap gift, little food, and small prizes. A lesson learned and could not recommend to anyone. We will stick with Stardust and Westward Ho. At the least they know how to put on a great party. Just a "plug" for them to all of your readers. Thanks for the sounding board.

WYNN LAS VEGAS is The Strip's pre-eminent luxury mega-resort costing a whopping $2.7 billion! The 45-story (the tallest tower in Las Vegas), is 514-foot tall, arc-shaped and is a chocolate-colored reflective glass Tower.

Will have 2,698 hotel rooms and suites, a 111,000-square-foot casino, 16 restaurants (including six fine dining each with an indoor and outdoor experience), three-acre pool, luxury spa, many brand-name high-end stores, The Strip's only 18-hole golf course and an art gallery. Each hotel room will cost $750,000 to build (Bellagio cost $533,000 per room). Each room will have floor-to-ceiling windows, European linen and flat screen TV's. Total of 8,000 permanent employees. It is estimated that 2,500 of those will be present Bellagio and Mirage employees, who previously worked for Steve Wynn, attesting to the high esteem Steve Wynn is held and the fact that he treats his employees so well and in such high regard. Union shop is expected.

An eight-story, 100-foot mountain in the front of the property will enclose a three-acre lake. Two winding, curved, atrium escalators in the main lobby will cost $1.8 million.
Some of the upscale shopping that will be available are Ferrari and Maserati car dealerships; Manolo Blahnik (ladies shoes); Jean_Paul Gauthier (haute couture women's clothing); Oscar de la Renta (high-end fashion designer); Jo Malone (perfumes); Brioni (Italian clothing designer); Graff Jewelers; Chanel; Dior; Louis Vuitton and Cartier.
There will be 16 restaurants in the project! One of the restaurants specializing in high-end, contemporary Japanese food will be named OKADA in honor of a major investor in the project. Another restaurant will be called ALEX after the star chef, Alex Stratta, who closed his five-star restaurant, Renoir, in the Mirage to join Wynn in this project. Daniel Boulud of Le Cirque and Daniel Restaurants in New York City and Paul
Bartolotta of Spiaggia Restaurant in Chicago are some of the other famous
chefs who will open restaurants in this project.
The water-based, $24 million production show much like "O", will be housed in the 2,080-seat, $70-million AQUA THEATER and will be called "Le Reve". Water will surround the audience - above, below and even around their seats. The farthest seat will be a mere 40 feet from
the stage.In another 1,200-seat, $40 million theater.

Four nightclubs will be in the project. One of them will be called "La Bete"
(The Beast) which will be a restaurant that will turn into a nightclub after 11 p.m.

Telephone: (702)770-7000 or 1-877-770-7077.
Internet site is at: http://www.wynnresorts.com

The Light at the Luxor Pyramid!
The Luxor sky beam is the highest profile symbol in a high-profile town. No matter where you are in the Las Vegas Valley, the light is a fixture, even a source of comfort for some.

"We get other comments like, 'No matter where I go in Las Vegas, if I can see the Luxor beam, I know I'm all right; even if I get lost, I look for the beam and find my way home,' " said John Lichtsteiner, a Luxor engineer.

There are no elevators to the top of the Luxor pyramid, and the few people who ever visit the pinnacle get there by climbing a steep series of long ladders. The first thing you learn at the top is that there is no giant light bulb. Instead, 39 individual lamps, housed in dark, sturdy reflectors sprout from the floor like a forest. They combine to create the light.

You won't find these on sale at Walmart. Each Xenon lamp costs about $1,200 and will last 2,000 hours, working more like a welder's arc than a light bulb. Just how much light do they generate when humming along together?

"We estimate we are at 40 billion candlepower for the whole thing," said Lichtsteiner. Each lamp is 7,000 watts. That's one billion candlepower per lamp.

It might seem excessive in these times of tight energy supplies, but Luxor has gone to great lengths to make the system more efficient. Operating hours are now limited, and more advanced equipment has been installed, but still, the electric bill for this contraption is a bit higher than yours at home. "It's $51 an hour, and $20 an hour of that is electricity," said Lichtsteiner.

It gets pretty hot in the lamp room, even without the light turned on --136 degrees on the day of our visit -- but if it's heat you want, try climbing that final ladder into the very top of the pyramid, where it's another 20 degrees hotter due to the glass walls.

The real show begins just after sundown, when the system automatically kicks in first with warning noises and flashes, then with the music and lights being turned on.
....extracted from the Las Vegas Review-Journal
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Las Vegas airport: (flight info)....(if it's working..):
McCarran International website
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Harrah's Entertainment has check-in desk at McCarran International Airport. MGM MIRAGE has one too. The check-in center is much like a full service hotel lobby, and will allow guests to check into rooms at Bally's, Paris Las Vegas, Caesars Palace and the Flamingo Las Vegas upon arrival at the airport. Guests can also purchase show tickets at the center, which is open from 10am to midnight daily.
They might allow guests to check their baggage at the center for delivery to their rooms.

======>also you may have seen:

Mandalay Bay resort and casino introduced its latest attraction, adding a $40 million attraction featuring some 13 species of sharks. The Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay will offer a close-up look at aquatic life. Five golden crocodiles - among only 12 known to exist - from Bangkok, Thailand. The project includes 75 different species of sharks, tropical and fresh water fish, reptiles, marine invertebrates and rays. Expectations are to expand to 100 species, with more than 3,500 animals on display. The facility covers more than 105,000 square feet and holds almost 2 million gallons of sea water. Shark Reef replicates an ancient temple that has been slowly claimed by the sea. Video monitors provide details on each of the species featured in four different exhibit areas. Visitors are surrounded by water on all sides, giving a view of what you would see looking out from a sunken ship. Recent addition is a "Hammerhead Shark"....
Ticket prices are $12.95 for adults, $9.95 for children 12 and younger.

McCarran International Airport has opened a 24 hour 14,000 sq. ft. fitness gym in the "airport basement"...facility features, exercise equipment, a steam room, sauna room, several large screen TV's.....place to check flight status. Personal trainers are available. Plans are for massages to be offered within the next few months.

Fun Book....one of the better ones is distributed free at a Circus-Circus in-casino convenience store called Market Express....book has coupons for discounts on food, drinks and midway games, plus "lucky bucks" that are worth $7.

Blue Man Group
(webmaster saw this show, lots of energy, a fun time, hard to describe all the antics, etc....but it was fun!!!)

Check out the ride to the "top" of the Eiffel Tower...cost $8, closed on bad weather/windy days...worth the elevator trip and view...quite a view from the metal platform, like being in a cage....but there are rectangular holes to take pictures thru...

Rio has updated "Masquerade Village Show in the Sky"....one of the better free shows...will be a "beach party" theme...combining circus-style performers, singers, dancers...etc...lots of energy, people go crazy for the "beaded necklaces" that they throw out to the crowds.