Aria, the most lavish and expensive hotel and casino to be built on the Las Vegas Strip, threw open its doors to the public this week amid some of the harshest US economic conditions in decades. Fireworks and the opening party temporarily dispelled the gloom in the city, which has suffered the worst rates of job losses and foreclosures in the country.
Luxury hotels will be among U.S. lodging industry’s most traded real estate next year as buyers go after high-end properties that have slumped in value, said Arthur Adler, chief executive officer for the Americas at Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels.
Jim Murren, chief executive of MGM Mirage, will this week unveil the last major element of his $8.5 billion CityCenter project, the culmination of his quest to remake this city by wagering the future of his company. MGM Mirage touts CityCenter, a cluster of skyscrapers, casinos and shops nearly six years in the making, as "the evolution of Las Vegas into a sophisticated, multidimensional city." Its 67 acres feature a central boulevard that's the width of New York's Park Avenue and sculptures by the likes of Henry Moore and Maya Lin. "We view ourselves as patrons, like the Medicis," Mr. Murren says.
The types of hotels opened by decade have differed quite a bit during the years. In order to study the change throughout the decades, all of the hotels in the STR Census database were subtotaled by scale and then by decade based on their open date as displayed in the first graph and table below. (The second graph and table will drill down into a detailed year-by-year look at the current decade, the 2000s.)
The luxurious Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas opened its doors this past Friday, bringing the hotel group's modern elegance and legendary service to the vibrant city. A festive ribbon cutting and feng shui ceremony marked the hotel's official opening, and a celebratory gala party, attended by over 500 distinguished guests, launched the hotel to Las Vegas society.
Since May 2006, when MGM Mirage imploded the Boardwalk Hotel on the Strip, Las Vegas residents have patiently waited to see what the state’s largest employer had in store for the 76 acres of prime real estate between Bellagio and Monte Carlo. They got their first look this week. Company executives cut ribbons and opened doors on three components of the massive CityCenter, a high-rise campus accented with striking architecture, public art, the newest technology and an emphasis on sustainability.
Never mind the recession -- the glittering complex, with its chic hotels, dining and shops, is seen as the start of the 'new,' urban Sin City. Even along the Las Vegas Strip, where extravagance and overindulgence are the norm, people are wondering this about the new CityCenter project: Has it blown the lid off the definition of "over the top"?
On Saturday, I walked from Mandalay Bay to the Wynn, interviewing employees at hotels -- people who work on their feet -- asking them an open-ended question: "What do you think of CityCenter?" Every worker expressed hope that the MGM Mirage-owned property, which opens its first hotel, Vdara, on Tuesday, succeeds. "None of us can afford to think anything else" during hard times, said a worker in a high-end, Harrah's-based retail store. But quite a few workers worry CityCenter "overhired" 10,000 to 12,000 employees and could end up laying off as many as 4,000 people once CityCenter gets rolling. "That's what every place does" when a new property opens, a cocktail server said. "They overhire."
Bankrupt Project Could Need an Additional $2 Billion, Potential Bidder Says, and Pay-Off Is Long Way Off. The Fontainebleau the luxury hotel and casino development at the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip, sits more than half-finished after falling into bankruptcy in June. But as potential suitors consider rescuing the project, they are facing a grim reality: It may not be worth the money it would cost to complete it. More than $2 billion has already been poured into construction.
Dallas bankrolls new convention center hotel: At a time when few full-service hotel projects are getting privately financed, the city of Dallas broke ground yesterday on a 1,000-room, 23-story convention center hotel that the city will bankroll, according to the project's press release.
Andre Balazs expects to sell his Raleigh Hotel soon, parting with one of the most high-profile boutique properties in South Beach. The New York hotelier behind The Standard hotel chain said he has a buyer for the 104-room Raleigh and that both sides are all but agreed to a price. He expects the deal to become official within four weeks.
Opening day at the Ritz-Carlton and J.W. Marriott hotels at LA Live is still five months away. But Room 1055 is a beehive of activity. One worker attaches metal pins to the door of what will become the room's closet, his drill a quick, metallic syncopated whir. Another grunts away as he carefully attaches a mirror to the wardrobe's door.
Washington's Jefferson hotel is gearing up for a reopening this summer after a multimillion-dollar renovation project. Most aspects of the 99-room hotel's renovation are tied to Thomas Jefferson, including books in the library reflecting Jefferson's era; however, the hotel will also have modern touches such as its own eco-friendly line of cleaning projects