Just a few years ago, at the height of the Great Recession, this city's new luxury properties were opening to an uncertain future in a ghost town atmosphere.
The Mandarin Oriental, among the priciest on the market, was tucked behind the towering $9 billion CityCenter, which investors worried might prove to be the largest private development boondoggle in U.S. history.
Across the street, the Cosmopolitan, a trendy boutique property with the Strip's first balconies, was seized by its lenders before it was even completed.
Today, those properties are flourishing amid unprecedented demand for luxury lodging, shopping and world-class dining, often accompanied by a casino-avoiding atmosphere.
The Cromwell, one of Las Vegas’ newest luxury properties and one of the city’s hottest new pool-party venues. Photo Credit: Jeri Clausing
In fact, the retail market for high-end, noncasino properties is doing so well that Caesars, one of the two dominant players on the Strip, has taken nearly 2,000 suites across its 10 properties that were formerly reserved exclusively for high rollers and made them available for retail booking at rates as high as $40,000 a night.
The other big Vegas player, MGM Resorts, which for years declined to even acknowledge the existence of its ultraprivate property, the Mansion, recently gave luxury agents a tour of the exclusive and highly secure property that is a favorite of celebrities and heads of state.
"We have recovered very, very nicely," said Randy Wilcott, director of sales and marketing for Mandarin Oriental.
During a recent tour of Vegas' ultraluxury side, Wilcott emphasized the Mandarin's nonsmoking, nongaming atmosphere, along with its standing as one of only six triple-five-star ranked properties in the U.S.
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It's a turnaround that in many ways completes Sin City's transformation. Gone are the days of a singular focus on casinos, cheap food and free drinks. And while there are still plenty of options for lower-budget, hard-core gamblers, Las Vegas' bet on becoming a world-class, luxury destination appears to have hit the jackpot.
Colleen Schmitz, director of luxury sales for MGM Resorts, said, "We are experiencing demand that we have never seen in Vegas in the history of Vegas. Demand is out of control."
While neither the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) nor lodging metrics firms like STR Global track the city's rates and occupancy by sector, it is clear that luxury is flourishing in this town, which last year hosted a record 41.1 million visitors. The Cosmopolitan said its occupancy ran between 97% and 98% for the entire year.
And other data reveal that visitors' shopping, spa and nongaming activities are drawing increased interest.
According to the 2014 Las Vegas Visitor Profile, compiled by GLS Research for the LVCVA, the proportion of visitors who gambled while visiting the city has dropped from 80% in 2010 to 71% last year. At the same time, spending on shopping, food and drink is on a steady rise.
Meanwhile, visits to spas like the 27,000-square-foot Spa at Mandarin Oriental have more than doubled, from 3% in 2010 to 7% last year.
And while Vegas was built on the concept of everyone passing through a casino to get to their rooms, one of the key selling points of the new ultraluxury side is its distance from those casinos and the masses.
As Wilcott said, Mandarin offers "peace and tranquility ... with all that [gambling, shows, etc.] right outside."
The Tea Lounge at the Mandarin Oriental, which is Las Vegas’ rate leader, running head-to-head with the Four Seasons.
It's a position that's selling. The Mandarin Oriental has been the highest-rated Las Vegas hotel on TripAdvisor for more than 17 months running, Wilcott said, and it is the city's rate leader, running head-to-head with the Four Seasons, Sin City's original nongaming, luxury property.
At the SLS, the newest luxury property here, the hotel has flipped the norm for gaming vs. food-and-beverage revenues, reporting that just 30% of its revenue is derived from its casino, with 70% coming from food and beverage.
"I have been to Vegas a lot," said Perry Lungmus, vice president of luxury travel for Travel Leaders, which arranged the recent tour in partnership with the LVCVA. "I've spent my career going there a couple of times a year. To see this evolve, I think it's fascinating."
While at every stop on the tour an emphasis was placed on luxury accommodations being removed from the casino, Lungmus said it is not so much a de-emphasis on gambling at the luxury level as a growing emphasis on the qualities of the hotels themselves.
"They were emphasizing the positive aspect of the hospitality side, which is so well-deserved," Lungmus said of the hoteliers who led tours of their facilities. "They were so open about that. It was definitely a theme of every property that we saw. The Mandarin Oriental didn't have any gaming whatsoever. And the others went out of their way to point out, 'This is the VIP entrance, and, by the way, you do not have to go through the casino,' which is in contrast to what every casino was built for 20 years ago."
Lungmus said he believed there were two key reasons for that metamorphosis.
"One is the evolution of hospitality in Las Vegas," he said. "It is now becoming known as one of those destinations that has super-world-class hospitality. And how unique is it that you can have that world-class hospitality so close to the kind of shows that we saw, the kind of restaurants we experienced."
Twist, a AAA Five Diamond restaurant by Chef Pierre Gagnaire at the Mandarin Oriental. Photo Credit: Jeri Clausing
Until recently, Lungmus said, Vegas was kind of an ad hoc getaway. Now, he said, much of the city's hotel inventory needs to be booked in advance, which changes the way agents should sell it. He said that was one reason he organized the luxe tour in conjunction with the LVCVA.
"If you really want to experience Vegas, you really need to get things worked out in advance [like] transportation, helicopter rides, shows or reservations at a restaurant like Twist," he said, referring to the Michelin three-star, Forbes Five Star and AAA Five Diamond restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental.
He said he now encourages Travel Leaders agents to sell "three perfect days in Las Vegas and be able to manage it from A to Z." The package should include shows and things like the nighttime helicopter tours that offer a unique view of the Strip at after dark.
Indeed, the recent tour was all about showing agents the less sinful side of Sin City, the quieter, ultraluxurious portions of the destination, many of which were once reserved exclusively for celebrities and high rollers.
It also showcased the differentiating personalities of the new properties. A decade ago, the biggest variance was price. When it came to rooms, there wasn't a huge difference in atmosphere, space or design between, say, the Bellagio and the Mandarin Oriental.
"Before, they were all kind of the same," Lungmus said. "Kind of a boys' room."
Today, the variety rivals that of New York or any other big city, with luxury, boutique properties featuring strikingly different decors that range from ultramodern to traditional and ornate.
The Cosmopolitan, which posted occupancy rates between 97% and 98% for all of 2014. Photo Credit: Jeri Clausing
CityCenter, for example, is built to mimic a more traditional downtown. The Cosmopolitan has a more contemporary, hip, downtown, lofty feel. And in the past year, several properties have opened, including the trendy SLS, which is a cross between Miami Beach chic and Las Vegas' original luxury hotel, the Sahara, on whose site it now sits.
The newest luxury property is the Cromwell, built on the site of the former Bill's Gamblin' Hall and Saloon and billed as a Parisian mix of modern and vintage.
To keep up with the demand for new and varied luxury properties, a few of the more traditional Vegas hotels have also begun opening access to some of their previously ultra-exclusive suites and wings.
Last year, Caesars unveiled its Anthology Collection, which offers retail booking of some 1,800 rooms previously held by the casinos for high rollers. Access to the rooms had been so limited that even its salespeople still have not seen many of the suites. These accommodations are now available on a special website and soon will be available in the GDSs, officials said.
The Cleopatra Suite, for example, is a two-bedroom accommodation with a grand piano, a deck and a private pool.
The decor in that property is more traditional Vegas luxury, the marble ornate one would expect to find at Caesars.
On the other hand, the tour revealed that Caesars had also responded to demand for trendy flourishes. For example, at its Nobu wing, attached to its famed Nobu restaurant, the rooms feature a modern, Asian-inspired decor. And among its suites, some offer huge outdoor patios and bars perfectly suited to private parties.
At the MGM Grand, two separate ultraluxury properties tucked discreetly away include the Forbes Five Star, AAA Five Diamond Skylofts, where the rate includes airport transfers via Rolls-Royce and 24/7 butler service.
At the MGM Grand, two separate ultra-luxury properties tucked discreetly away include the Forbes five-star, AAA Five Diamond Skylofts, where the rate includes airport transfers via Rolls-Royce and 24/7 butler service.
Completely hidden from public view is the Mansion, which resembles a Tuscan village, complete with gardens, private pools and dining and gaming areas. Access is offered to qualified guests only.
Kelly Messina, leisure sales executive at the LVCVA, said the big players have opened up bookings to these top suites to meet demand.
"There is a market out there, and people are saying they want it," she said.
But that doesn't mean these top exclusive hotels are abandoning high rollers.
At SLS, which is a $450 million renovation of the Sahara, several suites, including one designed by Lenny Kravitz, are still held close. Although the hotel gave the agents a rare viewing of the penthouse, they admitted it is very rarely made available for retail bookings, only recently having been rented on a special request from Beyonce and Jay Z.
Jeri Clausing is the editor of Travel Weekly's Luxury e-newsletter, which is distributed each Thursday.