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Sunday, December 12, 2010
City Center in Las Vegas
City Center in Las Vegas
City Center in Las Vegas
If you don’t know anything about this place, well, there’s this city in the Nevada desert where people go to gamb– …
The short version is this: City Center was envisioned as a city within a city. Many of the world’s great architects were commissioned to design its various pieces and were to use the latest in green building strategies to make this city an environmentally conscious one. A huge, 4,000-room casino-resort called Aria would stand at the center and be surrounded by two 400-room, nongaming boutique hotels (the Mandarin Oriental and the Harmon); a 1,500-unit, nongaming, all-suites, condo-hotel called Vdara; a huge retail and entertainment complex called Crystals; and a residential complex called Veer. All this was to be packed onto a 76-acre parcel of land shaped like a fat T, with the bottom of the T touching the west side of the Strip just south of the Bellagio.
Of course, the development and building process — financed by MGM Grand and Dubai World in a contentious joint venture — was epic. Suffice to say that the project has cost massively more than was originally anticipated, and that its financiers were not happy to see a crisis subsume the economy during construction. And yet, amazingly, all of it has more or less come to be.
Needless to say, the opening of city center has been highly anticipated. So I made a trip to get an early look. I stayed at the nongaming, condo-hotel Vdara partly because Aria isn’t scheduled to open until next week. As a result, my impressions are — admittedly — preliminary and partial. Even so, I made a lot of intriguing discoveries. In Oyster fashion, I’ll list the pros and the cons, and then offer a few closing thoughts. Stay tuned in the coming months for the full review.
Pros
- The rooms are modern in style and have nicely designed small kitchenettes with modern appliances.
- The contemporary décor and design is undoubtedly striking and, to my eyes at least, attractive.
- This place is pleasantly quiet – it’s a nongaming hotel, after all.
- You gotta love that new hotel smell!
- The TVs offer tons of channels, many in HD.
- At 70Mbps, the wired Internet here is the fastest I’ve ever seen in a hotel — by far.
- The hotel is legitimately green. It earned LEED Gold status, which isn’t easy. Guests will notice CFL light bulbs or LEDs; that the hotel doesn’t replace a lightly used soap bar at the sink during room cleaning; and that it doesn’t provide a bar of soap for the shower — the one from the sink had to serve double duty
- Until Aria opens, dining options are limited; there’s just one restaurant, called Silk Road, plus Bar Vdara in the lobby. (A rooftop pool and lounge area, called Sky, isn’t open yet.) Meanwhile, the Bellagio’s restaurants — the closest to Vdara until Aria opens — are at least a 15-minute walk away, and the walk to Aria is around the huge, industrial-feeling traffic circle that connects Aria and Vdara off of City Center’s secondary Harmon Street entrance.
- The hotel feels empty; as far as I can tell, many of the rooms in the hotel aren’t yet ready.
- There ain’t no action — that’s the down side of this being a quiet, non-gaming hotel — particularly in the not-yet-compete City Center.
- Speaking of the Strip, this place isn’t even close. It’s hard to overstate how isolated you are at Vdara, and the opening of Aria will not change that in any major way. I believe Vdara is the City Center property that’s farthest from the Strip. And the walkway from Vdara to the Strip is not an attractive one. Even if you do brave it, you’re still isolated on this stretch of the Strip, and to get across the Strip requires walking hundreds of yards to the nearest overpass. The only hotel that is remotely near this massive complex is the Bellagio, and that’s to the equivalent of a 10-block walk in New York City. Access to anything outside City Center will, for most guests, require a cab.
- Vdara isn’t as luxurious as the Trump International, another condo-hotel.
- Some basic elements of the user experience are off. For example, the rooms don’t have a light switch near the bed to control the main lights; the very green lighting is not strong enough to illuminate the room properly at night; and the remote control for the television was impossibly bad
- Relative to the Wynn, Bellagio, Caesars, and the Venetian, the approach by car to Vdara is uninspired and uninspiring — it offers none of the playfulness or over-the-top touches that are now Las Vegas standards. Instead, it has all of the charm of a highway on-ramp in Los Angeles, which is what it resembles. I didn’t use City Center’s primary street entrance, so I need to reserve judgment on it.
- Not uncommon for a hotel at this stage of opening, the service is still spotty: I waited a long time for my room to be cleaned; housekeeping knocked on my door, loudly , even though I had the do-not-disturb light on; and I was told by a waiter at the Wynn (admittedly not a completely reliable source) that friends of his working at City Center hotels have only received four days of training because of limited budgets.
- Yuck! The avocado in my room service salad was rock hard. I’m not talking slightly under ripe – rock hard! McDonald’s would never have served it.
City Center, which is bringing a huge number of new rooms to an already glutted Las Vegas hotel market, is as much a construction zone as it is an open hotel. It’s sparkling clean, but any new hotel should be clean. The shopping mall is well done, but not at the level of the over-the-top “mall” at Wynn/Encore or even the ones at the Palazzo/Venetian or at Ceasars. It still has many empty stores right next to the ultra-luxury retailers like Louis Vuitton and Tom Ford. In fact, the whole complex has an 85 percent complete feel to it. Until Aria is open, it’s too early to say if it can compete with the sheer vibrancy you get in other top Las Vegas hotels. I’ll be back in the spring once the other hotels have opened and they’ve had a chance to complete construction and work out the initial kinks. In the interim, your eyes should be wide open about what to expect: A venue that can’t yet compete with the best Las Vegas has to offer. But this game is a long one, so full judgment needs to be withheld until the spring. In the interim, caveat emptor.
Entrance at Vdara Las Vegas Resort Hotel and Spa
Lobby at the Vdara Resort Hotel and Spa
Room at the Vdara Las Vegas Resort Hotel and Spa
Kitchenette at the Vdara Las Vegas Resort Hotel and Spa
View of City Center from the Las Vegas Strip
The best celebrity hot spot hotels
The best celebrity hot spot hotels in Los Angele
We’ve compiled the ultimate guide to who’s been seen where — and where you may have the best shot at an A-list sighting. Here are our picks for the best celebrity hot spot hotels in Los Angeles.
Chateau Marmont
- Price: $476/night
- Location: Hollywood/West Hollywood, Los Angeles
Sunset Marquis Hotel & Villas
- Price: $337/night
- Location: Hollywood/West Hollywood, Los Angeles
Raffles L’ermitage Beverly Hills
- Price: $441/night
- Location: Beverly Hills/Bel Air, Los Angeles
Sunset Tower – Argyle
- Price: $300/night
- Location: Hollywood/West Hollywood, Los Angeles
The Beverly Hills Hotel
- Price: $375/night
- Location: Beverly Hills/Bel Air, Los Angeles
Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel
- Price: $255/night
- Location: Hollywood/West Hollywood, Los Angeles
Lobby, the Beverly Wilshire
Beverly Wilshire Hotel
- Price: $405/night
- Location: Beverly Hills/Bel Air, Los Angeles
The Fairmont Miramar Hotel Santa Monica
- Price: $383/night
- Location: Santa Monica and the Beaches, Los Angeles
Shutters On The Beach
- Price: $458/night
- Location: Santa Monica and the Beaches, Los Angeles
New York hotel rooms
New York hotel rooms still available for New Year’s
We can’t promise these open rooms will last for long, so don’t delay!
Kittichai at 60 Thompson
Price for New Year’s: $559 and up
Location: SoHo and TriBeCa
A downtown hotel known for its trendy party scene — a favorite of celebrities — this 100-room boutique with inventive design, attentive service, and a chic restaurant epitomizes swank, SoHo hip. And the hotel’s location puts it near some of New York’s hottest all-night partying
After the jump, see which other hotels still have space for New Year’s.
View from The Marriott Marquis
Price for New Year’s: $449 and up (arrival on Dec. 30)
Location: Times Square
This 1,949-room behemoth in the middle of Times Square could not be more centrally located for the festivities (and scurrying home afterwards to warm up). Some rooms have views of Times Square, though those with views of the ball are already booked for 2009. (Hopefuls can put themselves on the waitlist.) A mere $800 will buy entrance to the hotel’s New Year’s Eve soiree with a DJ and open bar; for an additional $400 you can watch the ball drop from the hotel’s windows. Midnight festivities aside, top-notch beds, clean, quiet rooms, reliable service, and a ton of amenities make this a premier midrange Times Square pick.
Lobby Bar and Patio at The Bowery Hotel
Price for New Year’s: $425 and up
Location: East Village
The Bowery Hotel puts guests in the heart of the vibrant downtown party scene. The East Village and Lower East Side are packed with excellent dining and drinking venues. And when it’s time to crash, the luxurious rooms with plush beds and antique touches couldn’t be more inviting.
Outside of Hotel 41
Price for New Year’s: $399 and up
Location: Times Square
The rooms at Hotel 41 may be small and the amenities may be limited, but for a hotel just off of Times Square, prices like these are tough to beat. Visitors who plan to partake in the Times Square revelry will be thankful that a reasonably priced hotel exists this close to the action. Hotel 41 is also two blocks from 16 subway lines, which means easy access to the rest of the city’s New Year’s revelry.
The Carlyle Restaurant at The Carlyle
Price for New Year’s: $1150 and up
Location: Upper East Side
A luxurious New Year’s Eve awaits at the Carlyle, which spoils guests with classically decorated rooms and formal, white-gloved service. The Carlyle is perfect for a classy evening, or for well-heeled runners who want to be just steps from the starting line of the New York Road Runner’s annual four-mile Midnight Run. A costume parade and dancing precedes the Central Park race, and fireworks explode at 12 as the runners get on their way. For those not running, the revered Carlyle Restaurant offers a $350, five-course, prix-fixe menu that opens with ahi tuna and hamachi tartar with Osetra caviar before moving onto Hudson Valley foie gras
The best hotel restaurants
The best hotel restaurants for dining out on Thanksgiving in NYC
But don’t bother making a massive Thanksgiving Day feast on your own. Any New Yorker knows that NYC kitchens barely have enough counter space to prepare a sandwich, let alone a giant bird and a half-dozen sides. And as for New York visitors, well…unless your hotel room is equipped with a kitchen (hey, some are), you’ve got no choice but to dine out.
Whether you’re looking for a traditional turkey ‘n trimmings meal or more of a non-traditional twist on the holiday goodness, we’ve rounded up the best hotel restaurants for dining out on Thanksgiving in NYC.
Michelin-star chef Alain Ducasse’s pricey new signature restaurant at the St. Regis, opened in 2008, is offering a four-course Thanksgiving menu for $95 per person that includes a foie gras ravioli and Golden Heritage roasted turkey. An a la carte menu is also available.
A “contemporary” three-course Thanksgiving Brunch is available from noon to 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving, with killer views of Central Park to enhance the experience. Prices run $98 for adults and $58 for children.
For a unique twist on the holiday feast, the stylish upscale Thai restaurant’s Thanksgiving menu is anchored by turkey osso buco in Massaman curry and is served with “traditional” trimmings. The four-course prix-fixe offering runs $55 per person.
L'Atelier De Joel Robuchon at The Four Seasons New York
A five-course tasting menu that “showcases the best of the season” is a bit of a splurge at $145 per person, and although the portions tend to be on the smaller side (our reporter’s foie gras appetizer was served in a shot glass on our last visit), they’re packed with amazing flavors.
Inside New York's New Gansevoort Park Avenue
Inside New York's New Gansevoort Park
The Rooftop Bar
The Rooftop Bar at Gansevoort Park Avenue
One of the many bar areas.
Yesterday we took a tour of the upcoming Park Avenue Gansevoort Hotel’s rooftop bar. One word comes to mind when describing it: massive. Though the bars are still bare of booze, furniture had just been brought in, giving some life to the space. And when it opens, the Plunge Rooftop Bar + Lounge will certainly have a number of distinct environments in which to chill (the soft opening for 140 of the hotel’s rooms and Plunge is currently scheduled for August 16).And, of course, there’s the pool. The swanky swimming hole is ostensibly for guests only, but we expect a lot of fashionable New Yorkers will try to weasel their way in.
Check out some pictures below. And keep in mind this is just one of the three drinking spots that will be on-site. Ristorante Asellina and Twenty 33, the hotel’s other eating and drinking venues, are still under construction (420 Park Avenue S.).
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