citycenter

Stefano Pilati Designs The Opium Experience: A New YSL Retail Space At Crystals, Las Vegas

Filed under: By Design, Architecture & Design, Luxury Shopping

"I call it the opium experience," Stefano Pilati, Creative Director of Yves Saint Laurent, and of the Yves Saint Laurent's boutique retail space design. Opium is the name of the amber/reddish lacquer of the ceilings and wall panels. It is, serendipitously, also the name of the French brand's legendary perfume.

Las Vegas has two YSL Boutiques, but the one at City Center is the first to be designed in the Stefano Pilati style. Only two other YSL stores in the US feature this design at present. Historically, the store design was unveiled back in 2008 at the beginning of Paris Fashion Week. It was Pilati's hope that the design would become iconic enough to be recognizable without any logo.

"I wanted to do something that was timeless," Pilati said in an interview back then, " where the design had to go beyond my era at Saint Laurent: it had to be contemporary, with a strong, identfiable identity."

Tags: citycenter, CityCenter Las Vegas, stefano pilati, yves saint laurent

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A Substantial Debut: In Its First Year, CityCenter Receives Two AAA Five Diamond Awards

by Susan Kime (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Real Estate Developments

Aria Hotel & Casino, CityCenter, Las Vegas

It seems hard to believe that CityCenter has been in operation only a year, but in that year it has received awards as noted below. The most recent and most unusual In its first year, is the AAA Five Diamond Award® for both ARIA Resort & Casino and Mandarin Oriental, The award is usually given to a few select properties deemed the finest in North America, but it is highly unusual for hotels to attain this rating within the first year of operation. The AAA Five Diamond Award winners make up just 0.27 percent of the rated venues throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.

Bobby Baldwin, CityCenter's President and CEO, said, "From inception to operation, our goal with CityCenter was to create a resort destination that provides guests with services and amenities unmatched in the world. To receive this honor in our first year, reflects our commitment to this promise. It is a great first anniversary gift."

This is not the Aria's first significant award. ARIA is the largest LEED® Gold certified building in the world. In addition to the AAA Five Diamond Award, in its debut year, ARIA has received multiple accolades including: Travel + Leisure's Top 20 Up-and-Coming Hotels in the World, 2010 Global Vision Award; Conde Nast Traveler's 2010 Hot List; Elite Traveler's World's Top Hotel Suites; Esquire's Best New Restaurants for 2010, Top 11 Restaurants Not To Miss; Food & Wine's Las Vegas' Best Bets, Go List 2010, 100 Best New Food & Drink Experiences; MSN's Top 10 New Dining Destinations; Entrepreneur's Best Business Bars; US Airways Magazine's Top 15 Coolest Hotels in U.S.

Tags: citycenter, CityCenter Las Vegas, las vegas hotels, las vegas strip, LEED

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Vdara Partners With The Abbey On Gay Pool Party

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

The Vdara hotel at CityCenter in Las Vegas becomes the latest to have a Sunday pool party, but theirs has a unique twist. The hotel has partnered with popular West Hollywood hot spot, The Abbey and Las Vegas party planner Eduardo Cordova to create The Abbey Beach, a LGBT pool party. Each Sunday beginning August 22, Vdara Pool & Lounge will be decked out with The Abbey's colorful flags and beach balls, while its 19 cabanas will be serviced by the handsome Abbey Boys. The Abbey's bartenders from West Hollywood will make special appearances to keep the mojitos and martinis flowing while a rotating lineup from The Abbey's resident DJs will keep the party moving.

"We are excited to welcome the LGBT community with a high-energy, upscale pool party unlike anything in Las Vegas," said Mary Giuliano, General Manager for Vdara Hotel & Spa. "With our designer architecture, personal service and unique location, Vdara is quickly becoming a hot destination for the sophisticated LGBT traveler."

The Abbey Beach at Vdara Pool & Lounge occurs every Sunday now through September 26, noon – 6 p.m. Labor Day weekend's event will move from Sunday to Monday, September 6. Cover is complimentary for Vdara hotel guests, $10 for Las Vegas locals and $20 for all other guests.

Tags: citycenter, gay travel, las vegas, lgbt, vdara

The Opening of the Veer Residences, CityCenter Las Vegas

by Susan Kime (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Real Estate Developments

Last week, on July 14th, the Veer Towers, an integral part of CityCenter, Las Vegas, opened for business. It is one of the most, architecturally avant garde buildings within an exceptional array of edgy, urban structures, Veer Towers is designed by Helmut Jahn and is the only full residential development at City Center. The Towers incline toward each other at 5 degree angles from the center, and are 37 feet high, home to 335 contemporary condo residences, ranging from 500 to 3300 square feet, from studios to 3 bedroom residences and penthouses. Pricing begins from the mid $300,000s to a few million, depending on size, location and interiors. Turnkey interior packages are available, where potential members can move in with only their toothbrush, if desired. At present, in honor of the Veer opening, at some of the Veer towers studios owners can receive a complimentary turnkey interior design/living package, worth up to $20,000 -- an interesting deal, and might include a toothbrush.

I have written about City Center on Luxist before in an article entitled: City Center: The New Urban Vision, but had never been to Veer Towers, as they had not been completed. Now, walking into the residential towers from other areas of CityCenter, I was reminded how much of a city within a city CityCenter really is. Everything is within close proximity. From seeing a studio with exceptional views of the a portion of the Las Vegas skyline, plus multileveled rooftops of Crystals,the 500,000 square floor retail/shopping area, to a residence on a higher floor, ( see image above), the Veer residences offer a sense of sanctuary and peace, all within a city NOT known for such things. Looking out a Veers Towers window at this city of constant. colorful movement can be a peace-inducing experience.

Tags: citycenter, CityCenter las Vegas, Crystals Las Vegas, Las Vegas, las vegas hotels, las vegas real estate, las vegas real estate market, luxury condo hotel residences, Opening of Veer Towers, Veer Towers

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CityCenter: The New Urban Vision of Las Vegas

by Susan Kime (RSS feed) —

Filed under: By Design

On the back cover of a recent New Yorker Magazine, bastion of serious fiction, non-fiction and poetry, was a full page ad that took me by surprise, especially after I had just traveled there for the Luxury Summit conference. It said, " So you're not a Vegas person... " and then in huge block letters, "ARE YOU SURE?" It was an ad for CityCenter, and touted all the great art, great culture, restaurants and cultural atmosphere found there. But that ad stuck with me, as the inference was the theme I was going to explore: could a visionary development on a grand scale change personal tourist attitudes toward a destination? And conversely, could Las Vegas actually be perceived differently because of one grand multi-use venue?

In thinking about this, it is crucial to remember that Las Vegas is a desert city, situated in a barren Mojave desert valley. The city is about 2000 feet above sea level, it rains, on average, less that 5 inches a year. But visionaries have come here before, dreamed big dreams, and built. Historically, Las Vegas's persona is tied to big gaming and play in all its dark and light dimensions. But the building of CityCenter challenges this Las Vegas stereotype, as its vision hopes to resculpt and redesign Las Vegas's neon persona, by creating a design as well as an eco-sensitive aesthetic unseen and untried anywhere else. Here are some basic dimensions.

Tags: ARIA Las Vegas, citycenter, CityCenter Las Vegas, Crystals Las Vegas, Infinity World Development Corp., Jim Murren, Las Vegas, Leed Gold certification, LEED Gold certified, Mandarin Oriental, MGM Mirage, Vdara Hotel

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Viva Vdara!: Exclusive Resorts Adds Ten New Residences in Las Vegas

by Susan Kime (RSS feed) —

Filed under: By Design

Recently, I wrote a Luxist article about the relevance of Exclusive Resorts and their permanent mark on the destination club industry. Exclusive Resorts has announced the opening of 10 new residences for members at Vdara Hotel & Spa at CityCenter on the Las Vegas Strip.

All are corner units, located high in the building, custom-designed and furnished to suit club member tastes. Each two-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath residence features an open floor plan, fully equipped kitchen, and spa-style bathrooms, wrapped by windows showcasing city and mountain views. Amenities include round-the-clock concierge service, gourmet in-room dining, and preferred reservations at MGM MIRAGE restaurants and shows.

Tags: citycenter, destination club, destination clubs, exclusive resorts, las vegas, vdara

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A Photo Tour of CityCenter Las Vegas

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Real Estate Developments

After years of chronicling the shaky fortunes of the CityCenter project in Las Vegas it was finely time to see it for myself. In some ways the massive collection of retail space, residences, hotels and casinos lives up to the hype, it is like nothing Las Vegas has ever seen before. However whether or not it is what Las Vegas needs right now remains to be seen.

Las Vegas always seems to be running from its past. What began as a gangster's paradise evolved into the city of deeply discounted sin before revamping as a family-friendly cavalcade of wonders. Mostly recently it reinvented itself as the city of ultimate luxury with a focus on fine dining, luxury spas and elegantly subtle hotel suites. It's all a far cry from jangling casinos and mirror-ceilinged dens of iniquity. But the recent economic turmoil has hit Vegas with a double punch. First the real estate crash flattened the burgeoning Las Vegas condo market, then the drop in tourism sharply reversed the trend of rising hotel prices. It was nearly enough to make Vegas hotels long for the days of nickel slots and cheap steak dinners.

But Las Vegas is still betting on luxe for the long haul and to know that you need only look at the picture of Crystals mall above showcasing a couple of luxury brands. The entire CityCenter project is symbolic of the new Vegas. The shopping is high-end, the dining is expensive and the entire experience is designed to project class and calm. Old Vegas often sought to rev up the guests with flashing lights, bright colors and fantasy themes. New Vegas as shown at CityCenter is muted and tasteful. If it weren't for a casino or two you might just forget you were in Las Vegas at all. Let's have a look...

Tags: ARIA hotel, citycenter, crystals mall, las veas, las vegas strip

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Vdara Hotel To Open With Celeb-Attended Gala

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Las Vegas' big gamble, the massive CityCenter is finally starting to be open to the public. The Vdara Hotel and Spa is partnering with Vanity Fair to co-host a grand opening gala hosted by Sebastian Copeland with Orlando Bloom and Rosario Dawson on Tuesday in support of the Sebastian Copeland Foundation, a new foundation to explore climate change. Entertainment will be provided by DJs Donovan Leitch and Mathieu Schreyer and guests will dine on food from Martin Heierling, executive chef of Vdara and the hotel's contemporary Mediterranean restaurant, Silk Road.

Vdara is a non-gaming, smoke-free environment which is physically connected to Bellagio and adjacent to the ARIA resort. The LEED Gold certified project includes the 18,000-square-foot, two-level wellness spa, Vdara Health and Beauty. The hotel features a variety of stay options the most lavish of which are the two-bedroom penthouse suites which each have a full kitchen, a washer and dryer, flatscreen televisions and a bathroom with a soaking tub.

The 4,004-room Aria Resort & Casino will open on December 16. Many are concerned about how eager people will be to check out the new hotel considering that room prices are lower across the Strip and tourism is still down. The AP reports that including condominiums, CityCenter will have nearly 6,800 units open early next year. Rates at Vdara start at $129, $149 at anchor resort Aria and $345 at the Mandarin Oriental.

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Tags: citycenter, las vegas, las vegas strip, LasVegas, LasVegasStrip, vdara

Tiffany & Company's Glitzy New Store Design

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Jewelry

Tiffany & Company showed off their designs this week for their latest store in Las Vegas, a new approximately 10,000-square-foot store at the CityCenter development on the Las Vegas Strip. The two-level store will be located in Crystals, CityCenter's 500,000-square-foot retail and entertainment district which was designed by Studio Daniel Libeskind and Rockwell Group. The store is set to open in December and will have an 85-foot-high glass facade which is shaped like a diamond. The overall effect is luxe with a bit of Vegas flash, the entrance will be gleaming black granite around Art Deco-inspired stainless steel doors and inside etched mirror walls, iridescent fabrics and glittering chandeliers add sparkle. The second floor will be reached via a spiral steel-and-glass staircase that is lit from underneath. There is a separate engagement ring salon and a private sales salon with can be reached via a glass bridge. This will be the third Tiffany store in Las Vegas there are two other shops on the Strip, one at the Shops at Via Bellagio and one at The Forum Shops at Caesars but this is the largest one yet. JCK Online has more pictures of the interior renderings.

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Tags: citycenter, jewelry, las vegas, las vegas strip, LasVegas, LasVegasStrip, tiffany, tiffany and co, TiffanyAndCo

What Will Become Of Dubai's Istithmar World?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wealth

The sudden fall of Istithmar World, is one of the shadowiest and most interesting stories going on right now. Bloomberg reports that the Dubai sovereign wealth fund, is halting investments as part of a restructuring effort. The fund has been on one crazy decade-long spending spree of more than $25 billion that include shares in Yacht Haven Grande in the Virgin Islands, Barneys New York, the W Hotel Union Square in New York City and the Queen Elizabeth 2 yacht.

But as Dubai's fortunes have undergone a major shift in the past year or two the load of all those investments has become particularly onerous. One major burden is the CityCenter project in Las Vegas which Istithmar shares with MGM Mirage. Isithmar may end up selling the fund or some of its assets. Some say the fund will cease to exist which could put some of its investments in danger. Rumors of a sale of the Queen Elizabeth 2 and of a possible bankruptcy filing for Barneys have been swirling for weeks. For the most part Dubai tries to keep its financial flailings out of the public eye but that may not be possible this time.

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Tags: citycenter, dubai, istithmar

Banking On The Bellagio Brand

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Real Estate Developments

Like many other brands, MGM Mirage has decided to make money by selling its name. The brand, which has been struggling all year, particularly with the battle to get the huge $8.5 billion Las Vegas CityCenter project completed, is in need of some cash. MGM Mirage has inked 10 franchise deals with hotels carrying the Bellagio and MGM Grand name deals that will let the brand expand in a way that it could not on its own seeing as it is already $12 billion in debt.

The deals are a first for MGM Mirage. Two MGM Grand casino resorts are planned for Ho Tram, Vietnam and Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Other plans include Bellagios in Cairo, Mumbai and four in China. Bellagio, MGM Grand and Skyloft hotels will also be franchised in Dubai. These deals will give MGM Mirage two to three percent of gross sales with an additional 10 precent if a property achieves its profit goals. MGM Mirage is hoping that branded resorts will attract visitors even without gambling which means they will have to position themselves as a distinctive hotel brand that doesn't rely on a casino as a main atraction. What MGM Mirage and Bellagio do have that some other hotels don't is experience at maintaining full service complexes with restaurants, nightclubs, shops and entertainment all designed to make the guest so happy that they never want to step outside.

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Tags: bellagio, citycenter, las vegas, LasVegas, mgm grand, mgm mirage, MgmGrand, MgmMirage

MGM Mirage Decides To Give CityCenter Buyers A Break

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Real Estate Developments

Back in May we learned that buyers into Las Vegas' CityCenter's Veer and Vdara towers wanted an adjustment on their condo prices because of changes in the real estate market. At the time it looked like MGM Mirage was standing firm on their prices and MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman said the company was going to wait until the end of the year to make any decisions because it was too soon to say how the market could shift. Something must have shifted already because now MGM Mirage has said it will cut the prices of condos. Bloomberg News has a quote from MGM Mirage Chief Executive Officer Jim Murren that states plainly that there is no denying that the real estate market has fallen dramatically since the deals were inked.

MGM is building 2,400 condos at CityCenter and some buyers have had trouble obtaining mortgages for the high-priced condo units especially since real estate values have fallen by over half in the past three years. Without mortgages many deals will be unable to close. Details on the condo price cuts are expected to be announced this fall and should provide some relief for buyers. So far 65 percent of the Veer Towers units are under contract and 45 percent of the Vdara hotel-condo units are under contract.

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Tags: citycenter, condos, las vegas, las vegas real estate market, LasVegas, LasVegasRealEstateMarket, mgm mirage, MgmMirage

Luxury Retailers Plan Move Into CityCenter

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Real Estate Developments

MGM Mirage has announced a list of retailers that will be joining Crystals, the massive 500,000-square-foot complex in the new CityCenter development. The Crystals facility is set to open on December 3 and will include most of the major luxury brands which already have at least one outlet on the Las Vegas Strip like Prada, Christian Dior, Bulgari, Carolina Herrera, Hermes, Roberto Cavalli, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co., Ermengildo Zegna and Versace. The center will also mark the debut of other stores in Las Vegas such as Tom Ford, Assouline, Kiton, Miu Miu, Paul Smith and Porsche Design. Other previously announced retailers are H. Stern, de Grisogono, Marni, Boutique Tourbillon and Mikimoto. Wolfgang Puck and Todd English will also have restaurants at the complex. This line-up puts CityCenter in direct competition with other shopping areas on the Strip including the Wynn and the Forum Shop. As 2009 rumbles on it is hoped that more and more luxury shoppers will return to Las Vegas; the city has experienced a sharp decrease in tourism. Figures released last month show that the rate of decline in tourism has slowed in recent months. The $8.5 billion CityCenter project has faced a variety of troubles during the construction process but when it opens it will be the biggest development Las Vegas has ever seen.

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Tags: citycenter, mgm mirage, MgmMirage

City Center Considers Bankruptcy Filing

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Real Estate Developments

In January, it was announced that MGM Mirage was planning to scale back their City Center project, now the project seems to be in even deeper trouble. The $8.6 billion project has hired a law firm in order to prepare for a potential bankruptcy filing. The project is the Las Vegas Strip's most ambitious development, a 67-acre sprawl of hotels including a Mandarin Oriental property, residences, a casino and a huge retail and entertainment complex.

The developers, MGM Mirage and Dubai World, are expected to miss a $220 million debt payment due Friday and the project could file for bankruptcy within days unless an agreement is made. Dubai World has already filed suit against MGM Mirage, saying that its shaky finances put City Center at risk. MGM Mirage reported a $1.15 billion fourth-quarter loss this month and is said to be more than $13 billion in debt. Earlier this week the deal to sell MGM's Treasure Island casino to Phil Ruffin for $775 million was finalized.

As the Wall Street Journal mentions, even if the project does end up in bankruptcy it is likely that construction could continue or be restarted once agreements are made. No one wants to leave this massive complex of partially completed buildings unfinished and both MGM Mirage and Dubai World have sunk billions into the project. Also the city of Las Vegas needs the project to work both because of the potential jobs it creates as well as for the statement it makes that Las Vegas tourism is still thriving.

UPDATE: MGM Mirage has made a $200 million payment to the City Center project to keep the project afloat.

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Tags: city center, CityCenter, dubai world, DubaiWorld, mgm

CityCenter Scales Back

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Real Estate Developments

When it came out last month that MGM sold the Treasure Island resort, partially to save the CityCenter development, it seemed trouble was in the offing. Now the AP is reporting that the project, which is the biggest new development on the Las Vegas Strip, is now being scaled back. MGM Mirage and Dubai World have delayed construction on one of the hotels in complex, the 400-room Harmon Hotel & Spa. There was also a plan for 200 residential units in the hotel which has now been canceled. So far 88 of those units were under contract and buyers will get their deposits back. The hotel is scheduled to open in 2010.

The move is part of a general economic slump in Las Vegas that started with the decline in the real estate market and has worked its way to the Las VegasStrip. MGM shares are down 80 percent over the past 12 months as casino revenues have continued to fall. The other parts of city center including the 4,000-room Aria casino, a Mandarin Oriental hotel and a sprawling retail and entertainment playground are scheduled to open in December 2009.

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Tags: citycenter, las vegas, LasVegas, mgm