Frommer's Las Vegas 2004

What’s New in Las Vegas
Gee, what isn’t new in Las Vegas?
That they want to take your money
and will do so by any means necessary.
Cynical? Hardly. That is, after all, why
this town was built and don’t, for a
minute, think anything else.
Otherwise, everything is new in Las
Vegas. This town is afflicted with terminal
restlessness and must keep finding
new ways of attracting visitors who can
then be relieved of their money. Heck,
by the time we’ve finished writing this,
everything we’ve written, everything
in the whole town, will be outdated,
changed, or somehow different.
Perhaps we exaggerate. But really,
only a little. Hotels are routinely renovating,
upgrading, redecorating their
rooms, and changing their themes
(because everyone knows that a Spanish
theme will bring in more tourist
dollars than a Mardi Gras theme—that
is, until they decide it’s been long
enough with the Spanish theme and
then switch to an Asian one), and that’s
only if they aren’t blowing up the hotel
and starting over from scratch. New
restaurants with celebrity chefs and big
prices open, and longtime stalwarts
with comfort food for the ages close.
Shows that have been touted with
enormous billboards and bigger budgets
close in the blink of an eye. Please
remember this and think kindly of us if
anything in this book is inaccurate.
Because that’s why.
So, as we write this, what’s new? Or
even, what’s going to be new?
PLANNING YOUR TRIP The
Disneyfication of Vegas is pretty much
dead and gone. Do not expect a
“family-friendly” place, not at these
prices. Vegas is returning to its adult
roots, with all that entails, so you
should think twice—and then some
more—about dragging Junior along
with you to Sin City.
Having said that, you might, with
some planning, end up spending a little
bit less this year than in the most
recent past. Vegas experienced a huge
loss in revenue after September 11,
plus about a 50% drop in tourism,
resulting in about 14,000 people
being laid off, the largest labor cuts
experienced by any one city in the
nation following the terrorist attacks.
With the economy in flux, continuing
concerns about security during
travel, and all sorts of world-shaking
events occurring, tourism for Vegas is
up and down and up and down, and
what you are going to face is unpredictable.
Conventions are still coming
to town—not as huge, perhaps, as in
the past, but enough to make hotel
bookings impossible during their staging.
The rest of the time, you might
well find a bargain. For cost-cutting
tips and other useful planning advice,
see chapter 2.
ACCOMMODATIONS You’d
think that tourism dips would daunt
any plans for further expansion, but
no, not our fearless Vegas hotel honchos.
We shake our heads as reports
come in of still another giant Vegas
hotel in the planning stages. “Don’t
they have enough hotel rooms by now?”