What’s new for luxury Las Vegas?

(Original version of a feature for TTG Luxury spring 2010 edition)

A spotlight shines on Frank Sinatra’s Oscar guarding the entrance to the eponymous restaurant in Encore. It sits alongside nostalgic sepia photos of Ol’ Blue Eyes with Vegas hotel king Steve Wynn opening the Golden Nugget in the 60s. It’s one of the few traces of that bygone era: in a town that lives for the thrill of the new, tearing down rather than preserving the past, there’s little left from those heady days of gangsters, gamblers and good time girls.

Sinatra's Oscar, Encore

That’s not to say Sin City has gone all sedate. On my visit it was Superbowl weekend, and an estimated 200,000 football fans hit town to party hard – even though the match itself was being played in Miami.

The focus is shifting away from the traditional gloriously tacky casino resort towards a more discerning experience. Emblematic of this is the just-opened $8.4 billion CityCenter, its gleaming glass towers dominating the Strip. With its green credentials, chic non-gaming Vdara and Mandarin Oriental hotels and $40 million of public art installations, the development points the way to a new concept in Vegas.

LVCVA vice-president John Bischoff says: “In recent years non-gaming revenue has exceeded gaming revenue for the first time in Vegas’s history. We don’t incorporate gaming into any part of our marketing strategy because we don’t need to tell people what they already know.”

Insiders point to the opening of Steve Wynn’s Bellagio in 1998 as a “turning point” for the luxury scene, setting new standards for cuisine, design and service. Two years later he sold his Mirage group of properties to MGM, which formed the giant MGM Mirage group that dominates the Strip.

Wynn’s next move was to buy the old Desert Inn and tear it down, laying the foundations for his triumphant return – the Wynn, which opened in 2005. Sister property Encore, opened in 2008 refines further his concept of a purely luxury resort with no theme and a lesser focus on gaming. Luxuriant flora and bucolic motifs abound, and natural Nevada sunshine floods through skylights and French windows even into the relatively small casino floor – breaking a 50-year taboo that neither daylight nor clocks should distract the gamblers from pumping cash into the town’s arteries.

Glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly in the Bellagio lobby

The UK is important to Las Vegas. After US neighbours Canada and Mexico, it’s the biggest overseas market. Key as usual is direct airlift. British Airways has given the destination a boost by launching a daily direct service from Heathrow in October last year. Virgin Atlantic, which this year celebrates its 10th anniversary of a direct flight from Gatwick, then upped its game by completing a major revamp on its Gatwick Clubhouse at the end of last year, with Cowshed spa salon offering free express treatments, a la carte champagne brunch menu and youngsters’ area with Wii-Fit and Guitar Hero.

UK luxury agents are seeing a shift in demand. “When in the past it was gambling, I’ve noticed lately more clients are asking me to book shows, Grand Canyon trips and VIP entrance to the various night clubs,” says Select World Travel chairman Kent Milne. “A big plus is the BA flight departing from Heathrow. It will help build business to this area especially when combining a two-centre to Phoenix, Denver and the likes.”

Skyloft at MGM Grand

Jeff Eisenhart, MGM Mirage’s vice-president of leisure sales, says 2010 has seen an increase in advance international bookings. “It’s the shift in the non-gaming attractions that has been so significant,” he says. “World travellers coming to Las Vegas are seeking a well-rounded luxury experience that features great chefs, exhilarating nightlife, varied and wonderful entertainment, spas, shopping and more. They will find the casino if that’s what appeals, but they are making decisions based on far more than the gaming itself.”

There’s no denying Vegas is going through hard times. Its massive MICE sector is struggling, room rates can be low and major development projects are stalled. But the destination exudes a characteristic brassy optimism. The stars still flock in their private jets, mega shows are still opening, the limos are a block long and the champagne flows. Ol’ Blue Eyes might not recognise the place, but he’d certainly feel right at home.

For where to stay, eat, drink, shop, party, meet and more, see the feature in TTG Luxury

See my Flickr gallery of the Las Vegas trip here

Travel reports – your call

Oh blimey, what a disgrace this blog page is. I haven’t written anything on it for an awfully long while. I was writing after almost every trip, but since my last entry there’s been rather too many to write them all up.

Anyway, there’s no point unless someones going to read them. So, how about I list everywhere I’ve been since last June, and if anyone wants to know about a destination, ask and I’ll write about it?

Paris Las Vegas and Bellagio's fountains

Cape Town, Lisbon, Oman (Muscat), Macau, Valencia/Alicante region, Las Vegas

Here’s pics and a feature from the TTG-hosted Macau fam trip: ttglive.com/macaufam

Here’s some pics of my ttgluxury trip/holiday to Cape Town

Fine dining in Guernsey

Guernsey, understandably, is somewhat of a hub for offshore banking and many of the major finance houses have offices on the channel island. It’s fair to say most days will find business travellers flying to and from the mainland. The two main airlines are Flybe and Aurigny.com

Islanders boast there’s enough restaurants to dine in a different one every day of the year. Well, I didn’t count them, but here’s a particular highlight:

We visited Guernsey’s only Michelin-starred restaurant, Christophe.

Its large terraces make the most of its position: at the top of Fermain Bay near St Peter Port, with lofty, panoramic sea views.

We had the Gourmand menu, which according with chef/proprietor Christophe Vincent’s seasonal philosophy changes every three months. Each course is paired with a wine – the wine depends on whether you choose the £60 or £85 per-head option.

Our first course of foie gras ballotine with fig compote paired perfectly a sweet aromatic glass of Grand Cru Classe Sauternes. The foie gras and compote actually went better with bread and butter than the accompanying piece of crispy gingerbread, which made a slightly too-sweet combination.

This was followed by an asparagus and morel risotto: creamy rice, rich fragrant stock and intense mushrooms. Again it was complemented the by grassy bouquet of the New Zealand wine Clos Henri Sauvignon Blanc 2007. The rack of lamb was perfectly pink and tasty with a glossy translucent jus, though I wasn’t sure about the drops of mint oil – for me it conjured up aromatherapy rather than dinner.

In French style, cheese was served before dessert. The loaded trolley bore an excellent range of pungently mature Guernsey, French and Spanish choices, served with a wonderfully deep and complex 2006 Kalleske JMK fortified Shiraz from South Australia’s Barossa Valley.

A distinctive palate-cleanser bridged the gap between cheese and pudding: an orange sorbet with olive oil and salt, which somehow evoked a refreshing summer salad.

Yet another unusual and delicious vino was served with pudding: Elysium Black Muscat from California’s Quady Winery accompanied an artfully deconstructed “Rhubarb and Custard”.

christophe-restaurant.co.uk
Fermain bay, St Peter Port, Guernsey

Two nights in Bangkok: Weerasak and the wine angels

OK, let me explain the title: Weerasak refers to Weerasak Kowsurat, chairman of Tourism Authority of Thailand board of directors. I met him during a recent press trip to Bangkok. We were on the 55th floor of the Centara Grand hotel, where the Red Sky bar and restaurant boast stunning views over the multi-hued neon cityscape.

Weerasak told me he’s optimistic about visitors to Thailand in 2009, despite the setbacks of global recession and last year’s airport protests. He says he expects 14 million visitors during 2009 – including plenty of Brits.

“We understand British visitors, and we know they value the genuine friendliness and care that is the core of Thai hospitality. And a key factor is the value for money Thailand offers – we know how important this is during these times.”

He also pointed out that the Skytrain extension to the airport would be open on August 12.

This should be a welcome improvement to travelling into the city, as traffic is appalling.

The Centara adjoins the Bangkok Convention Centre and on the 22nd floor you can walk straight from hotel to the vast multi-space auditoria which can merge to host a maximum of 6,000 delegates theatre style.

Also impressive is Lifestyle on the 26th floor, with spa, decent sized gym, panoramic pool with bar and gardens, plus two tennis courts.

Which brings us to the wine angels – abseiling up and down the spectacular glass two-story wine cellar at The Red Sky bar and restaurant on Fifty Five, to pluck fine vintages from the upper shelves.

Check out luxury travel news & views at ttgluxury.com

Make your meeting a gastronomic event

A good spot to meet up for business and pleasure: Le Pont de la Tour, in the lively Shad Thames area, with views of Tower Bridge and over the river to the City.

 

Just visited for lunch and to meet up with head chef  Lee Bennett – a Yorkshire lad with a stellar CV, which includes lengthly stints in Paris and at Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants in London and Dubai.

 

The food was memorable and delicious – more of that later. First the business: meetings can be hosted in the atmospheric brick-vaulted wine cellar – private in the evenings when it’s not serving as the wine shop; and the Salon Prive, which can hold up to 22 and features a laptop-compatible wide plasma screen. They can arrange menus from simpler table d’hote lunches to multi-course tasting menu feasts.

 

We sampled a mouth-watering range from the a la carte: we started with a quirky seafood platter − frothy lobster bisque with a hint of Pernod served in an espresso cup, fresh raw scallop briefly marinated in tangy citrus juice, a three-layer chilli prawn cocktail topped with watercress mousse, oyster en gelee, native potted crab with dill butter…

 

Then a mid-course of John Dory in a rich saffron squid broth, followed by some meltingly tender lamb shoulder with haricot beans in a rich jus, creamy risotto topped with oxtail… there were two of us sharing this by the way − before accusations of ‘fat bastard’ start flying…

 

Well OK, there was pudding as well: forced rhubarb with bavarois cream topped with strawberry ‘cloud’ and fragrant Rosemary shortbread,  an aromatic basil and mint ice cream… Yes we were pretty stuffed.

 

The restaurant has had a clean, crisp revamp and shed some of its pompous old-school Parisienne image, with less eye-watering prices – though as it’s still an iconic London venue and couldn’t be described as cheap.  

 

Definitely worth considering as a distinctive place to do business, just a river crossing away from the tumult of the City.

Living it Taj: back in business

It’s heartening to see the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai announcing that it will be reopening on Sunday (December 21). This seems a remarkably quick feat given the amount of damage to the hotel we saw on TV during those appalling terrorist attacks.

I hope it’s equally disheartening for the terrorists to see such a determined return to “business as usual”. 

In the words of the Taj homepage: “You will feel the buzz of business as usual and experience hospitality that is quintessentially Taj.” 

OK, there’s a dash of PR cliché, but I think I can agree there is something “quintessential” about these hotels. I’ve stayed in two of them, the Taj West End in Bangalore and the Taj Exotica in the Maldives. Very different – the West End is a business hotel in the heart of a global commercial hub, while the Exotica is a romantic hideaway resort on a tiny Indian Ocean atoll.

If you missed them, here’s the Maldives and India (Golden Chariot train journey) stories for ttgluxury: http://www.ttgluxury.com/

In both properties I found the staff and management – how to describe? I don’t know, beyond the usual exquisite Asian levels of service, they’re sophisticated, intelligent, without too much fuss.

Bangalore’s West End with its tranquil pools and tropical gardens is a calm oasis in the crazy tumult of this full-throttle city.

The Exotica in the Maldives is… well, OK, the picture you see is my snap of the sun rising over the aircraft carrier-sized infinity pool on my presidential water villa. But that doesn’t mean I’m totally biased.

Now, you may think an impoverished travel journo is easily taken in by a bit of five-star hospitality. But most writers have been around long enough to distinguish between quality service and bullshit and bling. In fact anyone who’s bought a surly, crap coffee for the wrong side of £5 in London, Paris or anywhere else will understand.

Anyway, good luck to the Taj for its fast-track reopening on Sunday. And when you’re next inviting those freeloading ladies and gentlemen of the press to sample your wares, bugger the firebombs – I’ll be there.

 

 

From Russia with love

I recently headed to St Petersburg with 25 top luxury travel agents for Orient Express’s Bellini Club conference.

The Bellini Club consists of OE’s favourite agents – the Brit contingent being part of an international group which sales boss David Hester described as the 75 “best agents in Europe”.

See more news on this in the latest edition of ttgluxury

See my pics here.

And here’s a whole lot more

For this memorable two-day extravaganza the group stayed at OE’s Grand Hotel Europe. It’s an amazing place in the heart of this handsome, canal-laced city, and it’s absolutely steeped in history.
The guest list here includes dozens of royals, heads of state and dictators  – a who’s who of world leaders over the last 130 years.

Emperors and presidents aside, how’s this for an eclectic roll call? – Rasputin, Tchaikovsky, George Bernard Shaw, Maxim Gorky, Pink Floyd and Helen Mirren (these picked at random from a 50-strong list).

At the opening reception in the Mezzanine Café, premium vodkas flowed from samovars sculpted from ice – heartily sampled by the Brit posse, I might add – followed by dinner in the magnificent art deco ballroom.

The following day saw the presentations, seminars and workshops – more on that in ttgluxury.
The top GM’s from around the world had gathered here to update us on the latest developments, upgrades and newbuilds across OE’s 51 operations worldwide: Venice, Brazil, Burgundy, Cape Town, Madeira, Botswana, NYC, Santa Barbara, Burma, Machu Picchu…. and plenty more: not too shabby a destination list, I’m sure you’ll agree.

At the closing ceremony, three major awards were handed out. The Brits put in a good innings: Hallmark Travel co-owner Charmaine Hallmark will be heading to Venice’s Cipriani Hotel – travelling (of course) onboard the Orient Express – after winning the Best Client promotion award. She won it for her highly successful Orient Express evening, hosting selected top clients at a themed gala dinner onboard the Bluebell steam railway in Sussex.

Then the group boarded two coaches to head out of town to the fabled Catherine Palace for our closing dinner. We cruised through the appalling St P rush-hour traffic by means of a police escort, complete with flashing blue lights. Like Soviet Commissars of yore, we ploughed down the middle of the road, with the traffic parting like the Red Sea before Moses.
The palace was superlative – a vast, overblown turquoise Versailles, surreally floodlit in the twilight.
After visiting the inevitable vodka ice bar, we were given a fascinating tour of the palace, an incredibly ornate confection of history, wealth and craftsmanship. A five-course dinner in the gilt and mirrored ballroom was accompanied by opera singers, ballet, a state orchestra and young ballroom dancers. (Also spectacular was the balletic, military precision of the tightly choreographed GHE waiting staff.)

David Hester, in his closing speech, summed up the whole, memorable two days’ combination of fairytale enchantment and getting down to business. He quoted from a famous Fred & Ginger number: “There may be trouble ahead. But while there’s music and moonlight and love and romance, let’s face the music and dance.”

Na Zdorov’ye!