Smart Meetings

View From Vegas: Winter Round-Up

Author: "Lucky Chuck" Kapelke
March 2008

Columns

Palms Place
When thinking about planning a meeting in Las Vegas, the Palms is rarely the first property that comes to mind. After all, as the much-publicized go-to party hotel for celebrities like Britney Spears and Paris Hilton—not to mention Hugh Hefner and his E! show Girls Next Door—the property seems more appropriate for a bachelor party than a corporate group.  
But a newly opened Palms tower, Palms Place, a 47-story condominium-suite hotel located adjacent to the original, is worth looking into. The property’s 599 “condominium-suites” include studio, one- and two-bedroom suites, as well as penthouses, all with kitchens, huge TVs, jetted tubs and private balconies.

And, of course, Palms Place is not without its decadent Vegas-style perks, including a 50,000-square-foot pool and spa with the first “hammam,” or Turkish bath, in Las Vegas. Palms Place is also home to a new restaurant by Kerry Simon, a salon operated by Michael Boychuck and the first Las Vegas location of L.A.’s Sunset Tan (see below).
While there is no formal meeting space at Palms Place, the property is connected via SkyTube, an elevated, enclosed moving walkway, to the Palms Casino Resort, which has 703 rooms and 60,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, not to mention Moon, Rain, Ghost and other hip spots that keep the celebrities coming back. (palmsplace.com)

LA Sunset Tan
For an incentive prize for someone hoping to shake off that end-of-the-winter, pasty-faced look—or who doesn’t have all day to lounge around the pool—the new branch of LA Sunset Tan at Palms Place will offer its noteworthy treatments, including the signature LA Sunset Tan Cocktail, in which clients receive VIP robe service and complimentary beverages as they slip from a high-pressure tanning bed into a spray booth. LA Sunset Tan, which has bronzed the likes of Lindsay Lohan and Jennifer Lopez and has its own E! reality show, has beds with plasma-screen TVs, plus a sunless spray unit that turns you tan in less than one minute and lets you target specific areas of the body. (sunsettan.com)

Paradise Found
Paradise Found, a company offering tours of Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon and other areas, has taken over rental management of several major mansions around Las Vegas, many of which are great for memorable single-day events or multiday rentals—houses so lavish they are frequently used in reality TV and music video productions.

The Santucci Estate, a mansion previously owned by Whoopi Goldberg, is a one-acre estate featuring a French-style castle with a blue-porcelain-tile roof and twin copper towers, massive black and gold cast-iron gates and a fountain with statues of Roman and Greek gods.
The Corcovado Estate, 20 minutes from The Strip, is a 7,000-square-foot home with lush landscaping, a large lagoon-style pool and a wine cellar with a large-screen plasma TV. It also has six bedrooms, two master suites, rock waterfalls, a theater media room, a media/conference room/office, a kitchen with three ovens, game room with pool table, tiki torches and more.
The Stirling Room is normally a private dining room for the residents of a lavish condominium area, with Charlie Palmer as the head chef. But the lavish, old-world room can also be used for group events.

Paradise Found also has an in-house talent-management service, so they can provide your party with strolling jugglers, snake charmers, belly dancers, DJs, Rat Pack impersonators and Cirque du Soleil performers, as well as animals.

“Take one of these mansions, and fill it up with camels, elephants and tattoo artists, and you’ve got a very entertaining evening,” says Michael Boyd, the company’s owner. “In Vegas, if you dream it, it should be delivered.”

Prices vary, but typically range from $4,500–$9,000 per day, Boyd says. (paradisefoundtours.com).

Bellagio Highbrow
The Bellagio has a new offering for those who want a bit of highbrow culture out of their Vegas experience. The Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art willshowcase the best of “American Modernism” through October 15, 2008, in a show organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.  The show will feature more than 30 masterpieces by such artists as Georgia O’Keeffe, Stuart Davis, Marsden Hartley, Arshile Gorky and others. (bgfa.biz; bellagio.com)

Restaurant Charlie
Restaurant Charlie, a new restaurant named after celebrity chef Charlie Trotter, is opening at the Palazzo Hotel and Casino. With a seafood-focused menu, Restaurant Charlie will have four distinct dining components: a main dining room for up to 70 guests; a private dining room, which seats up to 20 guests; Chef's Kitchen Table, perched in the air above the kitchen, with a tasting-menu-only bar for up to eight guests; and Bar Charlie, a sushi-bar style, counter-only seating area for up to 18 guests. (palazzo.com)

Irish Pub
If your group is in town for St. Patrick’s Day, McFadden’s Restaurant and Saloon, the “Wildest Irish Pub on Earth,” has opened at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. The 7,000-square-foot-plus pub has two rooms (including a 150-person private party room with its own island bar) and more than 20 high-definition plasma TVs, a dance floor and a 100-foot mahogany bar. The food menu includes Irish stew, shepherd’s pie, buffalo wings and more. (riolv.com)