Newsletter: Vegas Escapes: New hotels, new team, new stadium
You know how everybody used to say, “If you haven’t been to Vegas in six months, you haven’t been”? Growth was off the chart. New building was everywhere. It was go, go, go.
Suddenly it was 2008 and it was no, no, no. By September 2010, unemployment in Las Vegas-Henderson was 14.1%, according to U.S. Labor statistics from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
My name is Catharine Hamm, and I’m the travel editor for the Los Angeles Times. When the balloon burst, things got quiet for a while. But in the roller coaster that is life, we seem to be heading back toward supercharged.
That means there will be more to do and see in Vegas than ever.
It’s not as though that’s not consistently true in many smaller or less visible ways. In the city that never sleeps, never even thinks of snoozing, we have new shows (think action and immersion), new attractions for adults and kids (and adults who act like kids), a new look coming soon to Fremont Street, and new discoveries on the Colorado River.
Top it all off with the news of the return of free parking, plus Chris Erskine’s report on Nevada’s Electric Highway, and it’s Vegas for the win.
Getting hot
A new stadium. A new team. Two new resorts. A convention center expansion. If this seems familiar, it’s part of the go-go cycle we’ve seen in Vegas, but not for a while. The recession behind it, the city is taking off again, Jay Jones writes, and that can mean only one thing: There will be more to see and do than ever. Check out the timeline for putting all the new stuff in play.
Bigger, brighter, better
The Fremont Street tech arch is getting a $32-million upgrade that will make it the ultimate in high-def. Say hello to the Viva Vision canopy, which updates its 1995, lifetime-ago predecessor, Michael Hiller writes. It will run 24 hours a day now instead of just at night.
Here’s something that hasn’t changed
The Vegas sign. Happy birthday, old pal, and thanks for welcoming us to your city with such style and grace these last six decades. The piece of Googie (not to be confused with Google) design has a few secrets (even though it spilled the beans on its age) that it would like to share with you, Jay Jones writes.
And … action!
You know Cirque du Soleil, the graceful, daring, daunting, death-defying, acrobatic shows that leave us gasping for breath and asking for more? They’ve been a Vegas staple for years. But now there’s going to be a new Cirque kid in town, called “R.U.N.,” to open this fall. It’s a distinctively different Cirque production, relying on action narrative and immersion but not acrobatics, Jay Jones writes.
And … more action!
If you’re a fan of action movies, here are a couple of exhibits at MGM Grand and Treasure Island that will get your engine racing if you’re fond of “Avengers” superheroes and of Katniss Everdeen of “The Hunger Games,’” Michael Hiller writes.
Did someone say ‘free parking’?
As a matter of fact, we did. Or, more accurately, Wynn and Encore did. The two resorts are reversing course on charging guests for parking. Until recently, no one charged for parking, and suddenly everyone did. The Wynn and Encore have blessedly changed their minds, Jay Jones writes. Find out what other places are bucking the trend.
Magical mystery caves
Take a break from your games/entertainments/adult beverages of choice and check out these emerald beauties. We speak not of the gemstone but of these caves on the Colorado River. Between April and October, you can see this phenomenon on a kayak trip, Jay Jones writes.
Get some practice laps in …
… before you take off on a trip like the one below. New thrills are available for kids and their parents at Vegas Superkarts, which lets you try the twists and turns of Las Vegas Motor Speedway in a little four-stroke-engine kart, Mary Forgione writes.
On the dark desert highway, cool wind in their hair
Reporter Chris Erskine and photographer Robert Gourley took to Nevada’s Electric Highway (U.S. 95, Reno to Vegas) in a high-tech ride on a trip that also seemed right out of the 1800s. Will the digital age destroy the all-American car trip right in the heart of the Nevada desert, Erskine asks?
Where to reach us and read us and join the party
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