QE2's Dubai owners: No plans to sell cruise ship

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The Dubai developer that bought the QE2 says it remains committed to renovating the British cruise ship.

State-owned Nakheel has been hounded by press and blog speculation that it may shelve plans to turn the storied ocean liner into a luxury hotel because of a lack of funds.

The company has cut staff and postponed several projects, including a tower planned to be the world's tallest and a high-end hotel being built with Donald Trump.

Nakheel said in a statement Sunday it is examining the ship ahead of restoration but has no plans to sell it or operate it again as a cruise liner. The ship is currently moored at Port Rashid in downtown Dubai.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gukZ2XaCrq2uls8uGf6E2GqYgU0QD96POOUO2

$2.3B Encore Las Vegas offers extravagance at every turn

By Chris Gray

What's new: Encore Las Vegas

Claim to fame: The latest from flamboyant Vegas mogul Steve Wynn, the bronze-colored glass, $2.3 billion Encore tower rises above the Strip next to its sibling, Wynn Las Vegas. Connected by The Esplanade, an upscale mall featuring stores such as Hermès and Rock & Republic, the two resort/casinos are meant to complement each other (the Wynn has a larger footprint, while the Encore tower is one story higher).

Vital statistics: 2,034 rooms. The standard resort suites start at 700 square feet, larger than those at the Wynn. More luxurious Tower suites have a separate check-in desk and concierge service.

CITY GUIDE: Las Vegas lodging, dining, more

The scene: Steve Wynn built his reputation on extravagance, and the Encore, which opened in late December, bursts with pre-recessionary flame-colored glam. Butterflies flit as a motif throughout the casino — inlaid as floor mosaics, embedded into carpet designs, and hanging as glittering red crystal sculptures from the ceiling outside the Encore theater (where comedian Danny Gans is ensconced). Opulent touches range from the sweeping multitiered Venetian red glass chandeliers lighting the casino chambers to the glass peacocks guarding high-roller rooms. While the crowd seemed older and more international than that at the Wynn, the Sunday-night lines for XS — an immense indoor/outdoor nightclub where bottle service starts at $450 — was flush with hot young(ish) things in tight black dresses.

Bedding down: Luxury lovers won't be disappointed by Encore's suite-like rooms, which boast floor-to-ceiling windows, mirrored walls and cushy king beds with 310-thread-count linens. A divider wall holding a swiveling flat-screen TV separates the bedroom from a living room containing an L-shaped sofa and work area. A control panel for drapes, sheers and lights is conveniently placed bedside. Bathrooms are sumptuous, with dual sinks, separate shower and soaking tub and another TV that is set into the wall. Minibar amenities include a $30 "intimacy kit." Ask for a high-level, even-numbered room for Strip views. Amid the elegance, a burn mark on the new desk was jarring, as were the thin walls — conversations (as well as some bodily functions) upstairs and next door were easily heard.

Who will like it: Those seeking a more boutique casino experience. Natural light filters throughout the building, giving Encore an airier atmosphere than other Vegas gaming rooms. The casino floor is partitioned by columns and drapes into more intimate Monaco-style salons, adding to the exclusive feel.

Who won't: Encore's relative quiet may turn off gamblers who flourish on the buzz of an open casino floor. (On the other hand, the casino's smaller size makes it easier to flag down free cocktails.) Vegas lovers who like to be in the thick of things may dislike Encore's north Strip location, although the Fashion Show Mall is right across the street.

Wining & dining: No buffets here. Most of Encore's five restaurants are aimed at high rollers, with $30-$40 entrees the norm. At Switch, diners can watch the walls change colors and décor, while at the Italian restaurant Sinatra, patrons can ogle an Oscar, Emmy and Grammy won by the crooner. More reasonable pan-Asian fare is available at Wazuzu, where a 27-foot Swarovski crystal dragon hangs on the wall.

Indulgences: With 51 treatment rooms and $150 for a 50-minute massage, the 61,000 -square-foot spa provides plenty of escapist options for those who can ignore a plummeting Dow. When the weather heats up, start your weekend wet by renting a $400 poolside private cabana with plasma TV at the "European" (topless) pool.

The deal: The hotel's website offers midweek rates ranging from $159-$252, with a resort credit of $50 for two or more nights. Recent customers who scored $109 midweek deals at Wynn through Hotwire.com were "upgraded" to Encore at no additional charge. (In a reversal from its opening, rooms at Encore currently cost less than Wynn's.)

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/hotels/2009-03-05-encore-las-vegas_N.htm

Australia and NZ positive source for British Columbia

A large number of Australian and New Zealand travellers chose British Columbia, Canada as their destination in 2008 according to Tourism British Columbia.

Destinations in the region include Vancouver, Whistler and Victoria amongst 130 other cities, towns and mountain resorts such as Vancouver Island and the Okanagan and the Rockies.

Australian visitors to British Columbia increased 11.6% last year with 160,667 overnight customs entries and New Zealand visitors increased by 28.2% with 33,615 overnight customs entries.

For those interested in the destination, Tourism British Columbia has a website for Australian and New Zealand travellers and agents.

The website, www.BritishColumbia.travel, features information on where to go, what to see, maps, photos and travel tips essential to all visitors.

Visitors to the website can also discover the diverse array of activities available including snowboarding, hiking, ocean kayaking, whale watching, mountain biking and hot springs.

http://www.etravelblackboard.com/showarticle.asp?id=89304&nav=21

Jonas Brothers Visit Las Vegas Fans As Part Of Movie Promotion

As part of a promotion for their new movie: Jonas Brothers: 3D Concert Experience, the famed brothers are supposed to visit random theaters to meet with fans. That's exactly what they did on March 1 when they showed up at Las Vegas' Town Square.

"They snuck in and sat down with the crowd like they were regular people," an eyewitness told In Touch. "Everyone freaked out when they saw who sat next to them!"

It was Kevin Jonas, 21, Nick Jonas, 16, and Joe Jonas, 19 in the flesh! Of course the fans were extremely excited to see them and the boys took a minute to offer a few words to everyone.

"They went to the front of the theater and thanked everyone for coming," the onlooker said.

Definitely sounds like a perk for Jonas Brothers lovers everywhere.

http://www.timesoftheinternet.com/52439.html

Las Vegas gears up for Extreme Makeover Home Edition

A big rally on Fremont Street Tuesday night to welcome Extreme Makeover Home Edition to Las Vegas.

They'll be re-building a home for a local family, but they haven't announced which family they'll help.

We'll find out in just one week.

Tuesday night it was all about the volunteers and getting them geared up for hours of hard work.

Volunteers that were found in a crowd of hundreds at the rally.

Yet executive producer for the show, Conrad Ricketts, still encouraged even more to head to the tables and sign up.

"Everybody comes into it thinking they're going to change someone else's life but in the process they end up changing their own life," Ricketts says.

Starting next week, the extreme crew comes in, excites a town, builds a house, and does it all in seven days.

The builders, Wright Custom Home, haven't seen the designs yet, but they have hundreds of volunteers.

"At first it was 500 but we've been getting a flood of people from the community," Daniel Bartlett, with Wright Custom Home, says.

Volunteers like 11-year old Emily.

"You know that you're helping people that really need Extreme Makeover," she says.

Even Mayor Goodman himself said he'll help.

"He's going to give me a paint brush and I might take a little bit of broad brush," Mayor Goodman says.

While no one knows who the lucky family will be, they're ready to work and change the life of a stranger.

They will surprise the family at their house next Tuesday March 10th and then the demolition begins on the 12th.

http://www.ktnv.com/Global/story.asp?S=9942771

Las Vegas Homes Keep Getting Cheaper

The median price paid for Las Vegas region homes fell to $159,000 in January - the lowest since spring 2002 - as foreclosures' share of the resale market hit 73%. Lower prices triggered enough home sales to surpass the year-ago transaction level for the fifth consecutive month, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 3,127 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the Las Vegas-Paradise metro area (Clark County) in January, down 21.8% from December but up 24.8% from January 2008, according to MDA DataQuick. The San Diego-based firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.

January marked the 10th consecutive month in which sales of existing single-family detached houses rose on a year-over-year basis, while resale condos have seen an annual sales gain for seven straight months. Total home sales, which have suffered from the decline in new-home construction, climbed above the year-ago mark for the fifth consecutive month but were the lowest for a January since 2000.

The 249 new homes sold - detached houses and condos combined - marked a record low for any month in DataQuick's complete Las Vegas statistics, which go back to 1994.

The median price paid for all homes sold in the Las Vegas metro area fell to $159,000 in January, down 9.1% from $175,000 in December and down 37.6% from $254,990 in January 2008. The January 2009 median's 37.6% year-over-year decline is a record for any month in DataQuick's Las Vegas statistics.

http://www.thestreet.com/story/10467178/1/las-vegas-homes-keep-getting-cheaper.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEN

Add-on software apps make iPhone a great travel partner

By Roger Yu

Tech-savvy road warriors are enjoying a new era of handheld computing as more sophisticated smartphone software floods the market.

The iPhone, in particular, has amassed more than 900 applications targeting business or leisure travelers. Many applications are free, and others range from 99 cents to $19.99.

Unlike desktop software, iPhone applications are relatively simple tools that don't require hours to learn. Most rely on the phone's embedded GPS chip to tailor information to a traveler's current location, such as spotting nearby Starbucks, Wi-Fi hot spot, police radar, restaurants and taxi companies. Others transform traditional travel tools — foreign language phrase books, city guidebooks, restaurant tip cheat sheets — and render them digitally.

We recently tried several of the most popular iPhone travel applications. Here's what we found:

FlightTrack
Provides real-time flight status with scheduled departure and landing times, as well as actual takeoff and projected landing.

Travelers can save their flight schedules and check for cancellations and delays when encountering bad weather. They also can search for flights by airline, flight number or date.

Its live flight maps show weather radar, provide information on aircraft type, speed and altitude. Price: $4.99

WorldView Live

Promises the "world in your pocket" by showing video streams from 6,000 webcams worldwide.

Search for a place nearby or browse through popular locations. Images are small and often grainy, especially at night.

It's an ideal toy for tourists wishing to get a sense of the weather at their destinations, or for armchair travelers stuck in their work cubicles. You can stare at downtown Moscow or Newport Beach in California. WorldView isn't necessary for business travelers, but it's a fun time-waster. Price: $2.99

Babelingo

Contains 300 useful phrases and words in 11 languages.

You can find a phrase by using key words and tapping a button to translate. Its unique feature is the large, clear script of translated phrases that can be read easily from a distance. Need help? Just show your iPhone — with the translated phrase — to the store clerk or taxi driver.

Its selection of phrases is limited, however. There was no phrase containing "ambulance," for instance. Only one phrase containing "bank" showed up in our search. Price: $3.99

Rocket Taxi

Find a cab from its database of 17,500 taxi companies.

A local search in Northern Virginia, for instance, found more than 80 taxi companies within 12 miles. It's not always helpful when trying to distinguish the quality of service. Customers can leave their feedback by rating companies on a 5-star scale. But only two of the 80 companies in our search were rated.

It can also roughly calculate the estimated fare. Even if it's just an estimate, it's nice to know the ballpark figure before hopping in and taking off. Price: $1.99

Where

Finds local points of interest using your current location. It pinpoints on a map the nearby Starbucks, Zipcars parking spots, hotels, gas stations (with prices), local concerts — and even friends who are in your network.

It's the only traveler's application among the ones tested that contained flash ads, which could explain its slow download speed.

It also contains information that road warriors may find irrelevant, such as random photos from people nearby, user polls and constellation maps. Free

Zagat To Go '09

Access to Zagat's ratings and reviews for more than 40,000 restaurants, hotels, nightspots and shops in more than 100 countries.

Its advance search feature lets users select places by specific criteria, including food, décor and features such as "Child Friendly" or "Business Dining." Users can make reservations online for some restaurants. Ideal for those familiar with Zagat's 30-point scale. Its reviews also include a short, descriptive paragraph that highlights selected quotes from reviewers' comments. Price: $9.99

TravelTracker:

Stores information about your flight, hotel reservation, car rental and appointments in one place for easy referral. It also provides current flight status, finds Amtrak stations, shows a plane's seating chart and tracks frequent-flier miles. You can type in travel spending as you go, and it tracks and categorizes your expenses.

Travelers using TripIt.com, an online travel organization tool, can download their stored information to TravelTracker. Hyper-organized travelers may enjoy all the functions, but it could involve too much data input for those who travel simply. Price: $19.99

Global Wi-Fi Finder:

As the name implies, it uses GPS to find nearby public Wi-Fi hot spots. The list tells whether the hot spot is free or pay-only service, the distance and contact information for the host sites, which are typically hotels, restaurants or cafes. You can filter your search by distance, ranging from 300 feet to 40 miles. Free

Local Eats:

Reviews of 100 best nearby restaurants, based on your GPS location, by "serious diners" and "hopelessly hooked restaurant habitués," according to its description. Users can also search by "Best of" categories, such as "Best Japanese/sushi" or "Best brunch." You'll have to take their word for it because many entries don't contain customer reviews. Price: 99 cents

Excess Baggage:

A simple application that lists 26 domestic airlines' policies on checked luggage. It shows what extra, overweight and oversize bags cost to check. Use it to decide between packing an extra or overweight bag. Price: $1.99

Simultravel GPS Lite:

Displays an interactive map of hotels near you with their rates on the day of search. Derives prices of over 35,000 hotels from Priceline. But in a recent trial, it priced a local Hilton Garden Inn at $216. A search in Hilton.com for the same hotel turned up $209. A similar comparison for a room at a local Marriott Residence Inn showed $209, while Marriott.com quoted $242. Free

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2009-03-02-iphone-travel-apps_N.htm