Las Vegas Weekly

January 7, 2009 · 1:55 PM

Strip Scribbles: Rumor mill about Strip hotel changes continues to churn

By Robin Leach

Sheldon Adelson.

Photo: Las Vegas Sun

The rumor mill is intensifying by the minute now that the MGM hotel group has confirmed major changes, cutbacks and delays at its massive CityCenter project. Click HERE for our breaking news story posted before 7 a.m. today. Now there’s rumblings that MGM will sell its Mirage property to the out-of-town Penn National Gaming that has always wanted a Las Vegas presence to add to its 11 casinos in the Midwest and South in Louisiana and Mississippi. Wall Street insiders tell me that Penn National is the only company with plenty of cash in the bank that is able to shell out the $1.2 billion necessary to purchase The Mirage. MGM PR wiz Alan Feldman says he knows of no such transaction in the works, but the experts say Penn National wants to have its Nevada gaming license in place before closing on the deal within the next 90 days.

Alan also denied until this morning all those regular, ever-increasing rumblings we’d heard about at MGM’s massive, $13 billion CityCenter project pertaining to The Light Group’s management of the Harmon Hotel under construction there, and the twisted tales of one hotel tower coming down to be rebuilt because of a top-eight-floor construction malfunction!

There’s also steady chatter about two Israeli realty groups who own land in Las Vegas. One wants to build a four-tower, 6,745-room Edge hotel, casino and retail center on 60 acres just west of the Hard Rock Hotel -- that’s where George Clooney once planned a black-tie, up-market casino venture that never materialized. If this came to fruition, and it’s due to go in front of Clark County planners today, it would be the largest hotel in the world. The other Israeli group denies printed stories in Tel Aviv that it wants to enlist Venetian/Palazzo owner Sheldon Adelson’s assistance with the Plaza New York project it plans to build opposite Steve Wynn’s new the Encore where the old Stardust Hotel and Frontier resort existed before implosion. It’s also the site where the initial steel structures of the proposed Echelon resort now stand unfinished. Sheldon also denied the Israeli newspaper reports.

*Updating from yesterday’s report on the debut of the weekly industry party at the new XS mega club in the Encore. Turns out that by the time dawn’s first light broke, more than 4,300 revelers had walked through its doors. There were so many people trying to get access to XS, Metro Police report that three lanes of traffic on the Strip were in total gridlock from the resort’s entrances on Wynn Way all the way back to the Fashion Show and Palazzo intersection! Among the celebrities in attendance were UFC fighters Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture and Forrest Griffin, actors Dennis Haskins, Obba Babatunde and Anthony McKay, Joe Jackson (patriarch of the Jackson pop music family), magician David Darkstone and former NBA player Jerome Williams.

Photo: TVT

Chef Susan Feniger of Border Grill in Mandalay Bay.

*My friend celebrity chef Susan Feniger from the hip, mod-Mex restaurant Border Grill at Mandalay Bay is now only a short time away from opening her new L.A. restaurant Street. The “Too Hot Tamale” is ready to knock the ball out of the park and has produced a video sneak preview to prove it at www.eatatstreet.com. As I told you months ago as construction got underway, if it’s a success there, she’s definitely bringing the unique concept here to Las Vegas!

Photo: Harrah's

Photo: Harrah's

*My friend Chuck Zito, former Hells Angel who appeared on the HBO drama Oz, is a regular Las Vegas visitor, and on his most recent trip here took time out to see the comedy show Vinny Favorito at the Flamingo. Chuck tells a chilling yet hilarious, violent but truthful life story in his autobiography Street Justice. He grew up on the mean streets of Brooklyn and the Bronx and became president of the New York chapter of the Hells Angels before becoming bodyguard to many of the world’s biggest celebrities. Now he tells me that the USA cable network is turning the book into a new TV series appropriately titled Street Justice -- and his new martial arts video Street Survival System will be released shortly.

Photo: Jacob Dallegos/Drai's

J.J. Jones, Jesse Waits and Kid Rock at Drai's.

Photo: Scott Harrison/Retna/www.harrisonphotos.com

Carmen Electra.

Star surveillance

Kid Rock spent an hour in the Imperial Palace Auto Collections, having met owner Rob Williams last year at a car auction in Lapeer, Mich., so he decided to swing by the center Strip showcase while he was performing at the Palms. The rock rapper also hit Drai’s After Hours inside Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall at center Strip. … Sexy, pint-sized powerhouse Carmen Electra shopped up a storm at the Palazzo shops and purchased several items at the Annie Creamcheese vintage boutique. … Legendary rocker and ZZ Top frontman Billy Gibbons was at Frankie’s Tiki Room drinking Bud Light while his friends sipped on the signature Kahiki Kia cocktail, a blend of coconut run, banana liqueur and pineapple juice. Billy loved the place so much that he went to the nearby Las Vegas Premium Outlets and purchased pajamas from Brooks Brothers as a gift for the bartender. Before they left Frankie’s a second time, the group purchased two dozen of the collectable signature tiki mugs. … Planet Hollywood’s Strip House executive chef John Schenk appeared on NBC’s Today show from CES here live this morning demonstrating how to make potatoes Romanoff. … Paris and Nicky’s proud parents, Kathy and Rick Hilton, and their sons, Barron and Conrad, dined at Lavo in the Palazzo on two consecutive nights. … Actress Mena Suvari, dressed in shiny black leggings, and her fiance Simone Sestito also returned to Lavo a second time for Mediterranean menu specialties including Greek salad, eggplant parmigiano and sea bass -- sipping only on iced tea and espressos with dinner. … Next door at Tao in The Venetian for a second consecutive night was comedy star David Spade, who brought actress Nicollette Sheridan with him in a group of friends but sipping martinis intimately alongside each other. Sitting nearby was The Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, who was joined by eight friends including actress Danielle Panabaker, who will be starring in the upcoming Friday the 13th remake. Also at Tao was actor Efren Ramirez from Napoleon Dynamite … Aaron Lewis, lead singer of Staind, hung out at Carey Hart’s Wasted Space in the Hard Rock Hotel with friends after his two Vegas performances. … Somehow the very pregnant Jenna Jameson and her beau Tito Ortiz made it onto the dance floor at Blush, where the fighter guarded her protectively from anybody dancing too close for comfort. Also there were BMX pro Kevin Robinson dancing atop a banquette, basketball legend Robert Horry, baseball all-star Jason Giambi and poker pro Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari. … And two singers from the Robbie Knievel jump spectacular over The Mirage volcano returned to Jet: American Idol Season 7 winner David Cook and rocker Scott Weiland both gave mini-song showcases.

Photo: Brian Steffy/Blush

Antonio Esfandiari.

Photo: The Light Group

David Cook on New Year's Eve.

Photo: The Light Group

Scott Weiland on New Year's Eve.

*In these troubled economic times, I’m keeping my eyes out for unique bargains here in Las Vegas that you can tell all your friends around the country about so that they come visit! Real estate mogul Donald Trump has just decreed that his Trump International Hotel here can extend its $99-a-night room rate for locals and their families and friends through March 31. In addition, he’s thrown in a 25% discount at his DJT signature restaurant from Sunday through Thursday for breakfast, lunch or dinner! Yes, those luxurious floor-to-ceiling-windowed suites with European kitchens, marble bathrooms with spa tubs and sleep systems complete with 500-thread count linens, are all included in the remarkable $99 price!

The creative guys at Stack in The Mirage have come up with a unique marketing ploy with a very reasonable $150-per-person price tag! You get seven choices for appetizers and dinner in the smart, chic, sophisticated Fix, plus tickets to the late show of The Beatles’ Cirque du Soleil production of Love and a complimentary drink afterwards in the Beatles Revolution lounge. Now that’s a deal to Love!

Photo: Erik Kabik/Retna/www.erikkabikphoto.com

DJ AM.

Photo: Erik Kabik/Retna/www.erikkabikphoto.com

Travis Barker.

Tonight’s tip

One of the biggest events of the week is when TRV$, better known as tattooed drummer Travis Barker, formerly of Blink-182, partners with his friend DJ AM, real name Adam Goldstein, for a live performance. It’s the first show of the New Year in Las Vegas for the pair who narrowly escaped death from a fiery plane crash last year. It’s also their first time back at LAX in the Luxor since June. … The opening-night party for the adult video industry’s 2009 AVN Adult Entertainment Expo kicks off at Jet, and you can expect a plethora of pulchritude baring scads of skin at the swinging affair. … Heating up the sizzling, steamy competition for attention at LAX will be the official Wicked Pictures party with five of today’s hottest triple-X starlets -- Kaylani Lei, Jessica Drake, Kirsten Price, Mikayla Mendez and Alektra Blue. They’ll also appear there tomorrow night and again Saturday night after the 2009 AVN Awards show, each time in a different barely there dress showing off their assets to the full!

Photo: Joe Coomber

Tera Patrick.

Tomorrow’s tease

If you want to know where adult movie stars go to play, we’ve got the full rundown of their dusk-to-dawn party patrol. From porn princesses Tera Patrick and Stormy Daniels to controversial celebrities Dave Navarro and Bubba the Love Sponge at their nightclub balls, we have the full ROYAL ROBIN RUNDOWN of everything that’s X-rated (and barely clothed) for the next three nights. We’ve also got our three-pack photo special with the Godfather of Funk, George Clinton, with his Parliament Funkadelics; Staind singer Aaron Lewis as he kicks off his solo acoustic tour; and The Wailers, the group that reggae royal Bob Marley led with bass player Aston Barrett to become the most beloved group of its kind in the world. Plus, we party with those bisexual identical twin sisters Rikki and Vikki Mongeon, better known as the Ikki Twins, from MTV’s hit reality TV series A Double Shot at Love.

— From Vegas Deluxe

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