The $2.9 billion Fontainebleau will open in October 2009; the exact date hasn't been announced. The 63-story tower, which will house 2,815 hotel rooms and 1,000 condo units, was topped off last October, at which time the debut was scheduled for exactly a year later and so far it looks to be on schedule.
The preview center debuted in mid-December 2008, and it provides a glimpse of some of the amenities planned for the megaresort.
Fontainebleau will have 3,815 rooms; a 100,000-square-foot casino; 27 dining venues, including a Nobu and a 5,000-square-foot chocolate shop; a seven-acre pool deck and 60,000-square-foot spa with 55 treatment rooms; and a 300,000-square-foot retail center called the Runway.
But the big buzz around this new megaresort is its high-tech capabilities, which will include server-based slots in the 150,000-square-foot casino; iMacs in every room, with which guests can get online, order room service, set up wake-up calls, talk to a concierge, and communicate with other members of their party; unique chairs at the pool with pockets to keep cell phones and iPods dry; and large touch-screen monitors throughout the property offering information and directions.
In addition, Fontainebleau's "distributed antenna system" will cover cell phones and wireless Web access, plus police and fire emergency systems and the two-way radios employees will use; according to the top Fontainebleau geek, the property will be virtually free of dead zones common to big hotels.
Other than the tech details, however, information about Fontainebleau has been sketchy from the beginning, with stray tidbits released at odd times and no interviews given by the principals, who include former executives of Mandalay Resort Group and current executives of Turnberry Associates, one of the most successful condominium developers in Las Vegas and beyond. An article in the Las Vegas Sun last month, however, reported that Fontainebleau officials claims the resort has enough money to complete the project and open on in time. (The company received $4 billion in financing in 2007, well before the credit markets shut down last year.)
In fact, when Fontainebleau opens, Turnberry, based in south Florida company, will be the developer for nine of the 15 existing and under-construction high-rise condo and condo-hotel towers on or near the Strip, including Turnberry Place, Turnberry Towers, and the Signature towers at MGM Grand; it also developed Town Square on the south Strip.
We at Huntington Press are looking forward to seeing Fontainebleau open.
