Like great chocolates with delicious salted caramel inside, a number of top-notch resorts hold an inner surprise: a smaller upscale hotel with a private feel, whose guests have special privileges, along with access to the full amenities of the larger resort.
"I'm hearing more and more anecdotal stories about hotels installing them or planning VIP floors," Bjorn Hanson, dean of the Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management at New York University. "We're in a period of recovery where rate is more important than occupancy. With the focus on rate, hotels are looking to provide guests the opportunity to pay the most they are willing. One way is to have special areas in the hotel for guests who are not price-sensitive, and a second is to offer rooms, amenities or services for which some guests will pay more. Exclusivity, privacy and status are lumped into that second group."
"One size does not fit all," notes Michael Dominguez, senior vice president of sales for MGM Resorts International, which offers the innovative SkyLofts within the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, as well as that city's Signature at the MGM Grand, Hotel32 at the Monte Carlo and THEHotel at Mandalay Bay (rebranding this spring as the Delano). "We have a lot of corporations and associations that need to put space between their corporate leaders and VIPs from the rest of the audience, and this allows them to do so in a private, high-touch way. Skylofts also often accommodates corporate or incentive groups of 30 to 40 people."
In organizing trips for incentive groups, planners at Aimia (formerly Carlson Marketing) often look to the Cove at the Atlantis on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. "For one high-tech client, we used the Cove and the bigger property as well," says Kurt Paben, senior vice president of client services. "We had more than 2,000 guests, and we used the Cove for the 200 overachievers." As this plan was clearly communicated in the program rules up front, participants knew they were competing to win the trip in general and that the top tier would get to stay in the extra-special accommodations; those winners also got to stay longer -- six days vs. four for the rest of the group.
"You end up with the best of both worlds," says Paben. "You have that exclusive experience, but right outside your door are all the amenities that go with a much larger resort."
Following is a sampling of properties with smaller high-end hotels within.
Beach Village
Hotel Del Coronado
Coronado, Calif.
On the outskirts of San Diego, the 368-room Hotel Del Coronado's Beach Village separates its guests from the rest with a gated enclave configured in a combined total of 78 one-, two- and three-bedroom cottages. "This is for the elite traveler who is looking for the absolute finest things, but can partake in all the amenities that the Hotel Del has to offer," says the property's director of sales, Cheryl Ferguson. The boutique hotel, which opened in 2007, took the place of seldom-used tennis courts right on the beach. "We see a lot of potential for incentives and for groups who want to have a very nice luxury experience for their VIPs," Ferguson notes.
With five exclusive pools, Beach Village allows groups that opt for a buy-out to gather in the evening for uninterrupted outdoor fun poolside. Vacant cottages can be used to accommodate a chef's dinner for 12 to 20 people or to host a secluded board meeting.
Private amenities here include a beach with cabanas and sandside refreshment service. Beach Village also has a separate arrivals area from the Hotel Del's registration, called the Windsor Club Cottage, with a dedicated concierge, a lounge and a breakfast area.
Meanwhile, a renovation of all of the Hotel Del Coronado's guest rooms was completed last April. Beach Village guests can opt to spend the evening at the main property's fine-dining restaurant, 1500 Ocean; or sip top vintages at the ENO wine bar, which features built-in cheese and chocolate cases, more than 2,800 bottles, and regular tasting and pairing classes. The property offers approximately 65,000 square feet of meeting space, along with a spa with 21 treatment rooms.
The Cove
Atlantis
Paradise Island, Bahamas
With
its 600 rooms, the Cove might not seem like a small hotel, but the
description is all relative considering the total of 3,414 rooms at its
parent property, the Atlantis resort. All of Atlantis is set on a
peninsula, and the 21-story Cove's oversize rooms all have stunning
tropical and/or water views. And there's an even more exclusive level
within the inner property: The top six floors hold the 1,200-square-foot
Azure Suites, the 1,700-square-foot Sapphire Suites and two
2,750-square-foot Presidential Suites, (the latter fill the top floor
and offer their own butler service). And if $16,000 per night is within
budget, the Penthouse Suite is the ultimate in luxury and encompasses
the entire 14th and 15th floors.
The tower has its own reception
area and the Crescent Lounge to welcome VIPs, along with two
restaurants: Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill, serving Southwestern fare in the
evenings, and Mosaic, open all day. Guests of The Cove have a private
beach, complete with beach concierges who arrange water sports and
games, and deliver food and beverages all day. While the casino is at
the main property, Cain at the Cove is an adults-only outdoor gaming
pavilion alongside a pool and 20 private cabanas.
Among myriad
amenities at Atlantis are the 30,000-square-foot Mandara Spa; the
Entertainment Center, with its 100,000-square-foot casino; shopping at
the Marina Village marketplace; and more fine dining at outposts by
Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Nobu Matsuhisa, to name two of the 40
eateries. Guests can work off the calories at the Sports Center and the
Atlantis Tennis Center. Total meeting space spans 500,000 square feet.
The Reserve
Paradisus Palma Real Golf & Spa Resort
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Sun,
sand and seclusion mark The Reserve at the Paradisus Palma Real. The
190 sumptuous one-bedroom suites include 28 swim-up rooms and a
3,537-square-foot Presidential Suite with a dining room that seats
eight.
This sanctuary also comes with a private beach and
exclusive pool area, with staff primed to pamper. With three restaurants
on-site, Reserve guests can feast on Mediterranean cuisine at Aqua,
dine while enjoying the teppanyaki show (a flashy display of Japanese
cuisine being prepared on an iron grill) at Mizu, or go casual at the
Gabi Club. Also within the confines is the 24,401-square-foot YHI Spa
and fitness center.
The Palma Real has a second secluded hotel
within a hotel, the 200-room, adults-only Royal Service, with its own
pool, an exclusive Italian restaurant and a private beach.
Beyond
The Reserve, the 554-suite Palma Real features another eight dining
establishments and a second spa, and the main pool is steps from the
Caribbean Sea. For groups, the property has 25,965 square feet of
meeting space, including the 9,367-square-foot Olympus Ballroom.
SkyLofts
MGM Grand
Las Vegas
A
serene oasis in the middle of the glitz, the ultramodern, 51-room
SkyLofts is tucked into the 5,044-room MGM Grand. Guests are ushered
into the separate VIP hotel entrance and taken to one-, two- or
three-bedroom lofts served by 24-hour concierge service and 24-hour
butler service, including complimentary unpacking and packing. Guest
bathrooms feature "The Immersion Chamber" showers with an array of
waterfalls, steam and jets.
SkyLoft guests are offered
complimentary evening appetizers in the Skylounge, and they have
preferred seating at MGM Grand restaurants such as Joël Robuchon,
L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, Shibuya, Tom Collichio's Craftsteak and
Nobhill Tavern, not to mention preferred seating at Cirque du Soleil's
performance of KÀ.
The main hotel offers 170,000 square feet of
gaming and the 30,000-square-foot Grand Spa, with 26 treatment rooms.
Among MGM Grand's six nightclubs and lounges is a frozen-drink bar
called 32˚. Opening this spring is Hakkasan, a Cantonese restaurant that
will occupy Studio 54's space.
Meeting space totals 602,000 square feet, including the 380,000-square-foot MGM Grand Conference Center.