A City Within A City, Part 2: Mandarin Oriental

Here is the second installment from the San Antonio Express-News article.



From "A City Within the City", by Greg Morago
Sunday, January 24, 2010

Mandarin Oriental



Discreet elegance is this chain's hallmark, and that pretty much sums up the Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas. The 47-story hotel designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox looks important but un-fussy from the outside; and even its public spaces inside show luxurious restraint. But once you slip into one of the hotel's 392 rooms, Mandarin Oriental lets its hair down (inasmuch as it allows itself). The rooms, designed by Adam Tihany (who crafted the hotel interior top to bottom), are tidy affairs that ooze opulence. Everything has its place in the room ($350-$15,000) but everything also is thoughtfully designed.



When you enter your room - your bags are whisked away from you at arrival and already in your room - the lights and TV go on and the curtains dramatically slide back to reveal your view. A little bit of theatricality never hurt anyone. State-of-the-art technology rules here, which means that the hotel thought of every single thing, and then some, to keep you entertained and plugged in. But it's the more sensual elements of the room design that enchant: the frosted glass-walled bathroom with its train case of amenities; the Frette robes, umbrella, yoga mat and baby alpaca blanket inside the closet; the bath salts and orchid near the soaking tub; the tea kettle and assortment of leaves for steeping; the yoga DVD; the wardrobe foyer with its valet closet that allows you to retrieve the morning paper and your shined shoes without having to open your room door to the hallway.



Check in at the MO is done on the 23rd floor Sky Lobby. Hotel guests occupy floors below 23; the floors above 23 are for owners of 227 apartments and condominiums in the Residences at Mandarin Oriental.

Hotel guests and residents both have use of the indulgent 27,000-square-foot Spa at Mandarin Oriental and fitness center.

The typical Vegas visitor might see the hotel's lack of a casino (it is deliberately non-gaming) as a disadvantage. But the luxury-seeker is going to love the Mandarin Bar on the 23rd floor, which boasts the most stunning views of the Strip in the city, and Twist restaurant, which gives the hotel bragging rights in a competitive foodie city. Twist is the first U.S. restaurant from three-star Michelin chef Pierre Gagnaire CQ. A wee jewel box of a space, Twist has the local epicures buzzing with excitement over its menu of French classics with a "twist". 


Unfortunately, the two days I could eat there, the restaurant was closed. If that was Mandarin Oriental's sly way of getting me to return, they needn't have worried. This is the property that raises the stakes of hostelry in a city that likes to amaze.

www.mandarinoriental.com/lasvegas