Hotel Designs Miniview: Miniview: HotelDesign- Back to the Future reprised

Miniview - 26th Jun 2008

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Miniview: HotelDesign- Back to the Future reprised

By this time I was fully adjusted both Las Vegas and the time shift, although locals may say that walking the four miles or so of the Strip just showed I wasn’t adjusted at all. With my ‘proper’ camera slung over my shoulder I made the walk that resulted in the Review piece on Las Vegas (read Las Vegas - the Strip - seeing is not believing).

Approaching THEhotel from the Luxor was totally different piece of theatre, riding the travelator between the two. However the experience was the similar, and moving into the cool chic environment of THEhotel was a striking contrast to the pyramid, providing a cultured sophistication missing in other parts of the Strip.

There are 1,117 suites at THEhotel, but on my second visit they were all let so I was unable to gain access for a look-see, and the images of bedrooms here are MGM’s (unusual for HotelDesigns as our regular readers know we like to use our own imagery and try to show what the designers imagined as the end result). Also unusually however, when their press release talks of “Modern furnishings in rich earth tones and dark woods bespeak an updated mid-century sensibility” they are fully in line with my own observations of this as an Art Deco interior. Indeed to European eyes this is much closer to a European style hotel than most of the rest Las Vegas.

Although THEhotel is abundant with the style and comforts sought after by the upscale leisure traveler, it has been designed to offer a new level of support to the business guest as well, bearing in mind that Las Vegas is becoming the premier global conference and exhibition centre, offering a space and rooms on a scale unmatched elsewhere. A special feature of THEhotel is the flexible menu of private conference rooms on four floors of the hotel, where a wide variety of business gatherings can be hosted. These richly furnished rooms can be outfitted as private boardrooms, reception spaces, classrooms or theatres and are outfitted with up-to-the-minute electronic and digital infrastructures.

Business suites identical to the standard rooms are located on floors three through six providing convenient access to guests overseeing their events (miX is on the 63rd floor with the most spectacular views). Also unusual is the dominant position of the Business centre in reception and the lack of a gaming hall (the Mandalay next door serves that function).

In that sense THEhotel is not just stylistically marked out from the others, but also provides a respite from the constant stream of gamblers. Other areas mark out the quality, such as the use of original artworks from Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenburg amongst others, in itself almost enough to ensure the hotel has an up market position in Las Vegas.

© Words & Pictures Patrick Goff
from a visit in 2008