For years gay
hotels in Las Vegas were all like the Blue Moon Resort -- a
Motel 6-like joint located a half mile from the Strip
with a clothing-optional pool in the back. It was the
kind of slightly tacky place you could find in Key
West or Palm Springs and a far cry from where
you'd stay in more refined destinations like South
Beach or New York City. Indeed, for people who
regularly trot off to Paris or London to stay at chic
boutique hotels like St. Martins Lane, Vegas has always left
something to be desired.
Take my friend
Billy. He and his boyfriend are currently planning a trip
to Paris, where they're looking to book a room at the
Hotel du Petit Moulin, a boutique property housed in a
former bakery from the 18th century. The last time he
went to Vegas in 2004, he "stayed at a terrible
hotel that looked like it was stuck in the early to mid
'80s," he says. "It was on the
Strip--but definitely B-list, a second-tier
hotel."
Soon enough,
Billy will be able to stay at a hotel more to his taste. As
the city of Las Vegas continues to reach out to the LGBT
market through its tourism and convention bureau,
gaming behemoths like Harrah's and the MGM
Mirage--the two biggest resort casinos in
town--are upping their efforts as well. The
Luxor, owned by MGM Mirage, advertises its chapel as
an ideal site for commitment ceremonies. Harrah's
went so far as to designate its Paris Las Vegas
property as the place for gays to stay. But the real
buzz, at least for elite gay travelers like Billy, surrounds
new properties with high gay brand identity like the
Mondrian and Delano hotels, which are owned by Morgans
Hotel Group; and the new Wynn Encore under
construction, across the street from the original. And just
last year Sam Nazarian, entertainment entrepreneur and
co-owner of West Hollywood's mega gay bar the
Abbey, bought the Sahara Hotel and Casino, a spot once
popular with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and their
groovy friends.
All this has the
bicoastal set wondering, Will the onetime Rat Pack haunt
become headquarters for the Gay Pack?
As well-meaning
as MGM Mirage and Harrah's are -- the companies
deserve kudos for including LGBT people in their
marketing plans and donating to local gay
causes--they're not exactly up to the standards
wealthy gays expect. The Paris, for example, with its
chintzy rendition of the City of Light and unfussy
rooms, doesn't appeal to Ryan Smith, a 26-year-old
Vegas nightlife promoter [see page 41]. "I'm
more of a W [Hotels] guy. When I go to Santa Monica I
stay at the Viceroy. In New York it's the
Hudson. I want something that's a little more hip, a
little more chic."
Smith adds that
Vegas is more than ready for upscale digs like the
Delano, a Philippe Starck-designed hot spot for the
beautiful people in South Beach. While Smith was
promoting Krave, then Vegas's hottest high-end
gay club, he noticed that most of the bottle service
customers and visitors from Los Angeles were staying
at the Wynn Las Vegas. No surprise. The Wynn's
sheer opulence, including the ritzy shopping esplanade
complete with Dior and Cartier boutiques, delivers the
aspirational quality many travelers -- gay and straight --
desire.
Which raises an
important point: None of the high-end Vegas properties,
current or now under construction, are overtly gay; their
designs and amenities cater to any traveler with
dollars to burn. It's all part of a Vegas
building boom targeting the luxury market. In June 2007,
Boyd Gaming broke ground on the 87-acre, $4.8 billion
Echelon project on the former Stardust Hotel site
south of Circus Circus on the Strip. The Mondrian and
Delano will be part of the sumptuous complex, which will
also include a deluxe outpost of Asia's Shangri-La
hotel chain as well as the Hotel Echelon, the Suites
at Echelon, and two concert venues promoted by AEG,
the company behind New York's Nokia Theatre and
L.A.'s Staples Center. The entire thing is
scheduled to open in 2010.
Not to be
outdone, MGM Mirage is developing an even more spectacular
site called CityCenter located between the Monte Carlo
and Bellagio in the middle of the Strip. At $7.4
billion, it's billed as the most expensive
privately funded construction project in American history.
The 76-acre property will contain a Mandarin Oriental
and three other hotels, two condo towers, a casino,
and retail and entertainment space, all designed by
renowned architects like Cesar Pelli and Rafael Vinoly.
Completion of the first phase is expected in 2009.
Given the cachet
of these new developments, it's unlikely
they'll need explicit marketing campaigns to
attract affluent gay travelers. Essentially
self-contained cities, Echelon and CityCenter ensure that
snooty types, who might turn up their noses at the
Strip's anything-goes vibe, will never have to
leave the boundaries of luxury. And with its more
affordable room rate and Nazarian's reputation, the
Sahara will surely nab many of the younger gays who
might otherwise stay at the Hard Rock or the Paris.
This is not to
say that new development won't be thinking about the
gay dollar. "We've really just begun to
outline our brand platform and will be working on that
the better part of this year," says Boyd gaming
spokesman Rob Stillwell about Echelon. "We're
still three years out, [but these are] very important
considerations relative to the market." And if
the Paris decided to build an outpost of the Abbey on its
sprawling patio, the hotel might truly live up to its
title as the place for gays to stay. Michael Weaver,
vice president of marketing at the Paris,
agrees--at least in theory. "We've
obviously been very pleased with the response
we've received to our ads and events for gay and
lesbian travelers," he says. "So a more
consistent offering to LGBT tourists is a logical next
step for us. We're actively exploring several
possibilities."
That notion was
seconded by Jessie Pound, an account executive at Kirvin
Doak Communications in Las Vegas who's working on the
Mondrian and Delano. Morgans, she says, "[has]
that high-end sophisticated client who's
looking for a fun, hot place to stay but at the same time
wants luxury amenities, and I think the LGBT community
naturally fits into that."
But not everyone
thinks it'll be so easy for the Strip to lure the
boys from Lincoln Road. "Vegas is Middle
America," says John Meglen, the president of
AEG Live/Concerts West and producer of Celine
Dion's and Bette Midler's residencies at
Caesars Palace. He and his partner, Milo Miloscia (the
senior vice president of the Andrew Hewitt Company, which
books the Hollywood Bowl), live in a contemporary home with
adjacent art gallery in one of Vegas's many
gated communities. "People pretend that
it's not, and places like the Wynn and Bellagio
create an impression that it's European and
sophisticated. But it's still Middle America."
At least for now.