It's a nice place to party, but I wouldn't want to stay there. To some, this has been the prevailing notion of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino: a partier's paradise with nothing for the more discerning guest.
That might be about to change. On Dec. 28, the Hard Rock opened its 359-room answer to satisfying higher-end clientele. With its own VIP entrance and check-in, HRH Tower functions much like TheHotelor the Four Seasons at Mandalay Bay: as properties within a property, designed to convey exclusivity.
It's part of a $750 million expansion, begun in 2007, that's energized and supersized the 15-year-old, off-Strip Hard Rock, adding 860 rooms in two new towers, along with 40,000 square feet of casino space and convention space, without sacrificing its boutique feel. The new spa villas and penthouse suites are designed to attract guests who want to party like rock stars in more luxurious surroundings.
Standard suites include an integrated wet bar; sitting area; bathroom with cast-iron tubs; a sound bar replete with an AMX 12-inch Touch Panel music system with iPod dock and more than 2,000 songs; and two 40-inch Sony Bravia LCD TVs with DVD players.
The eight spa villa suites come with such features as in-suite spa areas and floating coffer ceilings, which extend above the spa beds and lead to a private outdoor patio with lounge seating, fire pit and a plunge pool. The patios lead out to the main Hard Rock pool area.
Life at the top
Topping HRH are seven distinctive penthouse suites featuring one or two master bedroom/bathroom chamber accommodations. Penthouse suites are decorated with various textures, including black crocodile leather, wood planks, patent leather walls, marble floors and opaque glass walls. Bathrooms boast Grohe bath fixtures, including rainfall showerheads and six handheld shower sprays.
The 16th-floor penthouse suites also have their own unique accoutrements. For instance, the Nirvana Suite carries a Moroccan flair. The entrance leads to an outside beach area with a private plunge pool and two enormous daybeds. The Provocateur Suite has a projection system built into an enormous bed that projects onto the wall behind the bed and onto the bed itself.
The showpiece of HRH's new Reliquary spa is a coed Roman bathhouse with private, cabana-type alcoves, lounge space and a sound system, making it an ideal spot for small parties and group functions. The spa has 21 treatment rooms, a private studio for pole-dancing lessons, a fitness center and an expanded outpost for the popular Brannon Salon.
Aside from its party-hearty image, one of the Hard Rock's most salient charms has always been its walkability, with the raucous bar in the middle of the casino serving as a reference for guests who may lose their sense of place or connectivity to the outlying resort. HRH has its own center bar.
And it wouldn't be the Hard Rock without a club. The 14,000-square-foot Vanity is the latest entrant into the city's ultracompetitive nightclub scene. It boasts a $1 million LED chandelier that can change color and broadcast images; two marble bars; a sunken dance floor; VIP booths; a ladies' rest room/lounge with staff on hand to fix nails, style hair and spruce up makeup; and an outdoor terrace with access to Sky Bar, which is scheduled to open -- along with the new pools -- in the first half of this year.
By then, officials at the partier's paradise -- the property's Rehab pool boasts its own reality TV show -- will have a gauge on how well their refinement experiment is working.
See www.hardrockhotel.com.