Global Ice Age Begins as Minus 5 Brings Unique Ice Lounge Experience to Las Vegas and Other U.S. Cities

  World-Leader in Sub-Zero Night-Life Freezes the Competition With Lounges

                            Made Entirely of Ice



    LAS VEGAS, Aug. 7 /EMWNews/ -- A lounge in which everything is made

of ice is about to become the hottest destination in the United States;

and, the forecast calls for Las Vegas, known for its 100-degree heat, to

become a whole lot cooler -- as cold as ice. This September, New

Zealand-based Minus 5 Group begins an American ice age when it opens the

first permanent ice lounge experience ever in the United States at Mandalay

Place, located adjacent to Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino on the famous Las

Vegas Strip. To sneak a peak at this "cool" venue, go to

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y73frhcai14 .



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    Building an ice lounge in the middle of the desert is no easy task, but

with years of knowledge and expertise Minus 5, a world renowned hospitality

group famous for their unparalleled ice lounge creations, the scorching

Mojave Desert is the perfect location to showcase this incredible

experience. The Las Vegas location will be the first of many U.S.-based

Minus 5 ice lounges, with other locations currently in the development

stage in New York, Miami, Hawaii, and Los Angeles.



    "We look forward to being the first full-sized ice lounge attraction of

this kind in the United States. We take pride in being one of the most

visited man-made attractions in Australia and New Zealand, and look forward

to recreating that experience in the U.S.," said Craig Ling, president and

founder of Minus 5. "We are excited to introduce what is a truly unique

experience to an American audience and we believe Las Vegas is the perfect

city to continue our global expansion."



    The Minus 5 Ice Lounge, named for its constant frosty temperature of

minus five degrees Celsius (27-degrees Fahrenheit) is currently under

construction and set to open September 2008 at Mandalay Place, adjacent to

Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino. Everything inside the 1,200 sq. ft. Minus 5

Ice Lounge is made of ice, including the walls, the bar, the sculptures,

the chairs, and even the glasses from which guests sip exotic vodka

cocktails (non-alcoholic "mocktails" are available for guests under 21). To

ensure guest comfort in the sub-freezing environment, guests are provided

with winter gear that includes sheepskin-lined parkas, gloves, and booties.



    "Minus 5 celebrates the art of ice, and we continually re-invent the

experience by recreating the lounge and sculptures every 6-8 weeks," said

Ling. "We take enormous pride in the quality of our product and the

uniqueness of this experience." So much so that the Minus 5 ice sculptures

and other fixtures are carved from crystalline Canadian ice and then

shipped to Las Vegas where they are re-assembled on-site at Minus 5. The

ice cocktail glasses are made from pure New Zealand spring water and are

shipped in their frozen form all the way from Kiwi-country.



    A world-leader in sub-freezing attractions, Minus 5 debuted in Auckland

in 2002 then expanded to Queenstown 2003, Sydney 2005, Gold Coast 2006, and

Portugal in 2008. The newly-announced U.S. Minus 5 attractions are part of

a global expansion that is moving at anything but a glacial pace, with

additional Minus 5 international venues secured and in development in

India, Singapore, Dubai, Manila for 2009 openings.



    "Minus 5 is far from a freezer, as many of our competitors have learnt.

We spent more than two years developing and engineering our concept and the

result is a comfortable, arid ice environment for our patrons that involves

no wind, wind chill or humidity inside the ice lounge -- a rarity for

attractions of this nature," said Ling, who has painstakingly sought out

the best ice carvers and researched the purest water from New Zealand

springs in order to create glasses made of ice.



    Admission is $30 per person and includes a premium vodka drink for

guests 21 and older or a non-alcoholic drink for younger guests. Minus 5

Ice Lounge is currently under construction and is scheduled to open in

September 2008. Reservations, group, corporate and wedding arrangements can

be made by calling 702.632.7714; or [email protected]. For more

information, http://www.minus5experience.com.