16 FOKUS hotel+tourismus revue – Nr. 6-8 February 2007 Apartments in Las Vegas The Hotel Business in Las Vegas Residing without Living World’s Biggest Construction Site ■ Like no other city in the world, Las Vegas attracts ■ MGM MIRAGE is currently timeshare and second spending 7 billion dollars in home owners. Attractive Las Vegas building an artificial entertainment packages and luxury oasis consisting of short shopping paths should upscale hotels, condo hotels, make the decision easy for etc. CityCenter is not the only potential buyers. large construction site by far. Just about all the big hotel Harald Weiss chains are building. In 1999, when the first apartment sky- Katharina Guderian scraper in Las Vegas offered residences for sale, US property managers didn’t “We are creating here by 2009 the em- believe their eyes: Interested buyers bodiment of a typically ideal modern stood out on the street under the city,” said MGM MIRAGE spokesman scorching desert sun until they could Alan Feldman about the biggest related write out their check for the down hotel and residential complex ever payment of $10,000 to $15,000. This built in the USA. In the 27-hectare- had significant effects, which are still large CityCenter between Monte Carlo generally noticeable today. An impres- and Bellagio, there is the 4,000-room sive profile of skyscraper construction CityCenter Resort & Casino hotel as testifies to the billion dollar building well as two casino-free hotels with 400 boom in the former desert paradise. rooms each. One of them is managed Contemporary architects, contractors by Mandarin Oriental; the other is a and investors belong to such leading Harmon, Spa & Residences. In addi- companies as Daniel Libeskind, Rafael tion there is the 50-floor Vdara Condo Viñoly, The Rockwell Group, The Hotel with mixed use for condo hotel Related Companies and Tishman configuration. Speyer. In addition, even enigmatic Architecturally speaking, the 60- celebrities like Donald Trump and his floor CityCenter Resort & Casino with ex-wife Ivana are among the investors. its postmodern glass-steel structure The most (and most expensive) can hardly be differentiated from the ■ Las Vegas has the world’s biggest construction site. In the new CityCenter, currently under construction more than 2,700 apartments are currently found in world’s many other glass palaces. After apartments and various hotels will be completed. CityCenter is just one of many construction sites. Photo: Harald Weiss the area of CityCenter (see the adja- its completion, it will, after the MGM cent article). More than 2,700 apart- Grand Hotel, be the second biggest ments are under construction, which building in Las Vegas and for this rea- that the new Mandarin Oriental has example is building a large 3,000-unit Expo Center Complex with mixed use are spread out over four buildings. son must market itself to mainstream similar proportions to its flagship in concrete hotel with boutiques, which as well as diverse business facilities. The upper floors of The Residences at visitors. These are above all the new New York. Also in Las Vegas, over half will be a mixture of timeshares and a The whole complex is a direct gateway Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas will be Las Vegas tourists, who have above- the ground floor comes equipped with hotel. About 2 billion dollars will be to the Expo Center. all owner-occupied apartments, the average incomes, stay for two to three spa and banquet rooms. The hotel area invested here for the casino hotel plus Somewhat outside the city at Lake smallest of which measures about 90 days and spend a lot of time in the spa is located in the floors under the lobby; theaters, restaurants, wellness area, Las Vegas, Loews is planning a hotel square meters and costs 1.5 million or on the tennis courts. the area above the lobby consists of and shopping. This large complex co- with about 400 rooms, 3,700 square dollars. There are cheaper ones in both owner-occupied apartments. vering almost nine hectares should in meters of business spaces and a 1,900- the Veers Towers and Vdara Condo The Harmon, situated across from any case be completed by 2009. square- meter-large wellness area. It Hotel. Prices for a 50-square-meter For Each Hotel A Different Target Group the Mandarin Oriental, wants to will be a part of the rural resort com- studio start at $500,000. appeal above all to a younger, munity at the lake, where the Ritz trendier target group, and for that The Big Hotel Chains Carlton has already located. The lake The other two hotels in the reason it employs chic design. Here, Are Upgrading hotels offer a balanced combination of No City Has Established Itself CityCenter are smaller and permit however, it encounters competition eventful city vacation in Las Vegas and So Quickly for So Long better focus on specific target groups. from other providers and well-capita- The Las Vegas marketing strategy addi- relaxing holidays in an idyllic resort. The Residences at Mandarin Oriental, lized investors, who see in Generation tionally provides for a massive upgrade Furthermore, Hyatt has just announ- In addition to the price difference, Las Vegas with its plain, Asian-looking X the biggest growth market for Las in the conference business, and there are ced that it is going to upgrade its local there are also differences in amenities, interior design will obviously appeal Vegas. Thus CityCenter is only one of also mega projects in the planning sta- Regency into a full-scale luxury hotel since the apartments, which are being to the same visitors who also are othe- many large building sites in the city. ge for this. In a 9.3-hectare-large site, and shutter the attached casino. built in conjunction with many new ho- rwise taken with this chain’s tasteful Jointly with Edge Resort, Starwood for the Echelon Group is constructing the tels, also offer hotel service. Everything world-class luxury. It is interesting is included from room and cleaning service to spa use. These apartments are intended not so much as perma- nent homes, but almost exclusively Tourism in Las Vegas: 39 million visitors in 2006 as freetime-oriented second residen- Visitors in 2006: 39 million Visitors who come once a year: 27% ces. “Only the tiniest percentage of buyers will live here fulltime,” said Goal by 2010: 43 million guests Visitors who come twice or three times Alan Feldman, the spokesman for Total 133,186 rooms a year: 27% the CityCenter owner MGM MIRAGE. Average length of stay: 3.5 nights Visitors who come more than ten “Most of them are successful business Average price of rooms: $103 times a year: 15% people, lawyers or doctors in Los An- Economic power of tourism from non- Visitors with an income over $40,000: geles or San Francisco, who come here gambling visitors: $7.6 billion 70% for the weekend, holidays or a couple of Percentage of visitors who attended Average spending of visitors: vacation days.” one show: 71% — Gambling: $627 This relaxation in the new luxury Percentage of international visitors: — Shopping: $137 metropolis can be lucrative for these 125 — Shows: $50 people, since in Las Vegas they don’t Percentage of first-time visitors: 18% have to pay income tax, and according to US tax law, a person is liable for in- come tax in the place where he or she has lived more than 180 days annual- ly. In any case, anyone who actually wants to establish his principle place of residence in Las Vegas will very quickly bump against the limits of the new easy living. Because none of the new construction projects contains what are normal features of urban life: There are no playgrounds, schools, kinder- gartens, gymnasiums, football and ba- seball stadiums, Olympic swimming pools or facilities for young people. And there is also a complete lack of other familiar facilities, such as are found in every other city. Neither the CityCenter nor any of the other mega- building sites contain an office com- plex or even an opera or concert hall. ■ The Vdara Condo Hotel. Planned with 50 floors, the hotel is part of the ■ Room in the Veer Towers. Photos: zvg mammoth CityCenter complex as well. Original articles translated from Hotel+Tourismus Revue, a publication of Hotelleriesuisse, Switzerland. All rights reserved. Guderian, K. (2007, February). Grösste Baustelle der Welt. Hotel+Tourismus Revue, 2007 p. 16. http://www.htr.ch Weiss, H. (2007, February). Wohnen ohne zu leben. Hotel+Tourismus Revue. 2007 p. 16. http://www.htr.ch.