getaways
oasis
We ended the evening on a swing, alone in the middle of the city. It had been a perfect day of decompression – a hot-stone massage, a bite at a patisserie, people-watching in a pocket park, a magnificent sunset and a lingering dinner. Relaxation is not what you expect from a getaway to Las Vegas. But CityCenter, the newest resort on the Strip, is unexpected. Vegas resorts lure you with luxury, then seal you inside so that you gamble in their casinos and spend your money at their celebrity-chef restaurants, posh shops and trendy nightclubs. MGM-Mirage and its partners spent $8.5 billion to provide another kind of elegance at CityCenter. They hired internationally known architects to transform its 67 acres into an urban hub and spent $40 million on fine art to create an aesthetic treat for visitors. They created “green” buildings that invite the daylight inside. The buildings themselves are not connected, apart from a few covered walkways and enclosed areas. But the layout allows guests to wander in and out of the three hotels – Aria, Vdara and the Mandarin Oriental, past the leaning condo towers of Veer and through its crazily angular high-end shopping mall, Crystals. This exploration is best done on foot, so save the stilettos for clubbing. You might wind 23 floors up in the Mandarin’s Sky Lobby for tea (or cocktails) with a striking view of the Strip. You could zone out in the meditation rooms of the Aria’s 80,000-square-feet spa.
Las Vegas’ sophisticated CityCenter brings respite from the Strip
Courtesy CityCenter
Story by Mark Whittington
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3/17/10 1:20 PM