M Resort launches "Win buffet for life"

M Resort Spa Casino, one of the newest resort casinos in Las Vegas, is turning heads with its newest promotion – buffets for life. Beginning Monday, August 2, the 390 room boutique resort is giving more than 150 guests the opportunity to win buffets for life, one year or six months as part of its "Biggest Winner Club" promotion, resort officials announced today.

Guests can earn one entry with the purchase of any meal at the resort's Studio B Buffet. The buffet was recently awarded the coveted title of "Best Buffet in Las Vegas" from the city's daily newspaper. The buffet features more than 200 items daily and guests can enjoy beer and wine selections at no additional cost. The state-of-the-art buffet includes more than 117 television screens, a live cooking show inside its custom-designed cooking studio and unsurpassed views of the famous Las Vegas Strip.
The "Biggest Winner Club" prize includes:

• One VIP Studio B Buffet pass (for life, one year or six months) entitling the winner to enjoy a complimentary buffet for two daily.
• Priority Line Pass and seating in Studio B for up to four (4) guests.
• Custom-designed Studio B VIP t-shirt, hat and M apron.
• Two tickets to any Martini Time show, based on availability.

Drawings for the winners will be held every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7 pm at Studio B Buffet. Winners will have 24 hours to claim their "Biggest Winner Club" prize. More than 150 guests will be awarded entry to the "Biggest Winner Club" wining buffets for life, one year or six months.

Great map of Vegas strip and casinos

Looking for a great map of the Vegas strip - check out these two:

http://wizardofvegas.com/maps/black_map.jpg

(the one below even shows  where Walgreens/CVS are located)

http://www.lasvegasstripmap.info/lasvegasstripmap.htm

Video of Aria publicity pictures

Here's what it takes to take those glorious publicity pictures we see of Vegas hotels and casinos - and for that matter, the pics we see of cruise ships, hotels, spas and other exciting destinations. Watch carefully - it's quick time-lapse photos of the set up and then a look at the final photograph for each set up.

Vegas Baby! from TNC NYC on Vimeo.

Thanks to one of my fave blogs, Vegas Tripping, for finding this gem.

2009 Trippies - best and worst of Vegas - are in

Vegas Tripping has posted this year's Trippies, which for those who don't know, is the Oscar of all things Las Vegas.

Every year hoards of Vegas residents, fans, fanatics etc vote on the best and worst in several categories - downtown hotel, strip hotel, casino, slots, buffet, etc etc. In addition to the reader votes, the site has an editor-recommended vote for best/worst in each category.

If you pride yourself on keeping up with what's working well in Vegas, and which once-hot-place is now so-yesterday, this is it.

Trippies

Gaming Guide - an overview of craps, poker, let it ride and more

Thanks to Vegas Tripping I came across the gaming guide on the CityCenter (Aria) web site. This is a handy reference including pictures of the table layouts for many games.

It's not completely intuitive - but when you get to the front page of the guide there is a pull down menu on the bottom left. Just select the game you want to find, and when it comes up on the screen, double click to enlarge the image. Poker, BlackJack, Craps, Let it Ride etc are all explained, and it's enough information to get you acquainted.

By way of critique, I can't image why they printed the copy in a hard-to-read light blue, but I've long-since learned that web designers without serious UI experience are prone to sell clients on silly design errors, and no one says,"You're an idiot."

Vegas casinos in general don't pay serious attention to the usability of their web sites, and frequently stint on information or include design tactics that no respectable dot com would ever do. For that matter, most casinos suffer from design problems in all their materials. Caesars Palace once sent out a magazine that was so unreadable throughout that I wrote the general manager (and to his credit, it did improve in future editions.

Well, all that is another story, for another time. For now, bookmark the Aria gaming guide and the next time someone says, "I'd like to play craps but it looks so intimidating..." you know where to go.

Batali launches farmers market at Palazzo

Whodda thought that the Daily Fiasco, the hot spot for the inside word on everything about the club scene throughout Vegas, would be the online source making a splash with news that Chef Mario Batali kicked off Bet on the Farm at Palazzo.

The idea is to promote sustainable food and wine, showcasing produce from regional growers, bread from local bakers and eco-friendly wine. Batali and Joe Bastianich’s restaurants Carnevino at Palazzo and B&B Ristorante and Enoteca San Marco at The Venetian are the first two Certified Green Restaurants on the Strip, as per the Green Restaurant Association.

(Photo by Erik Kabik | Retna)