Plans to break ground on a $1 billion resort called Southern Highlands this summer have been announced.

Southern Highlands, which will be at Las Vegas Boulevard South and St. Rose Parkway in the far south valley, will comprise 1,400 rooms, a casino, meeting and retail space, and eight restaurants. Phase I of the project is slated for completion in fall 2009; Southern Highlands has been approved for 3,200 hotel rooms. The announcement reinforces evidence that the Las Vegas boom remains strong throughout the city, not just on the Strip.

STILL ALADDIN: The rebranding of the Aladdin into Planet Hollywood has been pushed back again, this time until "the end of the third quarter," according to Planet Hollywood founder Robert Earl. Work, however, is ongoing, and the front of the Aladdin is already being transformed with bright billboards. The Desert Passage Mall is being rebranded as the Miracle Mile, and the 50-story Planet Hollywood Towers is finally rising just south of the hotel.

LUCKY STRIKE: Lucky Strike has opened at the Rio. With a slightly bizarre combination of restaurant, bar, nightclub and bowling alley, the club is family-friendly during the day ($5.85 per game to bowl), then morphs into an adult playground with $300-and-up bottle service after 9 nightly.

BONGO FOR PRINCE: With Prince concluding his run at the Rio, his planned replacement will be a new nightclub. Latin America hot spot Coco Bongo, which hails from Cancun, Mexico, will debut in April.

Reach Tim Winship at questions@frequentflier.com