The hotel also has the Tower Suites, a separate, more exclusive and all suites area. Here the design suggests a European sophistication that says more about the values of the wealthy in the USA - or perhaps the globally mobile and wealthy all share the same tastes in design. Having its own separate entrance, separate check in and reception areas, this part of the hotel helps manage the numbers of guests by separating them into two categories before they arrive. One of the management issues overcome successfully at hotels in Las Vegas is how to check in or out up to 15,000 guests at a time. Here giving the Tower Suites its own reception presents one solution (it also has its own pools but shares the gaming floor and the other attractions of the Resort).

Entry to the hotel is possible at several places. The normal route for guests would be by car to the main entrance. In keeping with the scale of the rest of the building, the port cochere is of a scale I had not seen before. Certainly it could serve very well for many small English country towns as their bus station such is its size – but then many of the limousines in Las Vegas are larger than small English country buses anyway.

Certainly the number of arrivals and departures again requires considerable management and this is translated into the design. Here the taxi rank goes under the port cochere and emerges further down the hotel frontage. Guests make the walk along a covered veranda where a fine spray comes between them and the outside area as protection from heat and fumes. Concierge services are excellent with guest luggage whisked away to be delivered to their room after check in.

Although there are 2,716 rooms now, the split between the rooms and the suites and the use of two reception areas makes the management easier. The hotel also employs front of house staff who literally stand in front of the desk marshalling the guests to the nearest available free check in point. There is a separate desk for enquiries, and bills can be checked online and guests can depart without visiting the check-out desk. The key card, interestingly, can also be used to charge the gambling hall monies too as well as operating as the room key. It has the guest's name on, and if lost, identification is required to get it replaced – with my passport in the room safe I used my UK driving license as identification to the bemusement of the very serious desk clerk… The design and operation have been worked out together so that the guest is given a magic carpet ride to their room.

"the number of arrivals and departures again require considerable management and this is translated into the design"

Coming in through the doors from the porte cochere a guest is presented with an enormous floral display. The second main approach is on foot from the Strip, which takes guests through a shopping mall (the hotel has some 30 stores ranging from a Ferrari dealership through to Dior and Rolex stores) and decants them into the main public areas in front of a similar floral display. There is also access here from the Suites arrival porte cochere (with Rolls Royce’s parked outside for VIP’s) and the line between the two leads to a major bar and entertainment area, restaurants and inevitably, the gaming floor. However the gaming floor is not the first thing one sees on entering the hotel.