Anthony Curtis

The Las Vegas City Council has approved a project in the vicinity of the AREA15 entertainment complex. The “New Vegas Immersive District” will feature a 200-room hotel and a 100,000-square-foot horror experience in collaboration with Universal Parks and Resort. Originally announced in 2023 as a stand-alone attraction called “Universal Horror Unleashed,” the footprint has since expanded from 20 to 36 acres and the hotel added, with a scheduled opening in 2025. Longer-range plans for the district include 585 multifamily housing units and 320,000 square feet of office space.

If you haven’t been paying close attention, you might not know that this is Grand Prix week in Las Vegas. Last November’s race was one of the city’s biggest events and this year’s will be, too, but it doesn’t have anywhere near the buzz of F1 No. 1. Prices for rooms and tickets are down and so is the enthusiasm, but the effects linger. Part of the race’s course runs from the Venetian to Aria, so that section of the Strip, as well as the streets in the vicinity to the east, will be blocked off. If you’re not paying the (still high) fees for a seat in the grandstands along the course, there’s no reliable way to catch a glimpse of the race, as the pedestrian bridges over the Strip along the race route have been outfitted with view-obstructing coverings. Recommendation: Watch it on TV.

A project with the “placeholder” name Galileo has been proposed for a 27-acre parcel on the north Strip. Targeting the location that was formerly Wet ‘n’ Wild and recently the site of the never- started All Net arena project, plans for Galileo include three towers — one of which would be the city’s tallest at 752 feet (17 feet taller than Fontainebleau) — with 2,500 hotel rooms and condos, along with a 6,000-seat theater, a 120,000-square-foot convention area and an 18,000-square-foot “NBA-ready” arena, but no casino so far. The plan will require approval from the Federal Aviation Administration due to the height of the towers. If green-lighted, construction could start as early as the first quarter of 2025 and finish sometime in 2029.

The holiday season is traditionally prime time for finding low room rates in Las Vegas, and this year follows suit. Last week, the researchers at the Las Vegas Advisor canvassed every casino in town, looking for the best leads on lodging in December. The rates below were available either by consulting casino websites or using third-party reservations options. Rates are higher during the National Finals Rodeo, which runs through Dec. 14. All told, 26 casinos have rooms going for under $40 (base price; does not include resort fees), the same total as last year. Here’s the lineup (rates change often and are not guaranteed).

Resort fees and parking. No one likes ’em. Except for the casinos. Resort fees, the now almost universal add-on to per-night hotel rates, at MGM properties have been raised by $5 to $8 depending on the resort. The increases result in fees ranging from $45-per-night at Luxor, Excalibur and New York-New York to $55-per-night at Aria, Bellagio and Cosmopolitan. Parking fees have also been raised at MGM properties, up $2 across the board to $20-per-day weekdays and $25 weekends.

This year’s “America’s Party” fireworks display will be launched from the rooftops of nine Strip casinos MGM Grand, Planet Hollywood, Aria, Caesars Palace, Venetian, Treasure Island, Resorts World, Fontainebleau and The STRAT. The show’s more than 80,000 individual pyrotechnics will be launched during an eight-minute presentation that will be synced with a soundtrack of hits from Mariah Carey, Black-Eyed Peas, ZZ Top, Panic at the Disco and others, and aired on local radio stations. The Strip will be closed to traffic for the evening and open to pedestrians who want to celebrate on the Boulevard. A separate fireworks show will be launched from the rooftop of the Plaza downtown.

Here's an hour-by-hour, dollar-for-dollar diary of some of the best times in your life

Following a workman-like 2024, during which there were no significant casino openings, two major closings (Tropicana and Mirage), and lots of renovations and upgrades, 2025 looks have a different profile. While there are no big openings scheduled again this year, details of several projects will be revealed, and more importantly, a few up-in-the-air scenarios will be sorted out. Most anticipated among them are the fates of the still-in-limbo Las Vegas Athletics baseball stadium, which may or may not become a reality on the former Tropicana site, and the location of two proposed NBA arenas. Also, construction is expected to start on several casino projects, including Dream on the south Strip, an as-yet-unnamed center-­Strip resort from Golden Nugget owner Tilman Fertitta, Cadence Crossing on Boulder Highway and the conversion of the former Mirage to Hard Rock.

What’s being touted as the largest prize in football-contest history, totaling $14,266,000, was split among eight winners of the Circa Survivor NFL handicapping contest. It’s a winner-take-all format, but all eight wound up with a 20-0 record in the NFL regular season to force the split, each winning $1,783,250. Going into the final week, there were 18 players remaining out of more than 14,000 entrants, but 10 of the teams selected lost, either on the last play of the game or in overtime. An additional $6 million, divided among several place winners, with $1 million going to the winner, was paid out in the Circa Millions contest.

Las Vegas’ first big opening of 2025 has arrived with the completion of construction on Blvd, the massive four-story, 400,000-square-foot retail, dining and entertainment project on the Strip. Located across Aria in the space that was formerly the Hawaiian Marketplace, Blvd’s tenants will open throughout the year. One of the highlights is an 8,000-square-foot In-N-Out Burger that will be the second largest in the chain and have a patio overlooking the Strip, though that’s not expected until 2026. Overlook, an outside seating area at the top of Blvd with a stunning Strip view, is open now and free to access.