VegasLinks Q&A With Hunter Hillegas From RateVegas (and a whole shitload of other projects)

The second installment of the Vegas Insider/Webmaster Q&A Series features Hunter Hillegas who operates the Trippie winning Best Vegas Blog TwoWayHardThree also known as the RateVegas Blog. Hunter also developed the iPhone app VegasMate and is part of the team that brought you EncoreOpening. To say that Hunter is a Vegas freak is putting it mildly.

So here we bring you another version of what someone that prides themselves and is a sponge of all things Vegas thinks are the best and worst of the town we love.


Name or Alias

Hunter

Website URL to link back to

RateVegas

Best Hangover Food/Restaurant

Tied: either the Caribe Cafe at The Mirage or The Peppermill

Best Romantic Spot For Dinner

Country Club at Wynn Las Vegas or Sinatra at Encore Las Vegas

Best Vegas Burger -Money No Object

Not sure that money makes the burgers better - I still think In N' Out is just as good as places like BLT or Burger Bar.

Best Vegas Gourmet Burger

BLT is my favorite of these kinds of places.

Restaurant In Vegas To Eat Your Last Living Meal

Delmonico Steakhouse at The Venetian

Best Value Hotel Room

These days, just about anywhere.

The Mirage is a good mix of modern amenities and decent value.

Best Upscale Standard Hotel Room

Encore Las Vegas

Best Off Strip Day Excursion Or Adventure

Red Rock

Best On Strip Adventure

Probably depends on how adventurous you are.

Best Place To Drink And Hold A Conversation

If you don't mind the prices, Parasol Up at Wynn Las Vegas

Best Place To Get Your Groove On

If you saw me groove, you'd agree it was a bad idea.

Must Visit Vegas Website Not Including Your Own

VegasTripping.com

Best Vegas Strip Joint

Haven't been to some of the newer ones, even though they're not new anymore...

Anything but Glitter Gulch I guess.

Best Vegas Show

So many different shows, hard to say... For Cirque, I say 'Mystere', 'O' or 'LOVE'.

Best Vegas Upscale Shopping

Via Bellagio

Best Vegas Value Shopping

Value in Vegas? Miracle Mile actually has a bunch of non super-trendy upscale shops.

Most Overrated Restaurant

Olives at Bellagio

Biggest Vegas Rip Off

Anything at a Wynn gift shop.

Best Way For A Tourist To Get To Mandalay Bay From The Airport

A big freaking limo.

Best Way For A Tourist To Get To Wynn From The Airport

A big freaking Rolls Royce Phantom.

Best Vegas Secret That Everyone Should Know About

Never wait in any line to eat - most places have a bar you can sit and eat at if you don't care about getting a table.

Thanks for your responses- Joey

Encore Opening

Two of the better (if not best) Vegas website operators Hunter Hillegas and Chuckmonster have unveiled EncoreOpening.

Encore Opening is a website that continually refreshes with a gazillion photos and planned coverage of the sister property to Steve Wynn's signature Wynn Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip.

There is a countdown timer and tons and tons of current pictures with more to come.

VegasMate For iPhone Demonstration Video

From The VegasMate Website-
"Here's a quick video that shows a few features of Vegas Mate 1.1.0"

For more information about the coolest app for any Vegas lover with an iPhone check out the VegasMate website here-
VegasMate For iPhone

Vegas Gang Podcast

Well, well, well, what do we have here? Another podcast baby!

This one is a collaboration of some very knowlegable new and old media Vegas folks headed and run by the venerable Hunter Hillegas and joined by David McKee from Las Vegas Advisor, Chuck Monster from VegasTripping.com, Dave Schwartz from the DieIsCast.com, and Jeff Simpson who writes for the Las Vegas Sun & In Business Las Vegas.

These guys dig in to the nuts and bolts of Casino design, Vegas Casino business, and a whole slew of topics relating to the city we all love. This is not so much a laugh fest like the This Ain't Iowa or Five Hundy By Midnight Podcast. It's more serious in tone and delivered with a businesslike attitude.

The podcast is done bi-weekly and the guest this week will be Christina Binkley, the author of 'Winner Take All'

Hunter Hillegas is the man behind RateVegas.com and the Two Way Hard Three Vegas Blog.

Here is the link-
Vegas Gang Podcast

Pocket Vegas

Pocket Vegas from Hunter Hillegas has links to Vegas info maximized for display on your cell phone, PDA, or iPhone.

From the site-
"Las Vegas Information For Your Cell Phone or PDA

Imagine this: you are in Las Vegas at Bellagio and you want to know if the Italian restaurant there is any good. In the olden-days you would need to find a computer and bring up the ever-trusty RateVegas.com and look it up... Well, no longer! As many folks these days have cell phones that can surf the Web or even BlackBerries that can do even more, we have developed a special version of our database for mobile phones and small screens.

Getting started is very simple! On your mobile phone or PDA, just use the built-in browser to go to the following URL:

http://cell.ratevegas.com

That's it! You will be taken to our special mobile site where you can look up the details on all your favorite Las Vegas hotels, restaurants and other attractions.

Las Vegas On Your iPhone!

There's no doubt that the iPhone is a great mobile platform. While the full Web site runs great on iPhone, we've developed a special interface that is optimized for the screen and works the way you would expect it to. Bookmark the following on your iPhone and get great Vegas info all the time:

http://www.ratevegas.com/iphone/