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Las Vegas is flying into 2022! The city hosted three of the conventions in January. CES, World of Concrete, and SHOT Show are usually some of the biggest conventions of the year.
Attendance was lower than usual because of the Omicron strain of COVID-19, but the shows went on. That’s an accomplishment as the world continues to move forward.
The hottest news and rumors in Las Vegas surround a residency that was either postponed or canceled. The answer may be different depending on who’s asked.
Adele postpones Caesars Palace residency
One day before Adele’s Caesars Palace residency was scheduled to begin, the singer took to Twitter to announce all shows would have to be rescheduled.
All dates will be rescheduled
More info coming soon
💔 pic.twitter.com/k0A4lXhW5l— Adele (@Adele) January 20, 2022
The teary message was just the beginning of the drama surrounding the last-minute cancelation. First Adele blamed COVID-19. Then there were rumors about the production not working out. More rumors on DeuxMoi and PageSix said her boyfriend played a role in the postponement.
Another rumor about Adele’s residency is that there were already talks to extend “Weekends With Adele” into December. Now people are concerned the shows won’t be rescheduled at all. It seems as though everyone is blaming someone else for the cancelation.
Who knew there was so much drama in Adele’s world? There’s so much money on the line for both Caesars and Adele that it’s easy to imagine this will eventually get worked out but who knows?
Stay tuned…
More Las Vegas show news
While Adele has production drama and can’t get her residency started, Katy Perry just added a slew of shows to her Resorts World residency. There are an additional 16 shows that will take place between May and August.
In case you missed it, Perry’s residency has incredible production that includes multiple sets, plenty of dancers, and costume changes every few songs. There’s even a scene in the show with a giant toilet bowl.
Bruno Mars and Anderson Paak’s duo, known as Silk Sonic, will take to the stage at Dolby Live inside Park MGM for a residency. The shows will take place from Feb. 25 through April 2.
The Grammy Awards decided to move its awards show from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. This show will take place a day at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 3. That’s the day after Silk Sonic ends its residency at Park MGM across the street.
The Strat continues to offer classic rock residencies. Cheap Trick has four shows in late Feb. and March for its first Las Vegas residency outside of The Venetian. Additionally, Sammy Hagar added six more shows to his sold-out residency at The Strat.
Could people be bored with the Blue Man Group? Vital Vegas has a source that says the show at Luxor is in “serious trouble.”
MGM Rewards debuts this month
Corporations are already reporting quarterly earnings. While the business side of things may not be interesting, the casino operators often make major announcements before and after. Thinking about the near and far future of Las Vegas is almost as much fun as enjoying a trip to Sin City.
In late January, MGM Resorts announced its loyalty reward program is changing from M Life to MGM Rewards on Feb.1.
The new name is the least important part of the new reward program. MGM Resorts is changing how guests earn rewards with the new program and unfortunately Las Vegas will see the worst of the new program.
MGM Rewards puts all of its US casinos on the same program. Visitors to MGM casinos outside of Las Vegas will find more ways to earn benefits.
However, Tier Credits have been greatly devalued in Las Vegas. The new ways for MGM guests outside of Las Vegas already exist for Las Vegas visitors.
The major benefit for upper-tier members (Gold+ and better) visiting Las Vegas will be waived resort fees. This is a savings of around $50 on hotel fees per night.
Caesars rebrands Bally’s while Tropicana owners ponder using the name
Caesars recently announced it was renovating Bally’s and rebranding it as Horseshoe Las Vegas. The hotel rooms have been renovated recently so the changes will be on the casino floor, common areas, venues, and exterior.
The announcement of the changes to Bally’s came just a couple of months after Caesars shared its plan to move the World Series of Poker to Paris and Bally’s this summer. The renovations should be completed by the end of the year.
Now that Caesars has moved on from the Bally’s name, Bally’s Corp. (formerly Twin Rivers) can use the name when it takes over ownership of the Tropicana later this year. The company doesn’t have specific plans for the property yet but it could implode the casino to make room for a new baseball stadium for the Oakland A’s if the team decides to move to Las Vegas.
Demolishing Vegas icons?
Speaking of demolishing an icon, Hard Rock confirmed that it will demolish the volcano in front of The Mirage. This isn’t much of a surprise as this was rumored to be the plan when the Hard Rock announced it planned to build a guitar-shaped hotel tower after its deal to buy operations of The Mirage closes later this year.
In the meantime, The Mirage volcano will still shoot fire Mon.-Sun. at the top of each hour from 7-11 p.m.
Rumors are once again swirling that MGM Resorts might make some changes to its properties on the south end of the Vegas Strip. MGM’s casinos in the area are Excalibur, Luxor, and Mandalay Bay.
The company says it could add a hotel tower to existing land. MGM may also be considering imploding Luxor to build something from scratch.
New Las Vegas hotel rooms and fees
Looking for new hotel rooms in Las Vegas? Check out the renovations of the Nobu Hotel tower at Caesars Palace and the Aria for its Sky Suites and SkyVillas. Last year, Wynn Las Vegas has started renovating its hotel rooms, too.
Virgin Hotels Las Vegas tried to be a little different than other Las Vegas properties when it first opened by not charging a resort fee. Well, those days are done. Virgin now charges a $45 resort fee each night.
After taxes, the Virgin resort fee is an extra $51 per night. This is a large price increase as weeknight hotel rooms are rarely over $100 before taxes and fees. For example, a hotel room that used to be $100 is now about $150.
Las Vegas must be coming back strong if a hotel is hiking hotel room prices.
New bars and restaurants in Las Vegas
Resorts World Las Vegas got off to a bumpy start with technology issues on opening weekend. While the property is still finding its groove, there have been numerous staff changes with more seemingly on the way.
Meanwhile, Resorts World continues to open new venues to eat and/or drink. Tiger Sugar, Bar Zazu, Caviar Bar, 8 Cigar Lounge, Carversteak, Rose Rooftop at Zouk open are all open. The food at Carversteak was outstanding. One unique offering is the ability to choose a knife for dining and have it shipped home. There are even knives on display.
The popular Ghost Bar will return when Palms reopens this spring, though the new casino operators haven’t offered too much information on what guests should expect.
There will be many celebrities opening restaurants in Las Vegas this year. However, the most anticipated restaurant opening may be happening at Caesars Palace when Peter Luger opens its first Las Vegas steakhouse later this year. Peter Luger will replace the recently shuttered Rao’s.
Las Vegas sports news
Las Vegas is hosting the NFL Prow Bowl and NHL All-Star game this month. The NHL will actually have a skills competition event that takes place on the lake in front of Bellagio.
The NFL opened its first retail store at the Forum Shops inside Caesars Palace just prior to the Pro Bowl game. This could be a hotspot when Las Vegas hosts the NFL Draft later this year.
Las Vegas has long been a rumored location for a Major League Soccer (MLS) team. It appears as though this rumor may finally come to fruition sooner than later.
Speaking of sports rumors that have been around for nearly a decade, Las Vegas may finally host a Formula 1 (F1) race. Multiple outlets are reporting this news. There’s even a neat video of F1 in Las Vegas. Caesars Palace hosted a couple of races in the 1980s.
In January, the end of the NFL season meant the end of football contests. Circa Sports awarded $11 million in prizes for winners of its two football contests.
The Circa Survivor contest had five winners taking home a total of $7 million. Circa Million III gave winners of the no-rake pick ’em contest $4 million in prizes for the season. The contest winner took home $1 million.
