Las Vegas - Meetings Collaborative - By and for Meeting Professionals

Mandalay Bay Casino & Resort Hotel Las Vegas (Nevada): Very nice hotel, but a few draw backs

cornelia@alta.org — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:32:07 +0100

The hotel is beautiful, the food is better than most convention facilities and the staff do an outstanding job. The drawbacks, are that we received comments on the size of the hotel and the distance from your sleeping room to the convention center; and that the hotel connected via walkway and tram undercut our sleeping room price by such a large percent that we had numerous attendees stay outside the block. When booking, I would be conservative with your sleeping room numbers.

Rio All Suite Casino & Hotel Las Vegas (Nevada): Fun Times

WGalanty — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:46:13 +0100

I was invited to the Harrah's trip for meeting planners where all of the Harrah's hotels in Las Vegas were used as either venues for functions or rooms.
I had the opportunity to stay at the Rio and completely enjoyed my experience. The rooms had been upgraded, the meeting and food outlets were fantastic. I had a great time!

Venetian Casino & Resort Hotel Las Vegas (Nevada): Venetian & Palazzo

graysherry — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 15:32:21 +0100

[No Answer Entered]

JW Marriott Golf Spa & Resort Hotel Las Vegas: A Reason to Go Back

freebird — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:36:42 +0100

April 23-27, 2008 - Our firm has conducted three conferences at this property. We don't normally return to properties, but the JW Marriott in Las Vegas is top notch. The service, retention of staff, condition of the property overall is fantastic! Meeting space is ample, you get an MPO (Meeting Planner's Office), your rooming list is accurate, food and beverage is delicious! Five +++ stars for this property!

Hard Rock Casino and Hotel Las Vegas (Nevada): Not Suitable for Business Meetings

jms — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:43:46 +0100

Although a nice hotel, not suitable for meetings. No business office and trying to track a staff person down when there were questions or problems was an issue. Meetings began on Tuesday and all went OK until our Friday meeting. Friday afternoon the pool began playing loud music; so loud the walls in our ballroom were vibrating from the sound. It was very disruptive to our meeting and we were told there was "nothing they could do" to get the music turned down.

If you're looking for a party, yes a great hotel. For business meetings, not that great.

Mandalay Bay Casino & Resort Hotel Las Vegas (Nevada): MPI in Las Vegas

mmoynihan — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:18:45 +0100

I attended the MPI meeting in August. I thought Mandalay Bay did an outstanding job - especially considering the number of hotel critics that attended this meeting. It was the trade show food I have ever had. I understand some people had challenges with service in their sleeping rooms but whenever I heard that the hotel was advised of the problem - the hotel was all over it. I think the service was outstanding!

Mandalay Bay Casino & Resort Hotel Las Vegas (Nevada): Poor Service at Mandalay Bay ...

sue@suetinnish.com — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 20:08:03 +0100

My experience is as an attendee at the MPI-WEC. The hotel is lovely but I found it lacking in two areas: Service and sleeping room set up.

I had two unpleasant service situations. I waited over 2 hours and it took 3 phone calls to have the feather bedding replaced.

My room key was also de-magnitized and it took me 40 minutes (at midnight) to get into my room. I was on hold for 20 minutes with the front desk and then it took Security 20 minutes to come up to let me in my room. I did not have ID on me (only my convention namebadge) so there was no sense going down to the front desk because they would not give me a new key. Bad ending to an otherwise nice evening.

Finally, the desk was situated so it was in front of the couch. It was awkward to sit at and work at.

Otherwise, the room was lovely. Spacious bathroom.

Wynn Hotel Las Vegas (Nevada): MUCH more than a 'pretty face'!

JoanEisenstodt — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 17:18:49 +0100

Las Vegas is not my favorite place to travel - and this year, I have already been there 3x w/ one to go. Each stay has been at a different hotel. After an horrific day of travel, I was glad to be anywhere that wasn't an airport.

THAT said - WOW!

Detailed below are my experiences and why I am rating this so high. The only reason it doesn't get "5"s from me on all aspects is that 1) it is not suitable for all audiences and 2) they allow smoking in far too many places to make it comfortable. The first part of the review is about guestroom and service; the latter about meeting space.

Check in: I arrived after being up for 17 hours and not in the mood to stand in one of the many lines. 2 "greeters" asked how my trip was and I said "awful." They said they were sorry and put me in a line. Within a MINUTE, one of them opened a station to check me in. YEA!

Bell-staff: took me to my room and was helpful and apologetic about my having to walk through the smoky casino on my way to the elevators. He actually understood that smoking bothers people.

Room: RIGHT near the elevator - THANK you Wynn and Passkey (the latter being the sponsor of the meeting at which I spoke). Large, comfortable, and done in such lovely soft colors with great fun art on the walls - with lights over the art that, when the 'overhead' light switch was on, illuminated the art. I was in an accessible room that was - mostly - with a roll in shower and a fold up bench in the shower. ("Mostly" bec. although there were hooks at a chair height in the closet, the hangers were up higher.) All table lamps were on dimmers; the drapes were controlled by a fun system by the bed. The only thing that didn't seem to be working was the a/c. That said.. see below.

Bathroom (more): UNSCENTED SOAP!!!!!!! Oh how happy I was. They also have some lovely scented products but it was the two bars of UNSCENTED soap that made my stay so cheerful. THANK you Wynn for understanding that some of us have severe chemical sensitivities. (And there was no scent in the guest room of anything having been sprayed.) And tho' it will sound little, it is not: the sink stopper actually worked! The bathroom (and guest room) were very clean and comfortable - the towels thick and not at all frayed .. like the last 2 hotels in which I've stayed.

SERVICE: I capitalized that on purpose. It was impeccable. See above for the check in process. From there, each request yielded help: for a portable fan for my room, for dry cleaning w/in four hours (and it appeared w/o a surcharge), for help getting engineering to come to look at the a/c (it needed a new filter - he fixed that - and then showed me a trick to cool the room more quickly)and for help with any questions. Each and every person w/ whom I interacted was pleasant, helpful and efficient.

Room service: Great choices at relatively reasonable prices. (Ok.. reasonable for hotels and reasonable for Vegas.) The food was there w/in 30 mins. as promised. The chicken noodle soup had REAL chicken in it and was excellent. The rolls (which I learned are made in house) were really yummy - I should have brought a doz. of the cranberry ones home! The person who delivered it was pleasant and appropriate. (I add the latter bec. at another Vegas hotel earlier this summer the room service waiter told a very inappropriate story to me as he was preparing the table.)

Accessiblity: It's like all Vegas meeting hotels - spread out! (Why does everyone kvetch about Gaylord Opryland and not about Vegas for distance to travel to meeting room?) I had a scooter. (THIS is where the hotel can make an improvement: their scooters are older and clunky - the one I used at another property was much easier to use.) It was quite a schlep to the space - and much of it through areas where smoking was allowed. (It does not appear that smoking is allowed in the meeting space - I didn't see signs but didn't see anyone smoking.) I was a bit frustrated that the ash urns (even on the non-smoking floor)were right in front of the elevator buttons making it a bit of a stretch for anyone in a chair to reach them.

Meeting Space: The space is very open and decorated beautifully (as is the entire hotel.) Although I was only IN one meeting room, it was well-ventilated and had windows to the outside. (For my presentation, I asked that the drapes be open - it was a wonderful view that made you think you were in the country and not in a heavily built area.)

Meeting services: Rooms appeared to be refreshed in accordance w/ the times requested. AV worked well and technicians were very helpful - even helping me fix a PPT. problem that no one else had been able to fix.)

Banquets: I only experienced 2 breaks and 1 lunch - the latter, a deli-buffet. It was good but WHEN are hotels and restaurants going to stop serving turkey roll and saying it's turkey?! It's a turkey product .. sorta like a cheese product. The salads (esp. the cole slaw) were excellent. Breaks were really neat - the sodas, glasses and cups all on rollable stacking cards. Nice looking and efficient to set up and use.

Meeting set ups: I realize that hotels don't do much more than planners ask. The Wynn is a hotel that goes above and beyond in so many ways and I'd love it if they trained their Sales and Conv. Services staff in adult learning and education methods to help their clients set rooms differently. 'Most every meeting room was set w/ podium, head table, and classroom set. UGH! (Ours had crescents bec. I begged!) And all the wonderful windowed-rooms had the drapes closed. I realize that for energy savings it's a good idea; but the one we were in (LaFleur) had this lovely covered veranda w/ ceiling fans outside so the room itself was protected from sun.

Buffet: Sure I tried it! Went with a colleague (and friend) who lives in Vegas. Not cheap - in fact, pretty expensive. Again, what I experienced earlier this summer at another Vegas hotel is that there are not enough servers to accommodate the beverage and clearing needs of these massive buffet restaurants in hotels: long lines to get in while there were many empty (and set) tables. The food was interesting and some of it good; some of it so-so. (I tried the dim sum - the siu mai was very good; the pork buns were awful - really awful - so dry that they were inedible. The grilled veggies were outstanding. People seemed to be there for the crab legs - and I was sad to think how many crabs gave their lives for such gluttony. Other things (like the freshly sliced REAL turkey)were also dry. The lines for food were long and it wasn't a great experience. I would not go back.

Checkout: Tried to use the TV program - alas, it was not available at 4:45 a.m. which surprised me. Anyone traveling east is likely to check out early.

Praise to the staff at the Wynn for doing a great job. Whatever is done by Steve Wynn and the upper management seems to work well. I am grateful to have stayed there.

The Hotel Las Vegas (Nevada): THE Hotel

preger — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:14:46 +0100

I'm always eager to see how a property performs when hosting meeting planners -- one of the most challenging attendee groups to please!

Service level at THEHotel was very good.
This property feels much less chaotic than many of the LV properties where I've stayed. I feel a sense of calm while I'm there.

I love the rooms at this property, though shower leakage and slow drains concerned me! Room service had service better than most, but food quality was sometimes disappointing. High speed was not reliable.

The walk from THEHotel to the convention center is looong. Someone used their pedometer to estimate that it's a 1 mile walk. No getting around it, so put on those comfy shoes and go!

I was very pleasantly surprised by the lunch provided on the show floor -- tasty, creative, and MUCH better than any other show floor meal I've experienced.

Loews Lake Las Vegas: Loew's Lake Las Vegas Resort

graysherry — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 20:38:23 +0100

2/26/2007