Unlike years past, there are no confirmed plans to open any new major casinos on The Strip or anywhere else in town for that matter this calendar year. There are a couple of possibilities. The Cosmopolitan, a 3,000 room hotel casino wedged between CityCenter and Bellagio will probably be completed this year but it is currently owned by a bank that is struggling to either sell it or find someone to run it, so the chances of it actually opening during calendar 2010 are pretty slim. Ditto the bankrupt and dormant Fontainebleau on the north end of The Strip next door to The Riviera. A new owner should be chosen via auction this month but it is expected to take at least a year to complete the project so that's looking more like 2011, also.

Caesars Palace is the one of the only hotels on The Strip that is poised to open an expansion. Their new Octavius Tower was supposed to bow in 2009 but the downturn in tourism put that on hold until things pick back up. Whether or not that happens in 2010 is still in doubt. The same thing applies to the non-gaming Harmon Hotel at CityCenter, which is also in mothballs for now.

CityCenter's Veer Towers will open in 2010 but that's a residential only property so not much for tourists to see.

There's a little bit more going on in the showrooms. Cirque du Soleil's next production, Viva Elvis, is scheduled to open at Aria in February and Barry Manilow will make his move to Paris Las Vegas in March. There are also rumors that Beyonce may do a series of dates at Encore Las Vegas and that Celine Dion may return to Caesars Palace. The Las Vegas Hilton is reportedly feverishly looking for a name to replace Barry now that his run has ended there.

There will of course be new restaurants and new nightclubs although I haven't heard of any that get my pulse racing yet.

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The hotel has a new main entrance as of late 2009 with a landscaped drive leading to a Porte Corchere and a lobby designed primarily for the Rush Tower rooms but available to anyone checking in. It is done in golden earth tones with a swirling crystal chandelier structure offsetting a 75,000 gallon aquarium at the Chart House restaurant right behind the main desk. A couple of boutique stores and some additional casino space is also featured in the 2009 update.

The sometimes stark white and gold French Riviera feeling of yore was replaced by a richer color scheme of earth tones - deep browns, creamy whites, glowing oranges offset by vibrant splashes of green and red here and there. A bit more casino space was added but even though the basic footprint of the main floor is roughly the same, you really won't recognize the place because the difference is just that dramatic with new carpets, wall-treatments, lighting fixtures, and more contributing to a sense of freshness and newness that you rarely see in Downtown Las Vegas.

Everything has a better sense of space - something that was desperately needed considered how cramped the place felt before. New machines and tables combine with the new decor scheme to turn this into a genuinely enjoyable place in which to lose your life savings.

Since owners Landry''s is first and foremost a restaurant chain, it's no great surprise that they added new eateries to the mix. The buffet was completely redone (and is quite good), while new entries include their trademark Vic and Anthony's, a lovely and intimate space serving up traditional steakhouse fare, the Grotto, an Italian joint that is open and airy to the new pool area, and a Chart House seafood restaurant complete with a massive aquarium is included in the 2009 update.

The showroom was gutted and redone, transforming a converted ballroom with uncomfortable banquet chairs into a full-blown theater with comfy seats and plenty of legroom. The spa was also overhauled with a light and bright look.

The pool area is the centerpiece of the transformation of The Golden Nugget. Surrounded by three sides on glass facing into the hotel, a recreation deck surrounds a deep (although not particularly large) pool, a giant aquarium, and a bar. Overlooking the whole thing is a second level with cabanas and the start of a water slide that actually passes through that shark filled aquarium on its way to splashdown. A third-floor area that keeps younger kids at bay was added in 2009 that features more luxurious cabanas, daybeds, a bar, and a shallow but gorgeous heated infinity pool. The whole package is branded as the H20 pool club and is open to the public for a fee.

The 25-story Rush Tower is the 2009 addition to the room inventory, with 500 units available in a variety of configurations. Standard rooms feature a sizeable bathroom with wood floors and accents and a richly appointed sleeping area with tons of amenities including a built in desk, a couch, mini-fridge, flat panel televisions, DVD players, iPod clock radios, safes, irons and boards, and much more. Larger mini-suites feature more floor space, very spacious resort style bathrooms, and full sectional sofas. The decor is stellar - luxe and definitely upscale but still comfortable in varying shades of rich browns, leather, and wood. Gorgeous.

Rooms in the older towers have also been redone. The Gold Tower (formerly the North Tower) rooms have simple floral patterns in the drapes and linens and equally simple furnishings. They are nice but nothing to write home about. The Carson Tower (formerly the South Tower) rooms are similarly simple but are a bit bigger. If you can afford the extra few bucks a Rush Tower room will cost, you should.

It's worth noting that even with the new check-in desk at the Rush Tower, the two check-in desks at the Gold and Carson Towers are still operational so you should go to the one that is closest to the tower you are checking into. Otherwise you're going to have a trek with luggage through casinos and/or crowds to get to where you want to go..

The Downtown area has always been known for having friendlier staff members and dealers than The Strip and that tradition continues here. Everyone I dealt with was cheerful, helpful, and efficient.

Despite all of the money thrown at the place, they are not apparently asking you to pay for it through increased room rates. You can still get a room here during the week for as low as $39 with the really nice Rush Tower as low as $69. On weekends those prices will roughly double as a starting point but that's still a great bargain for a hotel as good as this one.

Highs	One of the best hotels in Downtown Las Vegas.
Lows	It's downtown.
Category	Rating	Notes
Location	6	Downtown but right on the Fremont Street Experience.
Price	9	Expensive for Downtown, but cheaper than The Strip.
Value	8	You get a lot for what you pay.
Rooms	8	Nicely decorated, most are quite roomy.
Casino	8	One of the area's best.
Amenities	8	Rooms are very well equipped.
Facilities	8	Recent additions have a lot to offer.
Service	9	Very good, very friendly.
Fun	8	Nice hotel at nice rates - what's not fun about that?
Bonus	8	A downtown classic.
Vegas4Visitors Rating: 80

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True, some Las Vegas buffets are quite good but none can hold a candle to the "twisted farm food" served at Hash House a Go Go, a funky/chic restaurant that got even better in December of 2010. How? They opened up a new branch inside Imperial Palace so now you don't have to drive miles away to get there. Why would you have done that in the first place? Can you get a brown sugar banana pancake the size of a large pizza at a buffet? I think not.

The brainchild of escapees from Indiana, Hash House takes classic American farm fresh food and puts a wild, almost delightfully bizarre at times, spin on things. Their signature breakfast hashes come in the standard corned beef variety but you can also get it with more esoteric items like roasted chicken and garlic with asparagus and rosemary; salmon with cream cheese and scallions; chorizo with jalapenos; or even meatloaf with spinach and mozzarella. "Farm Scrambles" are like those Denny's skillets only jacked up a couple thousand notches with options such as bacon, avocado, and Swiss cheese; ham, spinach, and cheddar; or smoke salmon and brie.

Even their flapjacks and waffles are something "more" with options for the former including blueberry pecan, snickers, apple cinnamon, and mango coconut among others and vanilla, granola, and bacon for the latter. That's right, a bacon waffle - it comes with strips of bacon baked right into the thing! For those that know me and my obsession with bacon, that's a stroke of genius that just can't be ignored.

The above is just a small sampling of breakfast items, which also include everything from fried chicken with maple reduction sauce, eggs, bacon mashed potatoes, and a biscuit to a pork tenderloin roughly the size of the table topped with scrambled eggs with stops at things like sausage gravy pot pie, fried "mush," quesadillas, cold cereals, and more along the way.

They've even got something called "O'Hare of the Dog," a 24-ounce Budweiser served in a paper bag with a side of bacon. How can you not love that?

But breakfast is just the beginning. A full lunch menu includes salads of just about every variety (Caesar, spinach, salmon, Cobb, and fried chicken); sandwiches like grilled rosemary chicken with brie; roast beef Sloppy Joe; and a BBBLT (because they, like I, believe that "bacon rules"): stuffed burgers featuring two big patties with things like mushroom and Swiss, bacon and mashed potatoes, or crumbled blue cheese in between; and much more.

Dinner adds more salads like the RibsLT (pork ribs on a Caesar salad); sandwiches like the "griddled" cheese with cheddar, tomato, and prosciutto; pastas like a bed of linguine topped with meatloaf; and entrees from braised slow-cooked pork ribs to chicken pot pie to grilled halibut to chili crusted duck breasts and beyond.

We were warned that portions are large and designed to be shared, but my dining companions are of hearty Iowa stock and we laughed off their "big portions" and said "bring it on."

Did I mention that the pancake is the size of a large pizza? And did I mention that I'm not exaggerating AT ALL?

I sampled the brown sugar banana version of said flapjack (a robust flavored, eye-popping delight) as part of the Tractor Driver Combo, which includes two eggs with bacon, sausage, or potatoes. I also had to try the bacon waffle and was not at all disappointed with the moist vanilla waffle mixing perfectly with the sweet maple syrup and tangy apple smoked bacon. We also tried the corned beef hash (served with red onions and Swiss cheese) and although it wasn't exactly to my liking I'm not a corned beef fan anyway so I'm not worried about it.

Those three items came on platters that took up just about every last square inch of the table and was too much food for four people let alone three. It was all so delicious that I ate beyond the point of rationality.

Prices are high at first blush until you remember that these meals are meant for sharing. Full breakfasts run from $9-14 with smaller items and sides from $2-9. There is a $2.50 sharing charge but that is waved if you order a side of something so I recommend the Tractor Driver Combo with one of the signature giant flapjacks for $11 and a side of sausage or bacon for $3 and you've done breakfast for two people for $7.

Lunch items range from $6 to $14 (most items under $10) and dinner is going to set you back anywhere from $7 (for things like salads) up to $24 for the dinner entrees (although most dinner items are $10-20).

Considering the fact that the Wynn Las Vegas buffet, for instance, is charging more than that for their trays of good but impersonal food, Hash House is a bargain.

Service at both outlets was excellent from start to finish and both dining rooms are a visual delight, done as a 21st century dairy barns gone mad.

Getting to Hash House a Go Go is a lot easier now with the branch on the second floor of Imperial Palace. But if you find yourself out wandering the city, don't forget about the original on Sahara Avenue

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