Las Vegas Shines Brighter Than Ever

One of the unbreakable commandments of show business is "the show must go on." As a place that does entertainment and showmanship better than anywhere else, Las Vegas is still growing and adding new attractions, venues, and even resorts to The Strip.


Caesars Entertainment
Caesars Entertainment will have renovated 11,348 guest rooms across its many Las Vegas properties by the middle of next year. At that point, the company will have renovated and redesigned more than half of its Las Vegas room inventory since 2014. This includes the 4,800 rooms at Caesars Palace, Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, Paris Las Vegas, and Harrah's Las Vegas, renovated in 2016.

The latest of these projects is the $90 million renovation of 1,270 of the Flamingo Las Vegas' 3,500 rooms, which began in August. The 71-year-old, center-Strip property's rooms will feature a design scheme that is both contemporary and retro-chic, featuring gold and pink highlights in a nod to its history and character. The first of these rooms will be back in service this month. It has 73,000 square feet of meeting, convention, and event space.

In June, work wrapped on the renovation of all of the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino's 2,500 rooms, including 231 restyled suites, which feature design elements such as circular beds, suspended sofas, and lounge-style living rooms. The property can handle groups of up to 4,400 in its 88,000 square feet of meeting space.

In August, renovations were completed on the 1,181 rooms in the Palace Tower of its flagship Caesars Palace. This includes 10 new villas ranging in size from 2,750 square feet to 4,085 square feet. They feature bespoke furnishings, intricate finishes, and a curated art program, among other design elements.

These are only a fraction of the suites and luxury villas available to groups through the newly renamed Caesars Suites Collection, which draws on all of its properties. With prices ranging from $175 to $25,000 per night, this collection includes the opulent 9,500-square-foot Marcus Aurelius Villa and 5,000-square-foot Marc Antony Villa at Caesars Palace, as well as the 10,300-square-foot Nobu Villa, at the on-property Nobu Hotel.


MGM Resorts: Stay Different
The most highly awaited new project on The Strip this year is the $450 million transformation of the old Monte Carlo Resort and Casino into a new luxury property, Park MGM, which will also house the smaller NoMad Hotel and an outpost of the NoMad restaurant on the top four floors. The new property is at the heart of the new neighborhood MGM Resorts International has built around The Park, an outdoor dining, entertainment, and strolling space. Flanked by the new hotel and New York--New York Las Vegas Hotel & Casino, the on-Strip outdoor space is also the gateway to the 20,000-seat T-Mobile Arena.  

Park MGM will be something different on the Las Vegas scene, both in style and in the way in which it relates to The Strip from a pedestrian point of view. Very few of the property's public spaces are finished, but a recent visit to the lobby revealed a style you'd expect to find in southeastern cities -- airy, calm, welcoming to nature -- rather than in Las Vegas. It will also connect more seamlessly to The Strip via a 30,000-square-foot outpost of Chef Mario Batali's upscale Italian market, Eataly -- a series of restaurants, cafes, and to-go counters set among the various sections like pasta, wine, olive oil, and the like.

The Park MGM will also have 102 Stay Well rooms when it opens. First introduced at the MGM Grand, the Stay Well concept is a partnership with Delos, which worked with the Cleveland Clinic and Columbia University to develop healthier and more energizing guest rooms. The Stay Well rooms there have grown to 340, each with a dozen features designed to improve the guest experience, such as HEPA-filtered air, wake-up light therapy to reduce jet lag, and vitamin C-infused showers for healthier skin and hair. The company also added 121 Stay Well rooms and suites at The Mirage in June.

Stay Well is not limited to rooms. The MGM Grand Conference Center is adding 22,000 square feet to its existing Stay Well meeting space as part of a larger expansion. Stay Well Meetings has many of the same features as the rooms, but also some unique ones, like guided meditation by wellness guru Deepak Chopra and special break menus. All of the Park MGM's meeting spaces will be Stay Well. "This is the start of getting Stay Well into all of our Las Vegas luxury properties," says Michael Dominguez, chief sales officer of MGM Resorts International.

The MGM Grand Conference Center's broader expansion started in June, and by the time it wraps at the end of 2018 it will add 250,000 square feet of new space, for a total to 850,000 square feet. "This will be seamlessly connected to the existing space," Dominguez said. "Like it has always been there."

The LEED Gold--certified ARIA Convention Center began a $154 million expansion plan in May. Scheduled to wrap up in February, the project will add 200,000 square feet as it grows into the space that once housed the Zarkana Cirque du Soleil show.

Another new event venue near the outdoor space, the new 5,200-seat Park Theater will be the site of a lot of residencies -- Bruno Mars and Cher are among the first -- and it connects to the Park MGM. The theater has very advanced A/V technology and seating designed to transform easily and quickly for any type of event.

Other forthcoming meetings facility developments include an executive meetings center that will be high-tech, high-touch, and service-oriented, pulling from the conference center concept, Dominguez says. He adds that the company is building a new Ideation Lab aimed at small groups doing planning and strategy meetings. "It will be very bright and airy," Dominguez says. "It will have a Silicon Valley feel."

The Independents
Although it remains one of the newest resorts on the Las Vegas Strip, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas isn't resting on its laurels: Less than seven years after opening, it's commencing a massive project to renovate 2,895 of its 3,028 guest rooms, it announced this month. The 18-month project will work on 150 to 180 rooms at a time, stretching across both of the resort's towers -- The Chelsea Tower and Boulevard Tower. The renovated guest rooms will emphasize "modern design and luxurious comfort," according to The Cosmopolitan.

The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas is undergoing a $13 million room remodel of 640 rooms and suites, which is scheduled for completion this year. The modern look features clean lines, new artwork, "spa-like oversized bathrooms with elegant marble flooring," and a plethora of USB ports scattered throughout the rooms. Other changes included room furnishings, 55-inch TVs, and French doors that open to city or pool views. The Hard Rock has 1,500 rooms in all, including 374 suites, villas, and penthouses in its HRH All Suite Tower. And the famous 80-foot guitar sign has been sent to the Neon Museum.

Set in a more peaceful location about 20 minutes off The Strip, the 548-room JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort & Spa recently debuted two new venues for meetings and events as part of a larger renovation: the Palm Executive Conference Center and Cascade. Located in the resort's Palm Tower, the former offers 15,000 square feet of indoor/outdoor and pre-function space, as well as an expansive patio area that's surrounded by lush greenery and waterfalls. Cascade boasts an open floor plan and more than 10,000 square feet of indoor/outdoor space. Together, the two venues bring the JW Marriott to more than 100,000 square feet of meeting and event space.

Opened in May, the 289-room W Las Vegas' new AWAY Spa has 10 treatment rooms, a salon, and steam rooms, as well as what are described as "oversized experience showers." It also features a very different look and feel with "bright pink lighting and accent walls enhanced by energizing ambient music." Each of these rooms comes with two music menus to choose from -- one energetic and the other calming. There is also a communal relaxation lounge, which is delightfully described as allowing guests to "detox or retox."

There are, sadly, still no public details available about Wynn Paradise Park, the (probably) 23-acre lagoon Steve Wynn is building on The Strip, but it seems that it is definitely happening. And, if rumors, early sneak peaks, and Wynn's history of creating projects that break the mold in Las Vegas are any guide, it's going to be a game-changer on The Strip. First of all, the project to replace the Wynn's on-property golf course will be enormous, with room not just for sunbathing and swimming, but also actual watersports. News reports from the middle of the year describe other features including a boardwalk, shopping, and dining outlets.

The Palms Casino Resort recently remodeled its meetings and conventions facilities as the first phase of a $146 million renovation by new owner Station Casinos. The 1,200-room property has 19,000 square feet of meeting and event space. The new design will "embolden and brighten with geometric elements and vibrant art further refined by gilded marble and dark wood." The pre-function area features leather furnishings and a bar. New A/V equipment includes new digital signage and an upgraded sound system.



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This article appears in the November 2017 issue of Successful Meetings.