With winter just officially being declared and nips of cold air and alcohol flowing in the veins and arteries of the denizens of Las Vegas, the Monte Carlo is joining in the spirit of the season, announcing a second Minus 5 Ice Lounge, in the space currently occupied by the Lance Burton Magic Show and an MGM Mirage Players Club kiosk. 
The new boomerang-shaped lounge will be unveiled early-to-mid February and will not feature a lodge bar like its older sister in the Mandalay Place shops, though it will be 300 square feet larger.
From the outside, guests will be able to gaze through a regenerating ice wall at television screens inside. From there they will suite up in Minus 5’s gear including a parka, hat, mittens and booties to prepare guests for temperatures of 27 degrees Fahrenheit, not to mention $100,000 worth of icicles, chandeliers and ice chaise lounges complete with draped faux-animals skins.
Accommodating up to 110 guests (as opposed to just 65 at Mandalay Place), guests sip vodka cocktails from ice cups made from New Zealand water.
Up in the development air are new possibilities of a stripper pole and a fireplace– fire and ice gone wild?
Filed under entertainment, Las Vegas, news, Uncategorized
Justin Timberlake may want to take a page from the book of illustrious Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman when it comes to promoting liquor in Las Vegas. While Goodman occasionally makes appearances with showgirls and gin, 
Timberlake now likes to dance and sing his way through Las Vegas appearances with his new 901 tequila buddy. He’s been spotted at XS at Encore, the Playboy Club at the Palms, and elsewhere swigging on the yummy brew.
901 is the area code of Memphis where Timberlake grew up and according to Timberlake, “It’s also the time that the evening stops and the night officially begins.”
901 tequila will be available in May, sold exclusively in Las Vegas, New York and Los Angeles.
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Some people in Las Vegas are quick to contend that smoking, bars, and entertainment are inextricably linked together. After all, how better can one relax? It’s just the right thing to do, right?
But for almost three years a Nevada voter-approved no-smoking law has been in effect that prohibits smoking in restaurants, bars that serve food, slot machine areas of grocery sorters, arcades and about every public place except the gaming areas of casinos. Though the law exists, it has very little bit to it, with few even getting a citation.
Now that measure is headed for a legislative showdown. And when the smoke settles, smokers may just be headed out to light cigs in their favorite watering hole to the delight of bar and tavern owners.
The Nevada Senate voted 14-5 last Friday to advance bill SB372 that would allow adults to smoke in bars that serve food effective December 9. The bill is also expected to be received well by the Assembly.
Business owners contend the smoking ban was responsible for closing 47 bars in Clark County and the loss of hundreds and jobs. They further said profits are off 15 to 50 percent and their customer based has dropped by 25 percent.
The smoking ban also lost $41 million for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority when a cigar and smokers’ convention moved to New Orleans where patrons could smoke on the convention floor.
The Nevada Tavern Owners’ Association has further challenged the constitutionality of the smoking ban in an April 6 lawsuit awaiting the Nevada Supreme Court’s decision.
However, anti-smoking advocates contend that tavern and bar owners are ignoring the fact that the economy has bone into a recession, using the ban as a scapegoat for business failure.
Adding water to dowse the cigs, opponents say, smoking is just plain deadly, citing studies from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention that show smokers cost the country $96 billion a year in direct health care costs, and an additional $97 billion a year in lost productivity.
Filed under food, Las Vegas, news, Uncategorized
The post-mortem is in for what’s commonly referred to as “The Show,” and what’s officially known as the annual Nightclub & Bar Convention & Trade Show, part of the International Hospitality Week, that was held last week for four days, March 1 though 4, in Las Vegas. 
But The Show was definitely not dead – and nobody was spotted reading any last rites- especially great news in our sour, but always sweet Las Vegas economy. Thousands of bar and nightclub conventioneers, though, literally hoisted-elbow-to-elbow, packing the Las Vegas Convention Center to check out the large array of new bar products and equipment from around the country and, of course, taste scrumptious food samples and imbibe on out-of-this-world libations.
The good news is that Las Vegas represented the largest-volume of independent nightclubs, bars, and lounges in the United States for 2008. Bad economy or not, Las Vegas proved once again that successful bar and nightclub operations is an art and science revenue reality: Las Vegas is the home of 21 of the top 100 nightclubs and bars in the nation, drawing in a combined revenue from $360 million to $570 million in 2008. Further adding to the prestigious ranking, Las Vegas was home to 6 of the top 10 venues.
“Clearly, Las Vegas maintains its dominance as a nightclub destination,” says David Henkes, vice president of Technomic and leader of the firm’s adult beverage practice.
Such are the findings of the primary and secondary research study undertaken by Nightclub & Bar magazine and Chicago-based market research firm Technomic, Inc., who partnered together to develop the first revenue-based listing of top-producing independent nightclubs, bars and lounges in the nation.
The survey used to develop the Top 100 list showed that 60 percent of respondents experienced increases in total revenues in 2008; only 11 percent experienced sales decline and 29 percent reported no change from 2007.
On average, alcohol accounted for 71 percent of total revenues, with cocktails generating the lion’s share of drink sales – 52 percent – and beer and spirits contributing 38 percent and 10 percent, respectively. Food sales accounted for an average of seven percent of venue sales.
Henkes projects that nightclubs, bars and lounges will fare better than their casual dining colleagues in the face of the continued downward economic spiral. However, he cautioned that as unemployment rises and the recession continues to impact more and more consumers, the young adult demographic that favors these independent nightclubs, bars and lounges will likely curb their discretionary spending.
“To succeed in 2009, operators will need a clear value proposition: understand why people come to your venue and deliver an experience they can’t get elsewhere,” Henkes affirms. “In the best of times, it’s difficult to keep a hot club hot – many of these Top 100 clubs have done so continuously for years – but all bar operators will need to work smart to keep going and growing. Each individual concept needs to continuously reinvent itself to stay fresh for today’s customer, who is becoming more discerning in where they spend their entertainment dollars.”
To wet your whistle, here’s the ranking of Las Vegas venues from the nation’s Top 100 revenue 2008 listing : Tao Nightclub (1) – pictured in inset, Tryst (2), Pure (4), Jet (5), The Bank Nightclub (7), LAX (8), Body English (11), Moon Nightclub (12), ghostbar (13), Prive (17), Playboy Club (21), Drais After Hours (22), Christina Audigier (27), rumjungle (28), Studio 54 (29), Blush (31), Rain in the Desert (35), Stoney’s Rockin Country Bar (38), Krave Nightclub (44), Tabu Ultra Lounge (60), and Poetry Nightclub (79).
Bottom’s up- here’s hoping for a good bar and nightclub 2009 performance.
Filed under entertainment, food, Las Vegas, news, travel, Uncategorized
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