omegadeal

Any trip reports yet? I just booked a lux tower room for ~$200/night for a weekend, but after thinking about the location and seeing the pictures (i.e. mirrors on the ceiling) I think I may be be better off staying somewhere else.

Is there any benefit as SPG here other than stay and night credit which I could get at one of the total rewards properties?

frudd38

At $200/nt you're better off at a real Vegas prop..

eponymous_coward

What are rates at Caesars/MGM properties in that mid-to-upper level range (Mandalay Bay/Mirage/Paris/Planet Hollywood) for your dates?

(Personally, I'd even consider rooms at places like the Linq, Harrah's or Flamingo that are middle-lower range. The rooms at SLS are just not really all that and a bag of chips.)

Flyer545

Booked 3 nights at the end of this week. Will report back. I considered booking a Ceasars property (was eying LINQ) but from what I've read you have to have Total Rewards platinum in order to earn SPG points with stays at their properties and I don't have TR status.

Also, curious about how my stay at SLS will go, to be honest. SPG Gold but still hoping very hard for a solid upgrade.

Another note, when booking SLS on the spg site, you have to click Promotions and Packages to see the (reduced!) intro rate. At that rate, my avg cost per night before resort fees () was around $87 which ain't bad.

FlyerBeek

I just completed a 1-night stay at the SLS Las Vegas this weekend. Booked a pre-paid $59 rate ($102 with taxes/fees). It's really hard to beat at this rate - not sure how long this property can survive with rates this low (or how it can justify being a Cat. 5 property). Overall, though, a very good stay.

Pros:
- dedicated SPG Plat/Gold check-in desk that bypassed a long check-in line
- some good looking on-site restaurant options, including two Jose Andres restauarnts (Ku Noodle Bar and Bazaar Meats)
- Platinum breakfast amenity consists of a very generously portioned continental breakfast plate, coffee, and juice at Northside Café
- additional Platinum amenity (due to resort fee) includes two drink vouchers to use at the Monkey Bar, each worth up to $15 (specialty cocktails are only $12).
- resort fee includes access to hourly airport shuttle - which saved me a $20 Uber fare on the return. Shuttle stops at Planet Hollywood en route to LAS, but still only took 25 minutes to reach the airport.
- generously sized Ciel bath amenities

Cons:
- only upgraded one room category from a Story Tower king to World Tower king, despite SPG.com showing many better rooms available (including Lux Tower deluxe, corner, and suites). Was told this was the maximum available SPG Platinum room upgrade
- location is a bit far from the action on the Strip (although the hotel is directly attached to the monorail)

Overall, I wouldn't hesitate to stay here again. It's nice to have another SPG option in Vegas.

World Tower king room:








the Monkey Bar (Manhattan with smoked banana was excellent)


Platinum continental breakfast plate at Northside Café:

Eujeanie

Is that the only window right behind the bed?

eponymous_coward

Yeah, pretty much my conclusions from my stay last year when it was a Hilton Curio property; great deal at that price, but they can't possibly be making money at those prices when when there are downtown joints charging higher room rates a lot of the time.

Maybe they can gut it out until Rock in Rio/Resort World helps out some, but I think people better jump on this while the going's good.

khabah

Many of the World Tower rooms have the beds pushed up against the window wall as part of their design and incorporate an artsy photograph-print roll-down blind above the bed. This means that the bed would face the doorway so if you're looking for easy access to the views, these aren't the rooms for you.

khabah

sfozrhfco

Stayed at this property this past weekend and was again upgraded to a Lux tower suite.

Here are some pics:

FlyerBeek

Yes. The rooms and property is rather dark by design, similar to many W properties I've stayed at. As khabah notes, there is a artistic pull-down window shad behind the bed.

Any tricks on the upgrade? Was the suite pre-assigned, or did you have to request it at check-in. Judging from the tone of my check-in agent, it seemed like suite upgrades for Platinums were not the norm.

-FlyerBeek

Eujeanie

The window is fine, I just thought it odd because most Vegas hotels are designed to take advantage of the views.

sfozrhfco

I stayed in December and the two rooms I booked directly through SPG were upgraded the day before. I booked one room in each tower. (The 3rd room was booked before the cut over to Starwood). The two SPG reservations were upgraded into Lux Suites. The one directly booked with the hotel was upgraded into a corner room next to the two suites.

This time I booked the lowest rate for a regular room in the Lux tower and was upgraded to a Lux suite. I asked after the front desk person handed me the key what type of room it was and she said a Lux Suite so it had already been upgraded.

Will try one more time in two weeks. Have one room booked in the lowest rate in the Lux Tower and a 2nd room booked for just one of the nights in the Story tower. Will see what they do.

So far have not had to ask for any upgrades and have been treated very well. I have stayed at the SLS Beverly Hills many times and also was a member of SBE friends so perhaps this helps as well.

iflyjetz

Rock in Rio 2016's not happening. There's an indication that there will be a Rock in Rio 2017, but as soon as RiR 2015 ended, the organizers said that there'd be a RiR 2016.
I went to 3 of the 4 days there. My guess is that the organizers took a huge financial bath on the event. http://www.billboard.com/articles/co...inside-numbers


Every time I've stopped by the casino, it's been pretty slow except for the evenings after Rock in Rio ended for the night.

Flyer545

Just completed a 3 night stay here. I'm convinced I had a really lucky stay. I booked a story tower room and was upgraded to a high floor lux suite. I wrote in my res. that I was celebrating an anniversary & shared that with the agent when he asked if I was in Vegas for any special reason. He also gave me 2 comp drink tickets for Monkey Bar. It's always nice to feel like you're actually getting better service in the dedicated loyalty line. Once I got up to my room the desk agent gave me a call to see how I liked it and later housekeeping checked to see that we were satisfied as well.

Pros -
- Quality amenities including toiletries, slippers, comfy robes
- Good dining options - I really enjoyed the happy hour at Katsuya. The cocktails I had at the Monkey Bar and Center Bar were really well made.
- Not a zoo. For me this is a pro since I don't care for the crowds in some of the more central hotels.
- New, attractive design - this is a matter of taste but I prefer the general ambience of the SLS to some of the older, more "classic" Vegas hotels I've stayed in
- Resort fee includes airport shuttle
- Free water for SPG members (saved us a few trips to Walgreens)

Cons -
- A bit far from the strip. In warm weather, I imagine this would be less of a problem. We rented a car so it was a nonissue. It's also mitigated by the monorail but the monorail, IMO, is expensive.
- Casino isn't terribly lively
- The nightlife is still figuring itself out. I wasn't clear on the brand.. I actually liked the crowd and theme of west coast classics at Sayers Club but the DJ was not pacing the night well (I'm a DJ so I'm overly critical). Didn't get to check out Foxtail.

Overall I had an amazing stay, but my impression is that experience varies drastically depending on which tower and room you are in.

Oh also I'm not a huge fan of having to chat with security when going into self park. Sometimes I was waved in fine but other times had to roll down my window & answer if I was a guest or visiting. Once, I was asked if I was a guest, answered yes, and then he asked which tower I was in... as though I would be lying? My hunch is there is a better system for this.

khabah

W is now mentioned on the master directory:

W Las Vegas - Opening September 1, 2016

No live site yet, but something should be along soon. Glad to see this is happening.

khabah