Archive for the ‘Hotel’ Category

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Shooting for Forbes Stars

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

forbestgIf you’re hotel-hopping around Las Vegas during your vacation you may notice that many of the high-end hotels in town boast some sort of star rating including ours!

For the third consecutive year in a row, our resort has been honored with the Forbes Four-Star Award and for the second consecutive year our spa has also been recognized with the Forbes Four-Star Award. The M continues to take its place as one of only 177 hotels and 104 spas in the world to receive the awards. But, what do all those stars mean for our guests?

With a reputation for defining the extraordinary, Forbes Travel Guide conducts regular inspections of hotels, restaurants and spas across the nation and issues an annual guidebook listing the destinations on a ratings scale of One to Five Stars. The ratings reflect specific, strict standards regarding the facilities themselves and more importantly the service that the rated resorts, eateries and spas offer to their guests.

Forbes inspectors spend two nights and three days assessing each hotel in numerous different categories. They visit hotel properties unannounced and rate them as One, Two of Three Star hotels. If the inspector believes the hotel is a potential candidate for a Four or Five Star rating, another Forbes inspector is sent back to the hotel undercover to evaluate the hotel’s service with a checklist of over 500 items.

Properties must score in the 80th percentile on the Forbes’ ratings scale to earnFour-Stars. The score itself is weightedheavily on service. A portion of the rating is measured by the experience that the inspector has while the facility itself is also factored into the score. Forbes rates about 8,000 of the approximately 50,000 hotels in North America. Of the 8,000 that they do rate, only a few earn a coveted Four and Five Star Ratings.

ForbesCake
Assistant Executive Pastry Chef, Don Ango crafted celebratory cakes for our Team Members in recognition of the Forbes Four-Star Award.

Some of the 2012 Forbes Travel Guide  Four-Star resorts in Nevada include: Aria Resort & Casino, Bellagio Las Vegas, The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino and Wynn Las Vegas. We feel very proud to be among such elite hotels in Las Vegas.

The 2012 Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star spas in Nevada include: Canyon Ranch SpaClub at The Venetian & The Palazzo, Spa Bellagio at Bellagio, The Spa at Aria and The Spa at Trump.

Our resort and spa have been able to take their guest service to the next level thanks to our Team Members. We’re proud of their strong commitment to delivering memorable service experiences to our guests.

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M’s New Addition

Thursday, November 10th, 2011

Pavilion

There are a lot of choices when it comes to meeting space in the city of Las Vegas. In fact, Las Vegas has more than 10.5 million square feet of exhibit space! For our part, we  currently offer 60,000 square feet of meeting space and if you’ve ever wandered around the spa level of M (below our casino floor) you may have noticed how convenient our meeting space is to our guest room elevators and the ideal flow our space offers for breakouts, general sessions and catered events. Our resort has a 17,000 square foot ballroom and multiple meeting rooms to house groups of 50 to 2,000. Our talented team can also turn any of our restaurants into magical spaces for special events or even our outdoor pool piazza that can accommodate up to 6,000 people!

Over the course of the last year two years we’ve been fortunate to host groups large and small with a demand for even more space! So, next month we’ll be providing more of that much-needed extra space with the opening of the M Pavilion. The Pavilion will add 25,000 square feet of flexible space to our portfolio. It will provide enough space for concerts, large-scale galas, exhibitors and more. The Pavilion will have 45-foot ceilings and can hold a seated concert for up to 3,000 people. For more details we went in search of our Vice President of Sales, Drew Varga. Watch the video to hear what he had to say about the new M Pavilion and most importantly, why you should consider if for your next event!

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Riding in Style

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011

Car

For a true Vegas experience you have to ride in style. Sure limos and big SUVs are perfect for your average ride around the city and pick up from the airport but when you’re ready to cruise around Las Vegas and turn a few heads (the right ones that is) it’s all about top of the line luxury. There’s really no better option than one of the most luxurious cars in the world. Among M’s collection of exclusive vehicles are Maybachs. M is one of only a few resorts in Las Vegas to have these exclusive cars available.

Maybach Front View Maybach Back View

Each Maybach vehicle is hand-built with the most opulent materials. The spacious and lavish rear passenger accommodations are what set it apart from most other automobiles. The rear seats recline and are outfitted with tray tables for laptops, a small fridge, TVs and even pillows stuffed with Andorran hummingbird feathers (if that’s not luxury we don’t know what is). The car is also outfitted with a 21-speaker surround sound system, not that you’ll need it since the vehicle delivers a silent and serene ride for its passengers.

Rear Door Open Rear Interior

Aside from its luxurious accommodations, these automobiles pack a pretty powerful punch when it comes to performance. They travel from zero to 60 miles per hour in five seconds and have a top speed of 155 miles per hour. That’s all thanks to the Maybach’s twin-turbocharged V12 engine. As a passenger you can Steering Wheelwatch the acceleration happen for yourself, our Maybachs have ceiling-mounted gauges that display the speed, time and outside temperature in the rear cabin area.

So how does one get chauffeured around in such a lavish vehicle? Talking to your Casino Host would be a good start. Maybachs and the other vehicles in M’s fleet are available as comps to our best players. If Maybachs aren’t your style, we also have a full fleet of limos and SUVs.

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Eye in the Sky

Thursday, October 6th, 2011
Surveillance

A section of the Surveillance Room at M.

Las Vegas is known for many different things: gambling, buffets, weddings and for being America’s Playground. With so much high-paced activity going on 24/7 our city has also become a headquarters for all things security and surveillance. Casinos take observation to the next level and tend to have more cameras per square foot than any airport or sports arena*. High-tech equipment and (many) keen eyes work together to form the Surveillance Team at M and we were lucky enough to get a sneak peek inside the most secretive room on our property.

Our surveillance room is filled with screens, computers and all the sophisticated equipment that it takes to keep a four-star resort operating safely and smoothly. Despite our “boutique” 390 room size, our security and surveillance software is top-of-the-line. While many casinos still use video tape to record the casino floor (meaning they must constantly change out those tapes and can only record on a certain number of cameras) our casino operates on CCTV (closed circuit television) which is entirely digital and records everything displayed on our all cameras continuously all the time. It also gives our Surveillance team the ability to access any video from any time our property has been open, nearly instantly.

Most people might think surveillance means only monitoring cameras, but our team takes a pro-active approach to observing the activities on our casino floor. According to our surveillance team the cameras are just one aspect of the job. Others include making sure our team knows and understands the games, our dealers are property trained to handle cards and our pit team knows to report suspicious behavior or large wagers. It’s a combination of not only cameras but intelligence gathered from many different areas that make a strong surveillance team.

Our team works to ensure all our guests are safe while at our resort but one of the main purposes of our Surveillance team is keeping an eye on the casino floor. Our team uses different software products to help them identify known cheaters and advantage players. The program captures someone’s face and converts the image into mathematical data and then compares it to our resort’s private database and also SIN’s (Surveillance Information Network) catalog of cheaters compiled from other casino properties. The program is able to pull up a person’s height, weight, aliases and even known associates by just someone’s face.

If a person’s face isn’t matched to a known advantage player, or perhaps they’re cheating in a casino for the first time playing blackjack the Blackjack Survey software catalogues the game (when a player hits, stands, etc.) and is able to evaluate the game mathematically to determine if a player is counting cards or  in fact cheating. If they are cheating, the software is able to analyze if the player is making decisions based on knowing the dealer’s hole-card (dealer’s face down card) or top-card (next card dealt). The program is also able to measure a player’s luck. It gives their win/loss probability, deck luck, initial card luck, betting luck, draw card luck and dealer’s bust ratio.

Even with the help of high-tech software the true skill lies with our Surveillance Team Members and their knowledge combined with our state-of-the-art means of detection.

*According to a recent Washington Post article.

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Make your Home Feel More Like M

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

M Resort Hotel Room

Chances are, when you’re at M you’ll never want to leave. And, let’s be honest, who would actually want to with four-star accommodations like these? If you’re missing our M rooms when you’re back at home, you’re in luck. We’ve got a list of ways to make your room feel a little more like our rooms. You can’t move in with us so this is the next best thing (we promise).

Wash your sheets!

We’re not saying you don’t wash them enough, but whenever you’re at M you know you’re jumping into an (extremely comfortable) bed with freshly washed linens every night! Stick to a schedule and you too can enjoy that freshly-cleaned sheet feeling all the time. If you’re extra ambitious you can even make your bed just like we do, check out this video with one of our housekeepers demonstrating our signature M bed making technique. And if you really need to bring a piece of the M home with you, purchase sheets at Spa Mio. The sheets are the same used on Spa Mio’s massage tables so they’re ultra-soft and comfortable.

Go Mini

There’s nothing cuter than a product in a smaller size. Whether it’s lotions, soaps or shampoos or even those adorable mini-sodas and candies, stock up your room with mini-treats for use or to simply make you feel like you’re staying with us.

De-clutter your space

Our rooms were designed with your comfort in mind, incorporating an upscale yet casual (uncluttered) décor. Take a look at your room and everything in it and ask yourself, “Do I really need this here?” If the answer is no, get rid of it! Parting with clutter is the easiest way to cleanse your space and make it feel a little more M-like.

Light it up

After you rid your room of clutter, add some more lights. Our rooms are equipped with bedside lamps, closet lights, reading lights, floor lamps and more! Adding a few extra lights here and there will help create a polished and sophisticated look (kind of like our rooms).

Clean your room on Thursdays

Why Thursday you ask? Cleaning before the weekend will allow you more time to relax in your room when you’re home to spend the most time there. It also leaves more time for you to do what you want to do. Remind you of something? That’s because when you’re on vacation here at M, chances are you spend your days relaxing with cleaning being the last thing on your mind. If budget is no object, just spring for a housekeeper, then you’ll really be living the M-lifestyle at home.

Do you have any other suggestions to making your room more M-like? Let us know by leaving a comment below!

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Housekeeping like an Olympian

Thursday, August 25th, 2011

Bedmaking

Looking for an award winning room cleaning? Look no further than the skilled housekeeping staff here at M and all over the Las Vegas Valley. Last week, resorts up and down Las Vegas Boulevard gathered to take place in the 2011 Housekeeping Olympics. Housekeepers put their talents to the test in four events; a bed making competition, mop race, vacuum relay and a buffer pad toss. If you think cleaning your own house is hard enough try doing it while racing against skilled cleaning professionals!

BedMaking

The annual event kicked off with the bed making competition. Our star bed-maker Ana participated. Her bed making was judged not only on speed but also accuracy. You can see Ana demonstrate how she makes our signature beds at M in this video we posted recently on our blog.

Mop RelayNext up was a test of agility in the mop relay, one of the most difficult challenges of the Housekeeping Olympics. Our Team Member Norma did her best to dodge the obstacles of seven wet floor signs while maneuvering her mop around them at the same time.

Our M Olympic Team shined in the vacuum relay, scoring a second place spot! Edith showed off her fierce vacuum skills while clearing confetti from the carpet and bringing home a silver medal for the M team!

Vacuum Vacuum Medal

The most entertaining event was the buffer pad toss. Erica and Myra teamed up to complete this challenge. One person was blindfolded and had to toss the buffer’s onto a toilet plunger which their partner was holding. This one probably isn’t used in day-to-day housekeeping techniques but it’s still a special skill.

Pad Toss Pad Toss 2

Team Members from all different departments at M came out to support and cheer on our housekeeping staff as they showed off at the Housekeeping Olympics.

M Team 2 M Team

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It’s All in the Bed at M

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

What do you value most at a resort when traveling? A recent study showed that a great bed is the most important amenity for a traveler during their stay. Here at M, we take extra care in making sure each and every bed is not only great for your stay with us (pillow top mattresses anyone?) but we also make sure they look great before you sleep in them. On average, our housekeepers make over 5,500 beds each a year so they have lots of practice in honing their bed making skills.

In this video, our housekeeper Ana shows off her professional bed making and the secret to “hospital corners,” our signature M fold at the top of the bed and how we get our pillow cases looking so pristine. Ana and our other housekeeping Team Members are the reason all of our beds look as crisp and as perfect as they do! Feel free to practice on your own bed to bring a little M home with you.

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What’s that smell?

Thursday, July 14th, 2011

Perfume

Ever wonder what you’re sniffing when you walk around our resort? What exactly makes M smell the way it does and what fragrances are wafting through your nostrils? Well, we did, and judging from all the inquiries we receive daily, we know you do too! So we put our scent senses to work and got down to the bottom of what makes M smells the way it does.

After much investigating (and smelling) we learned our property uses four different custom fragrances to satisfy guests’ senses. To match the unique style of our resort a team of specialists hand-picked the different elements that comprise our scents. They customized every last detail even down to their M-themed names.

“Mio” – A spicy white floral bouquet that consists of notes of ylang ylang, ginger and a woody base. This fragrance is used around our spa area.
“M” - A green floral fragrance with notes of Fig and a hint of coconut flesh with a woody body. This fragrance is used on the casino floor area.
“Patisserie” – This is an herbed Focaccia fragrance infused with rosemary and other aromatic herbs. This fragrance is used inside Marinelli’s.
“Atrio” - This is a green floral fragrance built on a heart of rose and green leaves. This fragrance is being used in our lobby area.

Now that you know what we smell like the next question becomes – why do we use a scent – or in our case – why do we use four scents? Resorts up and down the Strip use scent to enforce brand loyalty. The right fragrance wafting through a lobby does more than make a guest’s stay more memorable, it adds an entirely new sensory dimension to their experience. Our scents give guests a stronger reason to remember M and return for years to come.

When it comes to casinos, keeping guests energized and enthusiastic is very important. The scent on our casino floor completes the overall gaming experience with a dimension that invigorates players and makes the gaming experience one to remember.

Now that you know what our signature scents are, you might be curious as to how we get the smell from bottle to your nose. Scent is delivered using multiple ScentStream® Delivery Systems. These systems utilize the existing duct work to deliver fragrance throughout our resort. So, the next time you step into our resort we encourage you to take a whiff!

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Make a Splash in our Lobby

Thursday, July 7th, 2011

Lobby Water Wall

It’s easy to get thirsty in the Las Vegas climate, especially during the summer months. Our temperatures soar into the 100s and there’s no better way to keep cool then surrounding yourself with water at all times. If you’re not sipping on it or lounging around it on our pool deck, head to our lobby to satisfy your H2O-needs in the desert.

Logo Water Wall

When conventions are at M they can display their logo on our water features.

If you take a look around our lobby, you’ll notice that you’re surrounded by custom water walls. They’ll have you feeling like you’re whisked off to a tropical oasis. It’s all part of our design scheme of bringing the outside-inside our property. Our water features were created by Marnell Companies, the architecture and design firm responsible for the construction and interior design of the entire resort.

The construction of each of the walls consisted of a stainless steel top trough to collect the water, stainless steel angled wall for the water to flow down and a stainless steel bottom pool to collect the water. Since we’re environmentally-conscious at our resort, the water collected at the bottom or our water features is then recycled by being re-circulated down the wall again.

And after seeing our water features, all you’ll want to do is stare. Not only are they pretty but according to Feng Shui beliefs, water is an important element in attracting prosperity and abundance. Sounds like after spending a little time in our lobby, you’ll be ready to hit the casino floor.

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Put Some M in this Father’s Day

Thursday, June 16th, 2011

In case it slipped your mind, this Sunday is Father’s Day. But don’t worry; we’ve got you covered for any of your last minute gifting and celebration needs!

Dine with Dad

We know how much you love our buffet, you did vote it “Best in Las Vegas” after all. We also know that Dad deserves the best! So, taking Dad to our buffet is pretty much a no-brainer. Treat him to a seafood brunch on Saturday or Sunday featuring heaps of crab legs, shrimp and oysters plus many more dishes of all-you-can-eat goodness. It doesn’t stop there either, there’s also all-you-can-drink beer, wine and hard cider. So grab a plate (or three or four) and feast with your father on his special day.

If your Dad’s a little more formal might we suggest a steak dinner? As we recently mentioned, our steakhouse, Anthony’s will be debuting this Friday. If there’s one thing we know Dad likes it’s a good steak and Anthony’s got them ready to serve up.

Golf Balls

Gifts Galore

Let’s be honest, who doesn’t get excited about a little M swag (we know we do). Our gift shop is your one-stop-shop for everything M-related.

Does Dad love to hit the golf course? We’ve got plenty of M-logoed golf balls. We’ve also got plenty of polo t-shirts so he’ll be stylin’ on the course.

How about drinking? M shot glasses are perfect for when Dad wants to kick-back.
Shot Glasses

If your Dad’s more of a card shark you can stack his deck with actual decks of M playing cards or chips so he feels like a true high roller for the day.

Cards and Chips

And if all else fails, you can’t go wrong with the gift of an M Girl Calendar. It’s the gift that just keeps giving…after all, you still have six months left to enjoy before we ring in 2012!

Gift-Shop-Calendar

M Experience

What’s manlier than a man-icure? Mom’s not the only one who likes to get pampered. Send Dad off to a day at our four-star rated Spa Mio. There’s even a special package available just for him, which includes a 50-minute Therapeutic Massage (perfect if he’s been a little tense lately) and a Men’s Haircut or Master Shave. Speaking of Master Shaves, check out what our talented barber Vinnie can do for Dad in this demonstration of his ‘master’ skills.

For those with Dads who don’t call Vegas home, we think a trip is in order. Send Pops to the city of sin and have him stay at M for the ultimate Vegas experience. We promise to show him the four-star treatment. Even better you can book him our 2nd Anniversary Package for a great deal!

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