One month ago on the Las Vegas Strip, Mandalay Bay’s THEhotel quietly vanished and the Delano Las Vegas appeared. The renovation was conducted while the all-suite hotel remained open, but the differences between what THEhotel looked like in June and what the Delano looks like today are striking.
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| Beyond the facade, we mean. |
Public Areas
The entryway to the hotel is now wider and airier, with rock-inspired artwork evoking the Nevada desert. (The property’s design is meant to combine both its location and the South Florida style of the original hotel.) Several food and beverage options (including the renamed bar, now called the Franklin...as in Delano Roosevelt), sit out in the open just off the main foyer as guests walk in, encouraging them to sit and mingle and watch passersby. (The Franklin’s cocktail menu, by the way, is an attraction in its own right. Serious mixology buffs will want to go through the selections one by one. The Jefferson Library, a mix of Jefferson's Reserve Bourbon, lemon juice, maple syrup, pink angostura and Innis & Gunn Porter, was particularly tasty.)
At the rooftop, Alain Ducasse’s Mix and Mix Lounge are holdovers from THEhotel, but will soon close down for a renovation to follow the rest of the hotel’s new style. The current storage room will become a private dining room for small groups, and the restaurant will reopen in the fourth quarter of 2015 as Rivea, with Ducasse still at the helm.
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| Want a beach experience in the Las Vegas desert? This is the place to go! |
Also next year, the Delano will get its own private pool and beach club in the courtyard of the complex, with a private entrance. Construction will begin once the weather gets too cold for swimming outdoors.
The Rooms
We got to see a sneak peek of the Delano’s refurbished rooms in June while the project was underway, and now that they’re consistent throughout the hotel, they don’t disappoint.
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| They went from this... |
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| ...to this. |
With an almost all-white palette, the rooms seem much brighter and more open, even though the structural footprints have not changed. White leather lines the desk in the living room and the tables in the bedroom, while the wall in the living room is lined in white tile.
That wall also has a media hub that connects to the flat-screen TV, making it easy for guests to hook up their own devices and watch Netflix or personal slideshows on a much bigger screen. (This will be particularly useful for business presentations, which the two-room layout makes very convenient.)
The Delano has 30 penthouse suites that can range from 1,550 square feet to 4,500 in a range of configurations. (The loft suites are reportedly the largest.) In contrast to the white theme of the main suites, these rooms have a slightly darker vibe, with touches of black to offset the brightness. (If possible, request a panoramic suite. The views are breathtaking.)
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| A Penthouse Bedroom |
Good to know: The penthouse suites all have private access for a butler, and butler service can be arranged.