For Those Who Want To Relax in Vegas
Written: May 04 '04 (Updated May 05 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: The best of everything within your reach, including great hotel service
Cons: Cost, Being connected to the raucous Mandalay Bay hotel
The Bottom Line: The serenity is worth the bucks, but definitely get a Strip-view room.
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| virginian's Full Review: Four Seasons Las Vegas |
The other reviews here offer glowing evaluations of this facility, and with good reason. When you stay at the Four Seasons you feel special... you're at one of the top two hotels in town -- Bellagio is the other. The Four Seasons is less-hyped than Bellagio... choosing a more discreet, private profile. Even the entrance to the Four Seasons is challenging to find... unless you know where to look.
As you may know from reading the other reviews here, the Four Seasons Vegas occupies the top five floors of the (less-expensive) Mandalay Bay hotel. However, the entrance and lobby to the Four Seasons is at ground level, as is the hotel pool, spa and shops. Once you check-in, you travel down several well-appointed, spacious, quiet hallways to the "express elevators" that whisk you up to floors 35-39... without stopping (unless you elect to get off at the Mandalay Bay casino, on the second floor).
OUR ROOM
We were there attending a conference and were given one of the more standard rooms that did not face the Strip. We were envious of our friends who had a Strip-view room. Our room primarily overlooked several large parking lots and the airport. When you book your room, try to get an even numbered room, since I believe they all face the Strip ... you can enjoy the light show at night.
No balconies and the windows are tinted, so no one from the outside can see you. We enjoyed that feature, since it enabled us to leave the curtains open all the time without concern for privacy.
We enjoyed the high-dollar toiletries found in the spacious bathroom, but were a bit surprised to find only one sink in the whole hotel room. There should be another... at least a wet bar.
Speaking of the wet bar, am I the only one who finds it inappropriate for a top-dollar hotel to nickel and dime guests for snacks & beverages stocked in the fridge and on the wet bar? Wait until you see the prices for these goodies at the Four Seasons! Would you believe $7.50 for a mini bottle of vodka?? Oh, you want something to mix with it? How about a small $4 bottle of OJ ... Enjoy your $11.50 cocktail! There's a special today -- $23 for two, so drink up! How about a very small $6 jar of cashews to go with that... or maybe a small bag of mini-pretzels for just $4?
It made us wish we had stopped at the grocery store... a real mood-breaker for this otherwise luxurious setting.
I know there are those reading this who will think; if you can't afford it, then don't go. But my point is... they should just throw an extra $20 or so onto the price of the room and make the wet bar stuff "complimentary". In my mind that would be much more in keeping with the ambiance of the Four Seasons, and make guests feel extra appreciated.
THE CASINO
We weren't in Vegas to gamble... just to relax, which is why we chose the Four Seasons over the Bellagio. We did cruise the Mandalay Bay casino on the second floor.
In the casino we enjoyed people watching, and playing "spot the hooker". Here are some hints: most (not all) hookers in the casino seem to be in their late teens & early 20s, very short tight skirts, typically long blond or streaked hair, and tend to be by themselves (which is the biggest giveaway)... unless they are sitting in the lap of a much older man. Note to younger guys -- they probably won't give you the time of day since you're not likely to appreciate ($$) them as much as the older men do. I read the typical duration of a hooker's career is five years. If that's true, I guess most of these girls "retire" in their mid-20s and move onto something else.
The casino gets really packed in the evenings, so even though you're "entitled" to free drinks while gambling, good luck collaring a waitress to bring you one. Occasionally you get lucky... and I guess if you tip big they'll come back to check on you. You can always go into one of the bars that line the huge casino and get a drink, but then you have to pay.
The musicians that performed in some of the small bars scattered throughout the Mandalay Bay casino were quite good! We would have liked to have stayed and listened, but it was standing room only on Friday and Saturday night.
WORKOUT ROOM & SPA
The workout facility at the Four Seasons is reasonably well-equipped as hotel workout rooms go, but unfortunately it suffers from same small space allotment that plagues most hotels. Most guests don't workout or even see the room, so I guess why bother devoting much space to it? Still, it seems the Four Seasons could have taken a little space from those HUGE foyers and hallways....
The equipment consists of about 20 treadmills, steppers and the like, and a separate room containing dumbbells, circuit equipment, and some of those large inflated balls. A nice touch is the lemon water AND Gatorade on tap, in both the workout area and locker room. There's also assorted toiletries available in the bathroom & shower area, including shampoo, conditioner, aftershave, deodorant, etc. Towels are available in various locations and a very attentive attendant keeps everything stocked and orderly.
Connected to the workout room is the steam room, showers, locker room and massage area. I wanted to try a massage, but they are very, very popular at the Four Seasons, so unless you book your massage a week or more in advance, forget it. If you’re lucky enough to get a massage, plan to spend between $100 and $200 for it. People I spoke with said they’re great.
THE POOL!
My favorite thing about the Four Seasons Vegas Hotel is the pool. Others here have written that it's small and crowded which it is, but you can usually find a chair and, if you like to people-watch, you can do it in style! The pool staff is very attentive and brings you little things from time to time, like clean towels, a spritzer, pieces of fruit, etc.
While we were at the Four Seasons pool, a stocky bouncer in a suit & tie was standing in the nearby cabana ...staring in the pool area for about an hour (he must have been sweating profusely). We later learned that Sandra Bullock had been among us! How cool is that? And it reaffirmed that we had chosen an exclusive, private hangout in Vegas.
If you stay at the Four Seasons, you can walk over to the three other nearby Mandalay Bay pools. Each is shaped differently and has some unique attribute (sand, wave machine, etc.). We were content with the Four Seasons pool, so I can't comment on the others.
MANDALAY BAY NEIGHBORS
Unless you hide in your room, you will eventually run into guests of the Mandalay Bay hotel (either in the casino, bars or lobby shops). Be advised, Mandalay's rooms are about half the price of the Four Seasons and tends to attract louder and often younger guests. Think "annual sales conference" and you'll have a somewhat accurate mental picture. Mandalay's lobby, entrance area, and shops tend to be much more noisy and congested than at the Four Seasons.
WRAPPING UP
The food at the Four Seasons was very good, though we always ate catered with others at the medical conference we were attending.
If I had it to do over again, I would definitely stay at the Four Seasons, but this time I would pay extra to get a Strip view room... maybe even a suite (and then bring my own my vodka, mixers and cashews!).
If you haven't been to Vegas before, it's about a four-hour flight from the east coast, and a three-hour time difference. If your body clock is like mine, you'll be dead tired at 10 p.m. Vegas time and wide awake at 5 a.m. (the joys of time zones).
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
virginian
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Reviews written: 10
Trusted by: 0 members
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