Las Vegas invites you to get naked

Are you bold enough?

Unlike topless destinations around the world, the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino attracts hotties willing to drop their tops and accept fewer tan lines. This stand in stark contrast to most topless beaches, where there’s a distinct lack of legitimate eye candy. The recent “Rehab” party, for example, offered up plenty of skin and is indicative of a new pool party trend in Las Vegas. The 21+ crowd is in the crosshairs of many hotels and resorts, and they are luring us with the oldest bait in the book.

“Daylife,” sunlight’s answer to “nightlife,” is the product Vegas is peddling. Adult pools and pool parties – complete with bottle service and the hardly dressed to deliver it – are bringing in big bucks, big names and big … well, I’ll let you guess. Celebrity hosts, such as Heidi Montag of “The Hills,” help make the pitch to bring you in the door (sans inhibitions).

And now for the disappointing news … it’s not as crazy as you’d expect (or hope). There still aren’t many topless pools in Las Vegas. Those that exist are generally reserved for guests, attract an older crowd and don’t require that the ladies go topless (most of them don’t). The big parties are a different story, where the odds of naked mayhem are much higher.

Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas President found dead

The President and Chief Operating Officer of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas was found dead today in his home. TMZ broke the news that Randy Kwasniewski died from an apparent self-inflicted gun wound to the head.

The Morgans Hotel Group, which owns the property, offered its condolences through the press. Morgans CEO Fred Kleisner said, “I’ve known and worked with Randy since 1995. He was not just one of my colleagues and a leader of our company, he was my friend. I know few hotel and casino executives who have the knowledge, focus and work ethic that Randy possessed. I will miss him. All of us at Morgans are deeply saddened by the passing of Randy. I know I speak for everyone when I say we all mourn his loss. Randy was a dedicated husband and father, a friend to many of us, and a valued colleague. Our hearts and prayers go out to his family.”

Kwasniewski took the lead at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas in 2006. Prior to his time at the Hard Rock, he served as senior vice president of Starwood Capital Group and executive vice president of operations for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. Kwasniewski was 56.

67 Days of Smiles Assignment Begins

Orlando’s “67 Days of Smiles Assignment” has begun. Kyle Post, a Broadway performer, and Stacey Doombos, a childcare worker in Harlem, have hit the ground and are getting ready to experience everything. The duo won the gig after competing against hundreds of applications from more than a dozen countries. Now, they will take on more than 100 attractions in a little over two months.

Their first assignment is to train animals at Discovery Cove, followed by VIP treatment at Hard Rock Live. Throughout the first week, they’ll wrestle alligators at Gatorland, take a tour of downtown Orlando (my favorite part of the city, to be honest – I hope they stop to visit Charley Keila at the City Arts Factory) and sit down with Mayor Buddy Dyer. They’ll also be among the first to ride Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit at Universal Studios.

“We’ve been counting down every day until we start our 67 day adventure in Orlando,” said Kyle Post. “The suspense of not knowing what we will be doing is killing us, but if Day One is any indication of our 67 Day experience, then we are two of the luckiest people in the world.”

During their stay in Orlando, Post and Doombos will crash in a two-bedroom condo downtown, not far from Lake Eola and chronicle their experiences by blogging and tweeting. I’m pretty excited to see how this turns out.

Check out their application video after the jump.

Las Vegas Hard Rock hotel shows how to throw an opening party

Yesterday, we showed you photos of the newly renovated Paradise Tower at the Las Vegas Hard Rock hotel and casino. It goes without saying that when a hotel like the Hard Rock plans a party, it knows what it is doing.

The party was held at the Rehab pool area, and if you were not one of the hip people shown in the photo above, then you can still experience your own “day at the beach party” during one of the upcoming Sunday Rehab parties. It’ll cost $150 to get in, or $1000 for a “season pass”.

Real high rollers will probably want to rent themselves a cabana where they can enjoy some personal attention, and a nice place to relax and get drunk off Bacardi soaked watermelon.

In the gallery below, you’ll find some more photos from the Paradise Tower launch party, courtesy of Oyster hotel reviews.

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Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel – first ever Paradise tower before/after photos

Remember our little quiz yesterday where we asked you to guess the hotel? One of our commenters guessed correctly when he said it looks like the Las Vegas Hard Rock hotel – pretty impressive!

The good looking room was just one of 490 in the newly renovated Paradise Tower, which opened with a massive party (more on that later).

Rooms in the paradise tower are all outfitted with 40″ Sony flat panel TV’s, iPod docks and “ultra luxurious top of the line bedding”. To learn more about these new rooms, check out the first ever before and after photos over at the Oyster hotel reviews blog.