Fontainebleau Las Vegas
Why do you want to book?
The Morris Lapidus original’s unapologetic midcentury Miami glitz is blown up in a huge deco stage set for today.
Scene-setting:
If you’re used to the all-embellished look of Las Vegas, the decadent futuristic style of the Miami hotel might come as a surprise, with its sharply curved lines, huge open spaces, glass columns that rise 42 feet into a mothership of ceilings, and escalators that lead up to a mezzanine with a view of it all. With its huge oval entrance, bowtie-shaped port cochere, and central Bleau Bar hung with thousands of crystal bowties, this hotel is a welcome splash of mid-century glam. As a result, the references to Lapidus made by Carlos Zapata Studio and interior designer David Collins Sudio are not returning. Instead, they make you feel like you’re swanning down the famous “staircase to nowhere” in a very modern room. After the opening gala with all the stars, most of the guests are here to eat at new restaurants like Mother Wolf, Chef Evan Funke’s tribute to Roman cuisine, and Miami favorite Papi Steak. They are also here to look at art like “Oceans,” a kinetic sculpture made of steel bricks that looks like the shape of Fontainebleau’s sister property and moves in time with real-time data of ocean tides from around the world.
The background:
It’s not an exaggeration to say that Fontainebleau has been the most anticipated property in Las Vegas for the longest time. The 745-foot-tall tower, which is the tallest hotel in Las Vegas, was completed in 2008 as Fontainebleau but sat empty for a number of years before Jeffrey Soffer’s Fontainbleau Resorts took it back in 2021. One of the biggest and most expensive parties in Las Vegas history was held to open the resort. It was also Soffer’s birthday. Some of the resort’s stores haven’t opened yet, like Graff and Gucci. The Oasis pool deck, which has six pools, and the LIV Dayclub, which is based on the French Riviera, will have their first Vegas pool season in 2024.
The rooms:
There are different types of rooms in the 67-story Fontainebleau, which is now Las Vegas’s biggest hotel. The great thing about these rooms is that they have floor-to-ceiling windows that let you see amazing views of the mountains to the west or the Strip. This is especially true for rooms on the higher floors. (If you have a clear taste, you’ll need to pick a room carefully. “Bleau” rooms face the mountains, and “Gold” rooms may have views of the pools, the mountains, or the Las Vegas Strip. The normal rooms are pretty small compared to the resort’s huge public areas. There is soft, manly minimalism in these shades of blue, with warm pops of coral here and there. Personal cooling drawers (refrigerators), a QR-coded cube that lets you order room service from your phone, and room settings in the headboards are just a few of the thoughtful touches in the rooms. Book a Fleur de Lis Suite if you want to live like a king or queen. Some of them are 10,000 square feet, have amazing views, and have extras like game rooms and health rooms.
What to eat and drink:
Just when we thought we knew every kind of restaurant in Las Vegas, Fontainebleau opened and brought some completely new experiences to the city. There are 32 new restaurants and lounges, but a few stand out. Mother Wolf, the Vegas version of Evan Funke’s Hollywood restaurant, serves delicious Roman pizza and hand-cut pasta; the clever Washing Potato serves comfort food and dim sum; Papi Steak, a popular club in Miami; and Nowhere, a hidden gem bar with a billiards table and a living room vibe. For those who know, Miami Slice is in the Promenade, the food court on the second floor. It can compete with pizza anywhere. The first Tequila Casa Dragones tasting room outside of Mexico will open in 2024.
The spa:
People in Las Vegas love foot spas that look like those in Hong Kong, but you’ll have to go to Spring Mountain Rd. (the city’s Chinatown) to find one if you’re on the Strip. The Reboot lounge at Fontainebleau is very smart. It has a signature foot massage and compression therapy for legs, which is great for recovering from a long trip. Through scent and lighting changes, the huge Lapis Spa & Wellness adapts to each guest’s natural circadian rhythms and biological clocks throughout the day. There is also a spa on the penthouse level for special events.
What the service does:
The Fontainebleau is getting used to being a new resort, just like any other. The service was mostly friendly, but it takes a while to get to the level of professional personal service in Vegas.
Family-friendly:
The best hotels for families have a mix of high-end and low-end items so parents can deal with their kids’ tastes and odd behavior problems. Fontainebleau does this better than most, with a great food court experience that includes more than just the standard suspects. Besides that, this place isn’t really kid-friendly—if you want to see shark tanks, flamingos, roller coasters, and other similar things, you’ll have to go somewhere else.
Rooms and board:
Accessible rooms are available at Fontainebleau. But the plan isn’t really good for wheelchairs. In the main areas, you’ll have to find the lifts to avoid the scary escalators, and you’ll have to walk a long way to get to some places.