• Home
• Features
• News
• Hotels
• Dining
• Games
• Maps
• Deals
• Log In
• Board

By Chuckmonster on Tuesday, 20th January 2009 1:34am
  » filed under Las Vegas  comments: 1

    Follow @vegastripping

Fontainebleau's visitors center has a massive model of the property in the lobby, which the folks there allowed us to take photos of and answer a ton of questions about. As they have demonstrated in the past, they are quite forthright about providing answers and spilling the beans about what they've got planned.

The concept of Fontainebleau Las Vegas is an evolution of from it's Miami Beach counterpart, designed by Morris Lapidus. Where the Miami Fontainebleau was a grand stage upon which visitors observe, the Las Vegas Fontainebleau aims to spur visitors to participate - a fitting philosophy in these days of social media and the hive mind. Instead of presenting visitors a canvas upon which they gaze in awe, they are given a canvas upon which they create.

It is this intersection of sociology, philosophy, hospitality and technology - set in the mecca of indulgence, Las Vegas - which already differentiates Fontainebleau Las Vegas from everything that has come before. Whether they will be able to execute on these high-minded objectives remains to be seen.

Fontainebleau features a 63 story hotel tower - the tallest building west of the Mississippi - which will be encased in sky blue glass and peppered with LED lighting diodes throughout, turning the tower into a gigantic electronic light show somewhat similar to the Grand Lisboa in Macau.

We've heard conflicting reports about what is planned for the top of the hotel tower... a 'sky casino' and a rooftop nightclub. FB representatives told us "they don't know yet what is going to be up there." I don't buy that for a second... my money is on nightclub.

Ground floor is casino level (100,000 square feet) and will feature some restaurants as well, a handful of which will be two stories tall. Second floor is "The Runway," an interactive shopping promenade decked out in tons of electronic gizmos and lighting effects. The theory is that the guest will be part of the fashion/shopping experience... not just a consumer of goods. Third floor will consist of the Lapis Spa, a massive spa complex which will have a handful of spa indulgence guest suites attached in the tower. The top floor is the Cloud 9 pool deck, and will feature numerous restaurants, bars and a nightclub.

Towards the rear of the property is the showroom and convention center. There are multiple places to valet your car, but all cars will end up in the same lot. Cars can be retrieved from any valet desk at the resort, regardless of which one you dropped it off at.

The main pedestrian entry (next to the Riviera and across the street from Circus Circus) features a large LCD wall (right) which will project photos of guests taken by roving photographers outside on the wave decorated mini-plaza. Photos will change every 15 seconds, a reduction of Warhol's Law by 14 minutes and 45 seconds. Say cheese!

Fontainebleau's Cloud 9 pool deck features seven pools (why not nine?) including VIP and European options. Additionally there are a number of bars and restaurants surrounding the pool, plus an 'island' bar and a nightclub. Pool amenities include daybeds, cabanas and floating "cabeds" in the pool (all of which require reservations. Here's a larger version of the photo for the fetishists.

The visitors center also features a number of room designs, two condo-types and one standard guest room. We weren't allowed to take photos of the rooms unfortunately.

The smallish guest rooms were designed by Jeffrey Beers done up in dark woods and a design sense similar to the rooms at Crown Macau. The bathrooms featured a large glass enclosed shower, shallow sink and a trapezoidal shaped bathroom. The bedroom featured a large king bed, two S shaped night stands and an entertainment center with wall mounted flat panel tv, and a curvy wooden desk upon which the iMac sits. This is probably the first generation of 'standard' non-suite rooms which were built with the knowledge that the monstrous armoire filled with a TV wasn't going to be a space hog... which I would guess is reason why they seem so small.

When asked about when Fontainebleau was planning on opening, I was told "Fall 2009" - other sources pin it down to November 2009. Regardless, we'll be there on opening night.

Advertisement:

Comments & Discussion:

 RobbieNomi posted on Wednesday, 21st January 2009 - 12:28 am

Any info on what the room rates would be like? A brand new hotel with affordable rooms might be the saving grace this city needs right now.

Comments Are Closed

Welcome back ! » Profile Settings Faves

» What Hotels Do You Want Reviewed?

» Morongo Casitas Villa : The FeltJungle Review 2012

» 88 Days To Macau: Episode 4 - Quandary

» Bankrupt City, New Jersey

Recent Comments:

» More Comments

The Latest:

Vegas: Introducing the Trippies Class of 2017
Macau: 88 Days To Macau: Episode 4 - Quandary
CityBOOM: Bankrupt City, New Jersey
FeltJungle: Morongo Casitas Villa : The FeltJungle Review 2012