Coincidentally, Anthony Curtis and LVA Managing Editor David McKee took a recent tour of this property, M Resort (scheduled opening: spring 2009). Here are their impressions of the place.
Although the Marnell family has never been fully "away" from the casino industry, M Resort is its first ground-up project since it sold The Rio to Harrah’s Entertainment in 1998. Former Harrah’s execs form the core of Marnell’s M team, along with Planet Hollywood veteran William Conn.
M is projected to come in at $1 billion, slightly more than Station Casinos’ Red Rock Resort, which set the high-water mark for expensive off-Strip resorts. CEO Anthony Marnell III says he’s positioning the casino-hotel for an 80% local/20% California mix of customers, and rapid real estate development in the area would appear to supply him with a ready-made customer base. M will also be the first Vegas-area resort that Californians pass when driving in on I-15, so if you don’t want to tangle with the Strip, Marnell may have just the place for you.
For admirers of the sensual curves of The Rio’s second (and taller) tower, M Resort will bring back pleasant memories. M’s hotel tower is kind of shallow half-moon: Its south façade is a long semicircle, while the north face is a sheer wall of glass. The style is described as "modern Italian." And since the Marnells had to foresight to site the resort on a knoll at the south end of the Vegas Valley, spectacular views are guaranteed. Both façades are indented with subtle right angles that paradoxically emphasize the larger flow rather than interrupting it.
Like Bellagio and Red Rock Resort (but few others), the grand entrance takes patrons straight into the hotel (390 rooms). Already jutting forward impressively, when finished the porte cochere will be finished in zinc, with the underside of the canopy done in frosted glass. Valet drop-off will be here, with pickup at the subterranean spa level, one floor down.
The casino is off to the right and, from there, a 14-screen, 3,100-seat cineplex and a retail mall will round out the large-scale offerings. Those won’t debut until late 2009 and 2010-11, respectively. Galaxy Theatres, which runs digital-projection cinemas at The Cannery and Neonopolis, will be in charge of the movie palace.
The Rio, during the Marnell era, was a market leader in introducing wine cellars and nightclubs to Las Vegas. M Resort won’t be getting into the club scene. According to CEO Anthony Marnell III, the loud thump-thump-thump of so-called "house music" is annoyance to Vegas hotel guests, which he cited as one of several reasons for not having a nightclub. "Booming, boisterous clubs can be more trouble than they’re worth for management, while turning off locals trying to enjoy a more relaxed night out," explained the Las Vegas Sun.
Oenephiles, though, will be happy to know that the Marnells are building another wine cellar. They’re even going The Rio one better by making even the finest vintages available by the glass to both the tasting room and the steakhouse.
For those of simpler tastes, there will be a buffet, as well as a ‘restaurant row’ along the north terrace. Swiveling glass panels will enable these to double as indoor and outdoor dining venues, weather permitting. This will have the added benefit of giving diners a balcony seat for concerts on the Villaggio del Sole stage that will arise at the north end of the pool.
All of these restaurants will be owned and operated in-house, according to the Sun. It adds that by getting at least a month ahead of schedule, the Marnells were able to reinvest the money they saved by adding a rooftop restaurant and the aforementioned wine cellar.
The Marnells are outsourcing their race and sports book to Cantor Gaming, a subsidiary of Cantor Fitzgerald, deferring to Cantor’s experience in international sports wagering. Cantor’s handheld gambling devices (current undergoing field testing at the Venetian) are also slated to be among the gaming offerings on tap, along with 1,846 slots and 64 table games. Marnell expressed confidence that they’d be approved for deployment by the time M Resort opens.
And while playing, customers won’t be at the mercy of a passing cocktail server if they’re jonesing for a cup of coffee or cola. Complimentary, freestanding beverage stands will dot the casino floor.
MGM Mirage didn’t need any caffeine to get excited about M’s prospects. It invested $160 million in the project, in the form of an eight-year loan. In the (unlikely, we hope) event that Marnell is unable to repay the note, MGM gets half-ownership of M Resort.
