Most of us have already celebrated the beginning of 2012, but the end of this month marks the beginning of Chinese New Year. The Chinese culture celebrates each New Year according to the lunar calendar which is why the date fluctuates from year to year. January 23 marks the beginning of the celebration for the auspicious Year of the Dragon.

The Dragon is the most powerful of all 12 signs in the Chinese Zodiac, which associates an animal to each calendar year. Everyone born in 2012 will be considered a Dragon. Dragons are said to be dominant, ambitious, driven, willing to take risks and unafraid of challenges. These strong character traits are said to cause an increase in births for every Dragon Year. Dragons are also said to be charismatic leaders. In the year 2000 the birth rate in China spiked and is expected to do the same this year.

Each Dragon Year is also associated with one of the five elements (metal, water, wood, fire and earth). 2012 is the year of the Water Dragon. Water Dragons are able to see things from other points of view. They don’t have the need to always be right. Their decisions, if well-researched, are usually better since they allow others to become involved.

To kick-off the two week celebration a traditional Dragon Dance will be held on Monday, January 23 at 6pm to bring good luck and fortune for our guests. A 63 foot-long dragon will feature adult and baby lion dancers, buddhas, musicians and festive flags and will make its way through our entire casino.

Studio B Buffet will feature eight hard-to-resist New Year specialties. Until February 6 you can feast on Meatballs with Bok Choy, Poached Chicken with Ginger and Scallions, Spinach and Bamboo Shoots, Beef Lo Mein, Tofu and Eggplant with Black Bean Sauce, Lettuce Wraps, Mandarin Oranges with Leaves and Spring Rolls. Our bars will also be serving up specialty cocktails, a Lychee Martini and a Mulan cocktail.

Starting this Friday our limited edition Year of the Dragon gaming chip will be available. Keep the good luck coming and purchase the chip at our casino cage for $8. The chips will be available until supplies last.

You can use your commemorative Dragon Chip in our Poker Room for their Live Poker Lucky 8’s promotion. From January 23 – 30 enjoy 8 days of great poker action. Flop four 8’s and win $888. Make four 8’s and receive $88. Plus, the first 88 players that make 8’s full receive a collectible Year of the Dragon Gaming Chip. Play live poker every day at 8:08am and 8:08pm and a random lucky player will receive $88!

If you’ve celebrated Chinese New Year before or if this is your first time for the occasion we hope you take part in the festivities at our resort!

Party

We think cover charges are overrated so we invite our guests to celebrate without waiting in line or paying an entry fee. We’ll be offering complimentary party favors, and cake and champagne stations throughout our casino. Toast the New Year with us and enjoy live entertainment beginning at 9pm in Lobby Bar, Ravello Lounge, M Bar and Hostile Grape. See which venue is the right fit for your celebration style.

Ravello Lounge – The New Year’s evening will kick off in our lounge with go-go dancers and a DJ spinning hits to get the party started, beginning at 9pm. At 10pm, 80’s tribute band Loveshack will take the stage and sing the best of the 80’s and 90’s and some NYE-style party music. The entertainment in Ravello will be going all night long and is ideal for our high-energy party goers.

Lobby Bar – Relax at Lobby Bar and take in a performance by Lowkey Junction. The band is a unique blend of masterful music mixes, live percussion and saxophone. With the best people-watching views, Lobby Bar is the perfect fit for a relaxed New Year’s celebration.

M Bar – For those who like to be at the center of all the action, M Bar is for you. Located in the middle of our casino floor, DJ Simon and go-go dancers will be kicking off this party at 9pm. Get there early for a seat on M Bar’s cushy couches or get your groove on to the tunes DJ Simon will be spinning.

Hostile Grape – Take a sip of more than 160 wines by the glass in our underground wine hideaway. Veteran DJ Art will be mixing up the music for the night for the oenophiles.

Play

End the year with good luck here at M! We’ll be giving away $24,000 in free pay randomly beginning at 8pm on New Year’s Eve. Every 15 minutes we’ll be drawing 10 winners. Two players will win $300, four players will win $150 and another four will win $100. All you have to do is play with your iMagine Rewards Card to be eligible.

Not to be outdone, our poker room will be giving away a grand share of money as well. Play with us and you could win the following: Heart Royal = $2,012; Club Royal = $2,012; Diamond Royal = $2,012 and Spade Royal = $2,012. All Four of a Kinds = $212 and the poker room will have $2,012 in cash giveaways. Complete details can be found in the M Poker Room.

Dine

Our restaurants will be ready for you to kick-off the New Year’s festivities. Marinelli’s, our authentic Italian restaurant will be offering a la carte specialty items in addition to its regular menu beginning at 4pm and our steakhouse, Anthony’s will be serving up a limited menu for the holiday starting at 5 pm. And of course, Studio B Buffet will be serving specialty dishes all day.

No matter which way you decide to spend your holiday night, we hope to have you at M to celebrate 2012! We wish all of our guests a happy and safe New Year.

There are a lot of choices when it comes to meeting space in the city of Las Vegas. In fact, Las Vegas has more than 10.5 million square feet of exhibit space! For our part, we  currently offer 60,000 square feet of meeting space and if you’ve ever wandered around the spa level of M (below our casino floor) you may have noticed how convenient our meeting space is to our guest room elevators and the ideal flow our space offers for breakouts, general sessions and catered events. Our resort has a 17,000 square foot ballroom and multiple meeting rooms to house groups of 50 to 2,000. Our talented team can also turn any of our restaurants into magical spaces for special events or even our outdoor pool piazza that can accommodate up to 6,000 people!

Over the course of the last year two years we’ve been fortunate to host groups large and small with a demand for even more space! So, next month we’ll be providing more of that much-needed extra space with the opening of the M Pavilion. The Pavilion will add 25,000 square feet of flexible space to our portfolio. It will provide enough space for concerts, large-scale galas, exhibitors and more. The Pavilion will have 45-foot ceilings and can hold a seated concert for up to 3,000 people. For more details we went in search of our Vice President of Sales, Drew Varga. Watch the video to hear what he had to say about the new M Pavilion and most importantly, why you should consider if for your next event!

We caught up with the band (in character of course) to give you the down low on their act.

How many members are there in Loveshack?

There are six of us total. Imagine seeing Devo and Madonna on lead vocals, Adam Ant on Bass, Billy Idol on drums and Slash on guitar at the same time, but then we up the ante when Michael Jackson shows up in our second set! Whenever we play, you’re seeing the best band on stage at that moment!

What type of music do you perform?

All the best dance music of the 80’s –  music to remind you how big your hair was, how cool Members Only jackets were, and how much Aqua Net you used in 1985.

What are the band’s favorite songs?

Anything from Madonna, Depeche Mode, Bon Jovi, The Go-Go’s, Duran Duran, Gary Numan…. wait, does any remember Gary Numan?

Are there any particular artists that inspire your performances?

We are totally self inspired and extremely modest, when you see the band play you’ll know what we mean.

Have you always been 80’s music fans?

Since the 1970’s

How long has the group been together?

Since Madonna was still a virgin.

How did the group come together?

Our tour buses crashed into each other at the US festival in ‘83 all trying to get the VIP parking spot. While waiting for AAA, we planned world domination through 80’s music, and thus Loveshack was born!

What’s the best part of performing at M and Ravello Lounge?

Aside from having a great dance floor, great drink specials, friendly bar staff, enthusiastic crowds, and one of the most beautiful lounges in Las Vegas, it has lots of glass so we can constantly look at ourselves!

You can catch Loveshack performing in Ravello Lounge every Friday this November beginning at 9pm.

Rock band, Lynyrd Skynyrd performed to a full-house this weekend at M! Our pool deck was packed with about 4,500 Skynyrd fans as they played their biggest hits including “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Freebird” and songs from their new album God & Guns. This southern rock group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. The band rocked out poolside for an hour and a half at our resort and lived up to their legendary rock name by putting on an unforgettable performance.

The last original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Gary Rossington (middle) jams on his guitar.

As most Lynyrd Skynyrd fans know, the band was struck with great tragedy in 1977 when three of the band’s members were killed in a plane crash. The band reformed ten years later after a hiatus and has been touring ever since. Johnny Van Zant, brother of founding band member Ronnie Van Zant performed the lead vocals for the band with Gary Rossington on guitar who is the only original member of the band to date.

Lead singer Ronnie Van Zant belts out the band's hit songs.

We gave our blog readers a chance to win their way to the show and we also gave a few pairs of tickets to our followers on Twitter. Be sure to keep reading and following us for more chances to win other great prizes! If you were lucky enough to see Lynyrd Skynyrd perform at our resort, let us know what you thought of the show by leaving a comment below!

Special thank you to our photographer Tom Donoghue for the great photos!

To win one of the three pairs we have to give away, leave a comment on this blog post telling us your favorite song by Lynyrd Skynyrd and why you want to see them perform at M.

Be sure to be creative because the three best answers (as chosen by our Social Media Team) will each win a pair of tickets to the show! You have until 11:59 pm on Wednesday, August 17 to leave your comment. The winners will be chosen and notified via email on Thursday, August 18.

And, of course you can always buy your tickets directly from Ticketmaster. We hope to see you all at the show!

Management reserves all rights to cancel or alter the promotion at any time.

There’s no better way to start an 80’s party off than with some killer jams. Our very own DJ Darker Daze will be spinning the retro hits out at our main pool and DJ Frank Rempe will be playing his twist on 80’s tunes at DayDream Pool Club. That’s right; our whole pool deck is getting an 80’s takeover (for this Saturday only)!

So, while you’re hanging at our pool and rocking out to the 80’s hits you’re probably going to want a drink to sip on. Are we right? We’ve already got you covered dude! Our pool bars will be offering shots of M-80 for only $1, $20 buckets of beer and $10 40 oz. Love Potion cocktails (with $8 refills). All great choices to help you get your 80’s party on!

Now for the prizes; you’re going to want to come in your best 80’s gear for your chance to win a complimentary cabana and bottle of SKYY Vodka! The person in the best 80’s attire will win this rad prize. We’re also holding a drawing for a two-night getaway here at M! Since we love all the readers of our blog, we wanted to give you an exclusive chance to get-in on the getaway! During our big 80’s bash, mention the word “Loveshack” at our pool hut to receive a free raffle ticket!  The winner will be selected at 6pm, so be sure to stick around (must be present to win).

To think we’ve only just mentioned what’s going on during the day so far! At night we’ll have 80’s band Loveshack perform. They’ll be taking the stage by our pool at 8pm but, you’ll want to get there early! From 7-8pm you can get a free Miller Lite beer at our pool bar! After 8pm all Miller beers are 2-for-1!  Loveshack will keep our pool party going all night long and we mean pool party, dive in to our pool until 11pm!

After a great party, you’ll need to recover! Our spa is getting in on the 80’s fun, offering a 50-minute massage for only $80! (regularly $125). Be sure to stop in to Spa Mio when you’re here for the party to pick up your voucher. We hope to see you all at our 80’s Party this Saturday!

What excites you most about performing at the M?

To us, the M Resort is one of the finest properties ever built in Las Vegas!  Marley and I love that the property appeals to those visiting from out of town, but at the same times it’s a favorite among locals, which is something that is very important to us.  We love to think that our show is intended for all the people of Las Vegas and that we finally get the opportunity to do something for residents near M who don’t normally get to see us where we perform regularly.

What can people expect to see when they come to hear you at M Pool Live?

They can expect to see what I believe has become our trademark as to who we are and, that is a group of people on stage having the time of our life who want nothing more than to make every single person who comes to see us feel great!  It’s not so much about the songs we play or the talent any of us may have, it’s about giving off a ton of exciting positive energy that hopefully makes everybody feel included and part of something really fun!

What’s the best part of performing at an outdoor venue?

We don’t usually have the opportunity to do many shows outside in the beautiful desert night so this is a really exciting opportunity for us!  Being out in the fresh air, under the stars, partying with our friends that live here or visiting from is awesome!  It reminds us of being back home in Scottsdale, Arizona which is where we started out performing. Rarely have we performed outside since moving here to Las Vegas 5 years ago.

How will your performance be unique compared to your previous ones?

Well for one, those who come to see us regularly will get to hear several songs that we typically don’t perform. We’ll be doing three sets of music instead of our usual two sets that people have come to expect seeing us elsewhere so we have the chance to include some new songs.  Also, I think being outside on one of the coolest and biggest stages in town in such an amazing setting as the M Resort pool deck adds an extra degree of  energy and excitement to the evening!

How long has the duo been together?

Marley and I have been together and performing now for over ten years.  Most of our band has been with us almost from the beginning as well.

What’s your favorite song to perform?

I think Marley and I would both agree that we prefer doing songs where we get to interact with each other and really incorporate the crowd into the moment.  Over the past couple of weeks I personally have been diggin’ a song we do called “Backseat” by New Boyz.

Any pre-performance rituals?

Yes, every show without exception I show up right before we go on, slam a Crown on the Rocks and walk on stage ready to party for the next two or three hours with all our friends and fans!  That’s essentially the extent of my pre-performance ritual.

What do you love about Las Vegas?

The thing I love the most about Las Vegas, hands down are the people that live here.  It’s a place where people from all over the world can come and be anybody they want to be.  There’s nothing more satisfying than watching people in front of us let go and truly become themselves as the night unfolds.  I love living in Las Vegas for so many reasons, there is an energy here you can’t find anywhere else, it’s very addictive to the point that whenever I leave town I can’t wait to get back!

What’s on your iPod right now?

Music is such a huge part of my life so a short answer to that huge question would be: Jamiroquai, Sinatra, Deadmau5, old Motley Crue and some slammin ‘Maynard Ferguson, just to name a few things.

We’re back with another libation location for you to quench your thirst at here at M, Previously we told you about our great people-watching spot Lobby Bar. Now, let us introduce you to M Bar, the center bar at our resort located (centrally of course) in the middle of our casino floor. This amber-lit space is the perfect spot for you to turn to when you’ve got a taste for anything your heart desires.

M Bar’s mixologists can shake up just about any cocktail you can dream up (and even some they’ve dreamed up.) To sweeten the deal, that drink you’re about to order is included in our Happy Hour 24/7 guarantee. Even within the luxury of M Bar you can still get your Appletini (or any other cocktail you fancy) for just $5 and bottled beer for $3.

Digital projection screens at M Bar.

Cozy couches for you to lounge on.

There are cushy toffee-colored couches for you to lounge on and have an intimate conversation, a swanky imported Italian-glass chandelier in the center of the bar, multiple televisions and digital projection screens that add to the casual, sexy atmosphere. So pull up a bar stool, order a cocktail to sip on and meet someone new at our stylish bar. You can also get a great view of our M Girls. M Bar is where many of them go and fill their drink trays so it’s a great spot to watch the girls in action. And who doesn’t love M Girls?

M Bar is also open 24/7 365, just part of their mission to make sure you never go thirsty.

There may be other Lobby Bars in town but none of them have a view like ours!

The Lobby Bar: that classic hotel staple that makes a lobby feel, well just a little cozier. Lobby bars give you a front row seat to all the comings and goings at a resort. They are the crossroads of a hotel,which makes for great people watching to say the least. Whether it’s a business traveler making their next deal or a couple of carefree vacationers there’s always something to see.

Our Lobby Bar just happens to be a bit more of a destination than most, besides the fact that we can count how many other ones there are in the city on one hand. It’s decked out with posh seating, deluxe décor and an amazing view of our pool deck . Top it all off with a master-crafted cocktail (for only $5) and a few delicious light bites and you’ve got yourself a night out in the making. It’s a modern sophisticated atmosphere without the pretention.

One of the best parts of this amenity at M is you don’t need a hotel room key to enjoy the spoils of our lobby bar. This centrally located destination is the perfect place to snag a seat and mingle amongst the other guests and once you’re inside you might be inclined to stay awhile and, lucky for you we have four-star accommodations just an elevator ride away so you don’t have to leave (if you don’t want to.)