Las Vegas Weekly

May 11, 2009 · 1:57 PM

Strip Developments: New hotel, swim night and chef’s menu

By Robin Leach

Victor Drai at XS during the day.

Photo: TVT

A new hotel is coming to the Strip, despite the economic doom and gloom scenarios peddled about Las Vegas by our media colleagues. It’s name? Hotel 32! In fact, it’s a hotel within a hotel. Monte Carlo executives have begun an email marketing campaign to introduce travel agents to the upgraded 32nd floor of the Monte Carlo that was damaged by a rooftop sign fire in January 2008. The new beautiful, spacious and modern rooms will be serviced by a club lounge. Click HERE for a sneak peek.

*Nightclub czar Victor Drai tells me that after Memorial Day, he will throw swim parties every Sunday night in the pool outside his luxurious XS nightclub at the Encore. He will keep the pool open until 4 a.m. for partygoers who want to cool off from the nighttime high temperatures. MGM’s CityCenter head honcho Bobby Baldwin also was in the owner’s booth the night I was there with Victor.

*Super chef Joel Robuchon tells me he’s created four new menus ranging from $89 to $195 per person to select their own gastronomic items as they “create their own dining experience.” You get to pick the price, and then you pick the number of courses. It’s a rare opportunity for diners to indulge in The Pope of Cooking’s excellence while exploring his adventures in food. There are four items to choose from in each of the six presentations at his Mansion restaurant in MGM, and having seen the menu, I can vouch for its mouth-watering perfection.

*The 12 top star chefs at the Wynn and Encore are getting their own retail kitchen store. A Taste of Wynn will enable fans to shop in each chef’s department within the store. From Our Table to Yours, located on the shopping esplanade between the two casino resorts, will offer cookbooks, crockery, cutlery, table linens and cookware.

It is scheduled to open this fall.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

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