Best Vegas Luxury Hotels

Best Vegas Luxury Hotels

Top luxury recommendations:

MGM Skylofts

Four Seasons

These are followed by:

Encore

Bellagio

Palazzo

Wynn

Venetian

Ritz-Carlton (Closing May 2, 2010)

It is too soon to add any of the CityCenter properties but Mandarin Oriental hotels in other cities rank highly and Aria is priced in the same range as Bellagio, Wynn, etc. We have some comparisons that include them. Hotels are diamond rated by AAA and star rated by Forbes (formerly Mobil). Here are their 2010 ratings released in the fall of 2009:

3 properties have the highest ratings by both AAA (assuming inclusion of the Towers in their ratings) and Forbes:

Encore Tower Suites

MGM Skylofts

Wynn Tower Suites.

The Signature at MGM is 4 Diamond and 4 Star rated. No other high end ratings are unanimous. Here are the user ratings for luxury hotels combined from 2 different rating websites:  TripAdvisor and Yelp. The ratings are similar except that one website had a higher rating for Ritz-Carlton and a lower rating for Venetian on smaller samples.

User ratings may combine reviews for properties with a main and boutique hotel and our combined numbers double count some reviews posted on both sites. Users are not trained evaluators and at least one review incorrectly awarded 1 star when the text indicated a 5 star review. However, high ratings for MGM Skylofts (86.5%) and Four Seasons (75.8%) stand out.

Hotels Within Hotels, Boutique Hotels

Aria                         SkySuites

Encore                    Encore Tower Suites

Mandalay Bay        Four Seasons

MGM                       MGM Skylofts

Palazzo                  Concierge Suites

Wynn                      Wynn Tower Suites

There is a separate check-in, lobby and elevator that reduce the regular wait time which can be over an hour. Staff to guests ratios are typically higher too so these factors may be why Forbes ranked the Encore and Wynn Towers as 5 stars but the regular Encore and Wynn rooms as 4 stars.

The rooms are usually very similar to the non-boutique rooms except at Wynn. Wynn/Encore Tower rooms range between 698 and 745 square feet which we averaged as 723 and these are larger than the regular Wynn rooms of 640 sq. ft. At Encore there is no difference in size. Encore/Wynn Tower guests have a shorter walk to their room and can use their room cardkey as a buffet line pass.

Note that Mandarin Oriental has 227 upper floor residences and hotel rooms are below the 23rd floor lobby. The Concierge Suites at Palazzo are from floors 24-28. MGM Skylofts and Aria’s SkySuites are on the top floors. The Four Seasons are on floors 35-39. Here are comparisons for the hotels with size in square feet:

Note that a regular room at Mandalay Bay is 550 sq. ft. while a room in the Four Seasons is 500 sq. ft.

Luxury Hotel Room Rates

Currently rates are very depressed and sometimes resort credits worth $50-$150 are added to sweeten the deal. Rates vary widely depending on time of year with the biggest contrast of the year in December. Rates will usually more than triple from the December 20-24 timeframe for New Year’s Eve. It is not uncommon to see rates go up over 7 fold and 17 fold has been seen in previous years.

Below are 2 night rates for December 20-21 which represent about the best you can get for the year. If you are coming in on a Friday to Saturday, expect double the weekday rate with lots of variance for special events or large meetings held at the hotel.

Las Vegas Hotel Rating Factors

For most Vegas visitors, the quality of a hotel depends on:

Service

Room Quality

Location/Transportation

Exclusive Features

Service and Room Quality

Some hotels don’t have very large or updated rooms but depend on friendly staff that personalizes stays and maintains cleanliness such as Four Seasons and Ritz Carlton. MGM Skylofts have 24 hour butler and concierge service and will even pre-program the music for your room. Four Seasons will wipe your sunglasses at their pool and spray you with bottled water. Because there are fewer guests, they will remember your name and personalize your stay.

Each stay can have its own individual problems but Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton tend to perform consistently well with their Vegas outposts well-regarded. Larger properties work harder for quality control but fare surprisingly well given their size. For now, Four Seasons is the top choice for service but Mandarin Oriental could challenge.

Room quality consists of the furniture, linens, electronics, drapes, bathrooms, design and views which are superior in the high end Vegas hotels. Typically, beds are pillowtops with 300 thread count or higher linens. Most luxury hotels have multiple flat screens with one at least 42 inches with the exception of Ritz-Carlton’s 37” and the 27" screens at Bellagio. Décor features more art and ambience than non-luxury rooms.

Other room features may include a separate valet delivery area so that the guest does not have to open the door for service such as at MGM Skylofts and Mandarin Oriental. The more recently designed rooms have remote controls to close drapes, adjust lighting etc. Sometimes these remotes work well. Bathrooms are typically marble with dual sinks and usually larger than average with Venetian at about 130 square feet. Four Seasons’ showers are only about an average hotel room’s size.

Any boutique on top of a hotel such as MGM Skylofts should have good views. Four Seasons will either have a view of the airport or up the Strip. Bellagio rooms might have a fountain view which can be augmented by turning the TV to the channel that plays the music synchronized to the fountains. SkySuites and regular rooms at Aria were designed to maximize views.

In terms of Room Quality we rank MGM Skylofts as best. However, MGM Skylofts are more similar to the luxury suites of other hotels which we discuss later.

Location/Transportation

The preferred locations in Vegas are the center of the Strip, the south Strip and the Fashion Show Mall area. Bellagio and Caesars form the center of the Strip and Bellagio has a tram to Aria and Monte Carlo and a walkway connection to Vdara at CityCenter. We think it is the best located luxury hotel although it does not have a true backdoor route since Flamingo, an alternative way to get into Bellagio, can get as congested as the Strip.

At the South Strip, MGM has a monorail station that has 7 stops up the east side of the Strip ending at the Sahara. Across a walkway over the Strip, lies New York New York with a walkway over Tropicana to Excalibur. There is a tram between Mandalay Bay, Luxor and Excalibur as well as a covered walkway.

Across from Fashion Show Mall is Wynn and to the south is Venetian. Encore is connected to Wynn and Palazzo to Venetian. Sands Convention Center is connected to the Venetian. TI is across the street. Wynn runs a shuttle to the monorail and has good self-parking especially convenient for their poker room.

Our ranking of best location/transportation for each of the 3 major hubs on the Strip is:

Bellagio--center of the Strip

MGM Skylofts--South Strip

Wynn--Fashion Show Mall area

Bellagio’s location would be downgraded for someone planning to drive themselves frequently due to inability to avoid congestion. Venetian would be upgraded for someone attending a Sands convention and Four Seasons has a complimentary chauffeured car which would upgrade it for those planning to otherwise use taxis a lot.

Ritz-Carlton would be well situated for someone interested in Lake Las Vegas or who does not like casinos or the Strip. However, it is about 17 miles from Mandalay Bay and would be dead last for location for most visitors.  Keep in mind it will permanently close May 2, 2010.

Exclusive Guest Only Features

Non-hotel guests are usually able to use most services and amenities of all the hotels with the usual exception of the pool. Four Seasons has a smaller private pool with exceptional service. Guests also can use the Mandalay Bay pool which is the best physical pool in Vegas but sometimes over-run with noisy guests who do not have access to the Four Seasons pool. The option of pampered serenity or access to Mandalay’s waves, sand beach, lazy river, etc. gives the Four Seasons an advantage.

Ritz-Carlton has a private lake beach. Bellagio and Wynn have great pools and service but Venetian is disappointingly plain. MGM pools are good with a great lazy river but often filled with kids.

Spas are generally open to non-hotel guests but Bellagio’s excellent spa is guest only on Saturdays. Mandarin Oriental’s day pass for the public at $100 is the most expensive (most are $30-$50) and does not grant access to the fitness room unlike most spas although many other steams and Jacuzzi-like features are included. Although we rank Encore the best spa in Vegas it is open to the public 7 days a week so you don’t need to stay there just for the spa.

The MGM/Mirage properties have exclusive access to Shadow Creek which we rate the clear number 1 golf course in Vegas. Bellagio, MGM Skylofts, Aria, and Four Seasons qualify but Four Seasons guests might not be eligible for a promo if one is going on at MGM/Mirage.

We rate Cascata (usually exclusive to the Caesars family of hotels) as the clear number 2 track in Vegas. The Ritz-Carlton has an arrangement with Cascata but both the Falls and Reflection Bay (outstanding Lake Las Vegas courses) remain closed since January last year due to financial issues that threaten even the lake itself.

If you hate a drive out to a course and don’t mind more than a few straightaway par 4s, the Wynn golf course inside the Wynn complex is a match for you. Venetian can arrange golfing but only at public courses such as Bali Hai—a nice track but not a Shadow Creek or Cascata.

Suites versus Rooms

Most hotels have upgraded suites that are better appointed, larger and more comparable to MGM Skylofts. Typically a luxury room will rent per night for around $0.18-$0.30 a square foot. Suites are larger and with fancier furnishings, so costs increase to about $0.46 a square foot within a wide range.

Because MGM Skylofts start at 1,400 square feet (going up to 6,000 square feet) we tried to find comparably sized suites and at least do a price comparison. Ritz Carlton has either a much smaller or way larger suite ($1,700 a night for 2,400 sq. ft with a dining room).

These suites are not reviewed separately from regular rooms by the user survey sites and not reviewed as a category by the 2 major trained reviewers’ services. Our room tours did not measure day to day service levels. However, when it comes to only room quality and size, Bellagio suites seemed to be a fairly good value. For size alone, the Venetian Piazza suites are a bargain. These are based on low season rates which can be multiples higher during busy times.