( l . to r .) Dayclub at Drai ’ s ; LiFE nightclub at SLS
in the property . So that ’ s what ‘ good bones ’ means . It gives us a good box to work within .”
Although the Sahara brand was going away , Faust says the company wanted to retain that connection with the past .
“ When we started designing , we talked a lot with Philippe Starck and our architect , Gensler , how we wanted to hold on to parts and pieces of the history ,” he explains . “ The Sahara was always an iconic property , and we ’ re hoping the SLS will be the new iconic property . The day we closed the doors to the Sahara , Sam came to me and said , ‘ Take all the ‘ S ’ door handles and don ’ t sell them ; keep them . I don ’ t know what we ’ ll do with them , but hang on to them .’ Subsequent to that , we discussed it , and we made it into a chandelier . Some of the images that we have in the carpet , we wanted to call back to the original Sahara .”
One of those images was a postcard of the old bingo hall , the original structure , woven into the carpet . The new owner retained Congo as the name of the ballroom . “ It ’ s such an iconic room ,” says Faust .
Sbe Entertainment is known for its nightclubs , and SLS Las Vegas will have three distinct brands .
“ We always knew the Sayers Club was going to go in there ,” says Faust . “ We wanted it to be the same as it is in Hollywood . In L . A ., it is a little bit smaller ; it ’ s more of a living room setting . That ’ s the excitement of that live performance in a very small environment , so we always knew we were going to have that type of environment for the Sayers Club .
“ When we started out with Foxtail , it kind of evolved as we were designing it . It was originally going to be the lounge off the casino , and then we decided we would close it off and embrace the pool , similar to what Wynn did for the Encore Beach Club . We wanted to open up to the pool , embrace the pool , and make it be a little bit of our version of Hyde Bellagio , our nightclub there . But instead of having the fountains as our focus , our swimming pool becomes the focus .”
LiFE , in the former theater , was always going to be the bigbox nightclub , Faust says . “ We loved the tiered seating that existed when it was the theater , because that ’ s terrific in a nightclub environment .”
TOWERING SUCCESS
T he three towers of SLS allow the hotel to offer a different room experience in each , says Azarbarzin .
“ In Las Vegas , we have three different room products — completely different ,” he explains . “ SLS Lux is a super-luxurious product , a larger room . Out of the 286 rooms in that tower , 246 of the rooms are suites , and they all have all the amenities and bells and whistles that you can ask for in any luxurious hotel . And then our more standard rooms are in the World Towers that we created really for the conventioneers , and people who are a little bit more price-conscious . And then there is the Story Tower . It ’ s only 200 keys , and we wanted to make it more fun for the younger demographics , the people who were going up there for the weekend to a bachelor or bachelorette party , going up there to have a lot of fun .
“ So when you go to book a room in Las Vegas at our property , the range can be as much a hundred-dollar difference between our convention room and our luxurious room , but everyone can experience the hotel at their budget level .”
The amenities of the rooms are state of the art , he says , from work-ready desks to 55-inch high-def TVs on which you can download movies , shows or your own content .
DOING DELANO
T he lifespan of a hotel in Las Vegas can vary widely . Whether it ’ s the Golden Gate in Downtown that has survived for more than a century or the ill-fated Fontainebleau , which didn ’ t even make it to opening day , the popularity of hotels is dependent upon lots of things .
Take THEhotel , the annex to Mandalay Bay that opened in 2003 , for example . Just a separate all-suite hotel tower when it first opened , it was branded THEhotel in 2006 . Matthew Chilton is the general manager of the new Delano Las Vegas , as it ’ s called now , and explains the rational behind the most recent rebranding .
“ Our president never really liked the name ,” he laughs . “ It was always , ‘ What hotel ? THEhotel ?’… Kind of like the old Abbott and Costello bit , ‘ Who ’ s on First .’”
So the rebranding of what had been a quite successful hotel despite the eponymous name had been discussed almost from the start . The partnership with Morgans Hotel Group just made sense . Morgans had been looking for opportunities to expand the Delano brand so popular in Miami ’ s South Beach ( a Delano was supposed to be part of Boyd Gaming ’ s Echelon project ) and MGM was looking for a signature brand .
22 CASINO DESIGN 2014