While high roller accommodations housed in separate buildings are nothing new to Las Vegas, like the Mansions at MGM Grand or Palazzo Suites at the Rio, as far as we can recall it was Mandalay Bay that first pioneered the "hotel-within-a-hotel" concept when it debuted back in 1999 with a Four Seasons occupying the top five floors of one of the hotel's towers. Since then, MGM Grand has added the separate Skylofts to two of its upper levels and most recently Nobu opened within Caesars Palace.
In the case of the Monte Carlo, however, Hotel32 wasn't planned, but was rather a case of making lemonade out of lemons following the fire that ravaged the top half-dozen floors of the hotel back in 2008. On the morning of January 25 that year, it was a passer-by who first called 911 to report fire on the roof of the property, which quickly became very visible from the LVA offices. The subsequent post mortem revealed that parts of the hotel and casino's façade were covered in an unapproved resin that lacked flame-retardant capabilities, which quickly fueled a fire started accidentally by welders on the roof who, it transpired, were using a window-washing permit and had failed to put down slag mats and take other precautionary measures. The workmen were cutting corrugated steel to set up window-washing equipment; had the contractor who hired them applied for the proper permits, they would have been advised as to how to perform the work safely, but this didn't happen.
As it was, portions of the hotel façade's Exterior Insulation Finishing System burned, with falling debris then starting smaller secondary fires on the non-fireproofed ledges three floors below. The fire was fully contained within an hour of starting and no injuries were sustained, but still the price tag for the incident came in at just under $100 million, combining both damage repair and loss of business during the busy Chinese New Year festivities because although any fire damage was mainly limited to the upper exterior portions, water from the sprinkler systems permeated every floor of the building, which was completely closed for three weeks, with initial fears also of falling debris.
By mid-February, approximately 1,200 of the resort's 3,000 rooms were reopened, along with the casino, most of the restaurants, and the Lance Burton magic show. Another 1,300 rooms were on-line by the end of that month, but the damage to the top five floors was way more extensive, with some rooms stripped down to bare steel. Hence, since a complete rebuild was necessary, the hotel opted to take the opportunity to turn a disaster into an upgrade, with the replacement of the former guest rooms with a new self-contained luxury boutique property called Hotel32 (since it begins on the 32nd floor).
Accessible only by a separate express elevator, for which you must have a hotel-room key to gain entry, the hotel-atop-a-hotel has 50 rooms ranging in size from 850-square-foot studios to 2,000-square-foot penthouse suites. All guests are treated to a dedicated "Suite Assistant" to provide butler and concierge services, plus there's a private lounge with views overlooking CityCenter. All rooms are equipped with hi-tech entertainment equipment, including a branded iPhone to promote the use of hotel amenities, plus a fridge pre-stocked according to the guest's requests. The Lofts and Pents (as they're referred to) each include a Kohler Chromatherapy steam shower (big enough for you and all your friends), a 15" in-mirror integrated TV in the bathroom, and a hydrotherapy soaking tub.
This rebranded portion of the Monte Carlo debuted Aug. 10, 2009 and, at the time of this writing, had rooms starting at $204 available for select dates in May. Click to catch a sneak video tour that was released prior to the property opening; you can see photos of the rooms on the Hotel32 website (which is not very intuitive - click on an image to reveal links to more information about that amenity).
As an aside, the Monte Carlo fire resulted in an experimental break with a New Year's tradition the following Dec. 31, when the Strip's firework spectacular was relegated to ground level following the introduction of costly new mandatory fire inspections. However, the complaints of reduced visibility for the $600,000 pyrotechnic show were widespread, so the terrestrial approach was abandoned the following year when fireworks were restored to select Strip rooftops.
