Fitzgerald's Casino Hotel in downtown Las Vegas is changing its name to "D Vegas."

We'll miss their sparkly sign:



The new look is more restrained, and an article I read about it said this is in line with the current trend toward 'vintage Las Vegas' such as we see at the revamped Plaza and Golden Nugget locations (both downtown).



To me, the sparkly, tasteless look is what vintage Las Vegas is all about. I think what they're getting at is what we might envision while listening to a Frank Sinatra song.

Renaming hotels is very tricky. The Hilton, which hasn't been owned by the Hilton hotel chain for years, recently changed its name to LVH, which stands for Las Vegas Hotel. Not much research went into this name choice, because it is nearly impossible to bring it up via Google without getting every single other hotel in Las Vegas, and most likely anything but the LVH is going to come up at the top of the results. I don't give something called D Vegas much of a chance, either.

Vending Machines in Las Vegas

Here's a cotton candy machine, located at some movie theaters in Las Vegas.




This is the Art-o-Mat machine that vends original art. You put in $5 and out comes a little cellophane-wrapped box containing what's supposed to be an original work of art. It's located at The Cosmopolitan Casino/Hotel, which prides itself on being quirky.



The Rollasole vending machine is located near a couple of the nightclubs on the Las Vegas Strip. These women, who came up with the idea, noticed many women walking barefooted on the Strip when their feet got tired in those tall spike heels. Very smart.



The shoes come in three sizes to fit a range of feet from size 5 to 10.5 and there is a choice of striped or leopard skin.

The Gold Nugget Casino has a Gold-to-Go machine.



"The Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas stays true to its name and is home to the only Gold-To-Go vending machine in the United States.
The German-made machine, dubbed the “Gold ATM,” sits across from the large Golden Nugget display by the main entrance to the casino and sells seven sizes of gold bars, ranging from a one-gram piece to a one-ounce souvenir.

The machine distributes gold bars in packaged boxes. The going rate of gold is updated every 60 seconds on the vending machine’s computerized screen. Nevada's state tax is built into the purchase price.

As of March 6, the going rate for a gram of gold was $102 and $1,926 for a one-ounce bar. A special one-ounce golden eagle coin was going for $1,960."

Other vending machines that you have probably seen around your area include Best Buy kiosks where you can buy electronic items ranging from iPods to laptop accessories and one at the airport that sells fresh flower arrangements.