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The NYT Finally Checks into the Encore
HotelChatter's video from Encore Las Vegas, taken in January 2009.
It’s always fun to read someone else’s first take of a place that you’ve covered, well, quite intimately. Like the Encore in Vegas, Steve Wynn’s almost one-year-old 2,034-room luxe tower, which this past weekend (finally!) got the official New York Times treatment.
“If Steve Wynn’s last two Sin City resorts — Wynn Las Vegas in 2005 and the Bellagio in 1998 — were about bringing a whiff of Park Avenue to the Strip, the Encore is about the hotelier’s loosening his pearls and swinging a little,” writes the Times’ Brooks Barnes. And though the Times says the hotel is intended for the “younger and hipper” crowd, our own observations last January was of a clientele, um, “older than dirt.”
Tags: Daily Deal / HotelChatter Reader Deals / Hotel Deals / Holiday Hotels / Viva Vegas / → All Tags
The Signature at MGM Grand Keeps Both Naughty and Nice Lists
We regularly cover Sin City happenings on our sister site VegasChatter, where the X-to-G-rated ratio often tips in favor of lascivious activities. This isn't to say that there aren't perfectly innocent things to do in Las Vegas—we reported on gelato last Friday, for Chrissakes—but finding them may take more work than wandering into any one of the Strip's neon-lighted strip joints.
Just in time for proverbial "list checking" season, The Signature at MGM Grand is offering a "Nice" alternative for those of a prim persuasion. Deviant travelers will have their requisite "Naughty" option, so fear not.
Tags: Hotel Openings / Viva Vegas / Hard Rock Hotels / Hotel Opening Rates / → All Tags
Hard Rock Las Vegas Will Open Its New Tower Next Month
If you're one of the many people who are still bummed that the raunchy pool party, Rehab at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas is over for the season, we think we have some news that will cheer you up.
The Hard Rock will will open up their Tower Suites in their newest HRH Tower on December 28, giving you a new reason to visit the most sinful hotel in SIn City. The opening rates start at an incredibly affordable $109 a night for a Supreme City King suite that has 704-square-feet of space. Here's the official room description:
Dark wood floors give way to luxurious carpet, as the foyer enters the living space. Hi-tech rules with the Sound Matters Sound Bar—an AMX 12” Touch Panel Juke Box System that includes over 2000 songs and playlists. Two 40” Bravia LCD TV with DVD players included here.
Meanwhile in the sleeping area, a white lacquer wall headboard with button tufted and quilted leather pairs with a custom stiletto light fixture to highlight the custom mahogany and leather sleigh bed. Black out drapes of raw linen silk with metallic sheers ensure a deep rest as does the ultra luxurious designer bedding.
The bath area is enclosed in a draped and tinted glass enclosure. A generous 148 sq. feet, the bath area showcases black porcelain dimpled tile with Chinese marble and a custom bath vanity, in-shower seat, and cast iron "Tea four Two" tubs. Grohe bath fixtures throughout include Rainhead shower and handheld wands.
Not bad for $109 a night. Plus, booking a stay in the Tower Suites also gets you exclusive check-in and valet as well as other special services. But here's why we're not jumping the gun to make reservations on December 28, the tower's first night of availability.
Tags: Deal Or No Deal / Viva Vegas / Hotel Packages / Private Jets / → All Tags
The Wynn Las Vegas is Offering Up Its 'Private' Jet To Guests
Apparently the folks at the Wynn Las Vegas had some unused jets lying around the tarmac - the recession's been rough on everyone that way - and decided to try to do something with them. For the next two months they'll be flying travelers between Los Angeles and Vegas as part of a broader vacation package:
The package begins at $780 per person for double occupancy and $1,193 for single occupancy. The price includes roundtrip airfare on a 50-person jet from Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport or John Wayne Airport in Orange County and a three-night stay in a standard room at Encore or Wynn. On board the private jet, a Wynn concierge will have room keys on hand so guests can skip the hotel check-in process, as well as champagne before take off. Upon arrival at McCarran International Airport’s executive terminal, limousine service will take guests to the resort.
This is presumably targeted at the same kind of Vegas bachelor parties where people book single-night table service at a club because they're rolling high class, which isn't the worst market to target. It might also be nice for important anniversaries. And though we're not really sure why a 50-passenger jet counts as "private" when the USAir shuttle from Burbank to Vegas has less seats, the limos are a nice touch.
Tags: Digital Nomad Hotels / Hotel WiFi / Hotel Lobbies / Viva Vegas / → All Tags
So What? The Ace Hotel is Still a Rock Star (For Digital Nomads)
There has been a lot of talk recently about the lifestyle of digital nomads -- folks who work from wherever they might roam. HotelChatter has been covering hotel wifi since the beginning, but as we cited in our 2009 annual hotel WiFi report times they are a changin'.
The biggest change on the tech side is the growing popularity of the usb broadband card. As more and more people buy into these cards (and more and more GMs pray to the hotel gods they do) there are a growing number of digital nomads that no longer tap into a hotel WiFi network.
Instead, these nomads are in search of killer hotel lobbies to comfortably work in. That's right, digital nomads have no problem coming in, kicking back on hotel lobby couches and doing an hours worth of work. So once again hotels have a choice -- welcome these folks, pay no mind to them, or actively try to kick them out.
With this in mind, we figured it was time for us to start rating hotel lobbies on their digital nomad quotient. In our latest edition, the The Ace Hotel New York.
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Fire at The Hard Rock Disrupts Rehab, Sportsbook and Naptime
Talk about a major party foul. An electrical fire yesterday at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas sent guests scrambling from all parts of the hotel, including the sportsbook during the opening day of the NFL and from Rehab, the hotel's infamous pool party. KTNV reports:
The fire was started by an air conditioning unit overheating in a wall between the existing resort and a new building being built on site. There were no fire alarms in the area where the fire flared up, but the heavy smoke alerted security and guests.
Tags: Snapshot / Viva Vegas / Hotel Sex Kits / Steve Wynn / → All Tags
Yes, It's True: The Encore Has Intimacy Kits in the Minibar
Hotel sex kits have been around for a while now so it never surprises us when we walk into hip boutique hotels in urban areas and find a pack of condoms with some fun extras awaiting in the mini-bar.
But we were taken aback when we saw this: The Wynn Intimacy Kit atop the mini-bar at The Encore Las Vegas. Old people use hotel sex kits?
We kid, we kid. Actually, the Encore is the hipper younger sister to the Wynn Las Vegas and during our recent stay, we saw more folks below the age of 40 than we've had in recent memory at the Wynn/Encore properties. Certainly, the average hotel guest age was a lot lower than it was when we first stayed here back in January.
Tags: Digital Nomad Hotels / Hotel WiFi / Hotel Lobbies / Viva Vegas / → All Tags
Digital Nomad Lobbies: Encore's Lobby Bar and Cafe
There has been a lot of talk recently about the lifestyle of digital nomads -- folks who work from wherever they might roam. HotelChatter has been covering hotel wifi since the beginning, but as we cited in our 2009 annual hotel wifi report times they are a changin'.
It's time for us to start rating hotel lobbies on their digital nomad quotient. We continue this series with the Encore Las Vegas where we found ourselves hanging out yesterday at the hotel's Lobby Bar and Cafe.
Tags: Viva Vegas / Michael Jackson / Hard Rock Hotels / → All Tags
The Hard Rock to Add Michael Jackson's Glove to Its Memorabilia Collection
The doors of the Hard Rock have guitar handles.
While the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas does have a lot of party-centric activities on site--drinking at Wasted Space, bumping n' grinding at Body English, doing both of those in the water at the Rehab Sunday pool party--the hotel is still true to its original concept and the amount of rock n' roll memorabilia on display is fantastic.
When we were there last month, just off to the reception desk were the sexy outfits used in music videos by Christina Aguilera, Katy Perry and Britney Spears. In fact, Hard Rock actually possesses the outfit Britney used in her "Hit Me Baby One More Time" video. Throughout the property you will also find outfits and property belonging to No Doubt, Bon Jovi, Elvis Presley, Madonna and Michael Jackson. And it looks like the Hard Rock will have some more MJ to show off pretty soon.
Tags: Killer View / Viva Vegas / WiFi Hell / → All Tags
The Palazzo Lets You Spy on The Wynn's Pool Scene
We are suckers for a room with a killer view. We find that we are even more likely to forgive some minor hotel inconveniences if we can stare out the window at something pretty--yeah we are that shallow. Let's help out our fellow hotel mavens by uploading rooms with killer views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. We will feature our favorites in this space from time to time. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number of the hot view.
It's not that often that we get rooms with a killer view in Las Vegas. Like everything else in Sin City--if you want it, you gotta pay for it. And room views do cost extra. But last month we found ourselves with a pleasant view of The Wynn's (thankfully) tame pool scene and its golf course. And yeah, we zoomed in. A wider shot is after the jump.
Tags: Anti-View / Viva Vegas / Hard Rock Hotels / → All Tags
'Paradise' As Seen From The Hard Rock's Paradise Tower
You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.
Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas, home to the world's largest gathering of anti-views in one single city. So we're not really surprised that this was the view from The Hard Rock's Paradise Tower but it was kind of a bummer, considering how sweet how rooms were. (The rest of the hotel we could do without.)
Our room, 738 on the seventh floor, was at the corner of the tower which afforded us views of this and facing the strip, which is a few miles away. That view also had some construction immediately in front of the hotel but once you looked past that, it turned into a killer view.
Tags: HotelChatter Reviews / Viva Vegas / Hard Rock Hotels / Paradise Tower / → All Tags
Almost Paradise, But Not Really at The Hard Rock's New Paradise Tower
So we took you inside the Hard Rock Las Vegas' new Paradise Tower yesterday and while we liked the rooms in this new tower at the Hard Rock, the rest of the hotel left us a little grumpy.
It all started with check-in. We showed up on Monday at 1pm. Yes, we knew that it was two hours before the standard check-in time of 3pm but we thought we'd try our luck--after all it was a Monday. However, we totally forgot that the folks attending Sin City's rauchiest Sunday pool party, Rehab, would be checking out that day. Thus our room wasn't ready. That we didn't mind. We ended up passing our time in the Starbucks. What we did mind is that we waited nearly 25 minutes to have an agent tell us that.
When the hotel called us to let us know the room was ready, we had to wait in line another 10 minutes to get our key. Grrr.
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