A 29-story hotel with a giant heart-shaped LED display on its facade is now approved for the South Strip, rising directly across from Mandalay Bay on land a developer purchased for $70 million last spring. For a city that has never been shy about spectacle, the approval from Clark County Commissioners signals yet another chapter of transformation along a corridor that is already mid-reinvention on multiple fronts. Travel Ruby, who covers the Las Vegas construction beat with the obsessive frequency of a local beat reporter, spent a rain-soaked August morning walking the Strip cataloguing what is changing, what is stalling, and what costs more than it probably should.
South Strip and the casino floor getting fresh coats of everything
The new South Strip hotel proposal does come with one genuinely strange footnote: the two posts left behind from the failed ferris wheel project are reportedly being considered as the structural base for a rooftop restaurant. Ruby was openly skeptical. ‘I guess we will see if this does come to fruition,’ she said, the doubt audible in her voice.
A few blocks up, Casino Royale wrapped its renovations, which included swapping out its White Castle for additional slot machines. The snack shack is still there, but the famous $2.50 hot dog, a price that held steady until 2022, now costs $5. The casino did add a new slider at $3.99, or two sliders with fries and a soda for $12.
At the Cosmopolitan, the new high limit room opened to a noticeably upgraded footprint. The previous room was smaller; the replacement comes with leopard-print carpet, distinctive chair backs, updated machines, and a $5 million Dragon Link slot. The third floor told a different story. LPM, the French restaurant that had occupied a prime space there, closed and has been replaced by something called Wtoria, with no opening date or further information posted. Around the corner from Secret Pizza, a New York restaurant called Corner Store is also incoming to the space where Blue Ribbon used to operate, though that one has no confirmed timeline either.
The Five Guys that went up in the South Strip shopping district near the M&M store finished construction at a pace that genuinely surprised Ruby during her walkthrough. The two-story location includes an outdoor upstairs patio, a bar serving $5 beers, and solid people-watching sightlines over the boulevard. The chain now has a presence near the Venetian to the north, this new South Strip outpost, and a downtown Plaza location in the pipeline.
Renovations finished, renovations incoming, and one bar with the best view on the Strip going dark until October
Ellis Island is essentially done with its renovation, including a new bar called the 1968 Bar positioned next to a downsized Village Pub. The space was packed during Ruby’s visit. Metro Pizza is still there, holding at $3.75 for a cheese slice. The casino also added a hot dog cart at $5, which Ruby noted with the same baffled energy she brought to the Casino Royale pricing.
At Mandalay Bay, the Foundation Room on the 63rd floor has been rebranded as Vinyl Room, a lounge inspired by 1970s Japanese listening culture with analog vinyl decks, an Asian-influenced menu, and craft cocktails. It opened August 8th. One floor above the Strip’s chaos, Skyfall at the W Hotel closed July 20th for a remodel and is not scheduled to reopen until October 4th.
Out in Summerlin, the Sun Coast renovation is nearly complete. The exterior is repainted with a new LED sign, the sportsbook is rebuilt, a new bingo room is in place, and a quick-service food hall called Quick Bites is operating with a Steak ‘n Shake and one other tenant so far. Room renovations are planned for completion by winter.
The Hard Rock construction, meanwhile, is moving at a pace that even Ruby found hard to reconcile with a 2028 opening target. The guitar structure is close to finished, and crews are already working on the building facade that will sit beneath it.
The $3.75 cheese slice still standing
Inside Ellis Island’s newly finished renovation, Metro Pizza’s counter sits in the same spot it has occupied for years, still charging $3.75 for a cheese slice while everything around it got rebuilt and repriced.
The Flamingo finished its lobby renovation completely, opening up the traffic flow, freshening the look without erasing the pink-flamingo DNA, and expanding the slots floor. A Sbarro building went up at Harman Corner near the Taco Bell and McDonald’s and appears almost ready to open. Anita Gelato opened inside the Venetian across from the Starbucks in the main lobby. Merrills, a new Italian-American restaurant at M Resort, held its grand opening and served shrimp that Ruby, a self-described non-shrimp person, finished entirely. The Neon City Festival returns November 20th through the 22nd during the F1 race weekend and remains free to attend.
