Vegas update: week of July 29, 2026

Skyfall lounge closes for a remodel, Station Casinos tests Apple Pay at slot machines, and the Cromwell becomes the Vanderpump Hotel.

Skyfall lounge is closed until October

Skyfall Panoramic Bar and Lounge at the W Las Vegas closed July 20 for a full renovation and is scheduled to reopen October 4. It has one of the best Strip views in the city from the 64th floor, so if it was on your list, cross it off until fall. For a comparable high-up view in the meantime, the High Roller and the observation decks give you the altitude without the wait for a table.

Station Casinos is testing Apple Pay at the machines

Station Casinos is field-testing a system called TrustedTap that lets players fund slot and video poker machines straight from a debit card in their Apple Wallet, no cash or kiosk needed. It is running at Durango, the Seventy Six taverns, and Wildfire Anthem, and it is still pending Nevada Gaming Control Board approval. Worth knowing if you play: this is easy to like and easier to overspend on, since the friction that a cash trip to the ATM used to add is the same friction that made you stop and think. Resorts World tried a fully cashless floor in 2021 and abandoned it in early 2026, so this hybrid approach is the industry’s second attempt at the idea. For now it is a locals-casino trial, not a Strip-wide change.

The Cromwell is now the Vanderpump Hotel

The former Cromwell, the small boutique casino hotel on the center Strip that housed Giada and the Drai’s rooftop, has completed its rebrand as the Vanderpump Hotel in partnership with Lisa Vanderpump. It stays an adults-only, 188-room boutique property, the smallest hotel on the Strip. If you booked the Cromwell for a past trip and are coming back, this is the same building under a new name.

A pricey new breakfast option at Encore

Sinatra at Encore now serves breakfast and lunch under the name Sunrise at Sinatra, 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., on the restaurant’s terrace. Fair warning on the prices: breakfast plates run $27 to $31, steak and eggs is $48, and a Bloody Mary is $25, so two people can clear $100 before tax and tip. It is a nice room, but this is a splurge breakfast, not a value one. For a Strip breakfast that will not wreck the budget, our cheap eats guide has better-value picks.

Heat check

Late July is peak heat and it holds through August, which keeps hotel rates soft for anyone who can handle triple-digit afternoons. The playbook stays the same: outdoors before 11 a.m., indoors midday, a show at night. More Vegas updates are on the updates hub.