Four Seasons set to challenge Bellagio for high-end crowd

John Wilen

Friday, Jan. 29, 1999 | 11:32 a.m.

If Randy Morton has his way, the internationally recognized hotel jewel of Las Vegas will not be the Bellagio.

If Morton has his way, that distinction will go to a 424-room nongaming hotel that will occupy four floors of the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino.

Morton is general manager of the Four Seasons, a luxury hotel within the Mandalay Bay resort that will occupy what is arguably that property's best real estate.

"Our goal in every city we operate in is to be the best hotel in that city," Morton said.

The Four Seasons occupies most of Mandalay Bay's Strip frontage, with restaurants and pools separated from those of the larger resort. And its rooms -- on floors 35 to 39 of the Mandalay Bay tower -- offer stunning views of Las Vegas.

The Four Season's entrance is separate from that of Mandalay Bay. In fact, to enter Mandalay Bay drivers will have to turn off the Strip onto Hacienda Drive, then turn left into the resort. Not so with the Four Seasons' drive, which lets cars enter directly from the Strip.

The Four Seasons will have its own four restaurants and lounges, 26,000 square feet of meeting space, an 8,000-square-foot pool area and a health and fitness club. Private express elevators will take guests straight to their rooms.

Everything will be separate from Mandalay Bay and many areas will be inaccessible to Mandalay Bay guests. Four Seasons' guests, however, will have access to the larger resort's facilities.

"The services of Mandalay Bay will be available for our guests," Morton said.

Unlike most busy, crowded Strip resorts, the Four Seasons will have a warm, plush, residential feel and a slower pace.

"The exterior of the building really has a residential feel to it ... a lot of royal palm trees, very lush," Morton said.

Inside, the colors are soft browns and yellows. The design elements are unique to the Four Seasons brand and are not being coordinated to match those of Mandalay Bay.

While the Four Seasons facilities will be physically separated from those of Mandalay Bay, their psychological separation may be even greater. Well known to frequent business travelers as "the" place to stay in cities worldwide, the Four Seasons aims to provide a level of luxury and comfort unparalleled anywhere in Las Vegas.

"The Bellagio doesn't shine your shoes every night; the Four Seasons does," Andrew Zarnett, a gaming analyst at Ladenburg Thalmann & Co., said.

Complimentary overnight shoe-shine service is just one of the intimate touches Four Seasons will offer. Guests who go for a run will be handed bottled water and a cold towel upon their return. Rooms will be cleaned twice a day. Phone messages will be hand-delivered rather than left on a generic voice-mail box.

The Four Seasons will offer one-hour pressing and 24-hour laundry service. Poolside, guests will be offered complimentary Evian spritzing and cold towels.

The idea, Morton said, is to offer a level of service that larger resorts can only dream about.

But there is, of course, a cost. The Four Seasons will charge room rates ranging from $200 to $600 a night. Suites with 180-degree views will run from $1,500 to $3,000 a night.

That's a bit steep in a city where most resorts report average room rates below $100. But analysts say the hotel will have no problem commanding such rates, even in a building where the 3,700 rooms operated by Mandalay Bay are expected to command an average rate of $110 a night.

"They will be able to garner that rate," Zarnett said.

"It's a better product than Bellagio," Jason Ader, an analyst with Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc., said.

Both Ader and Zarnett say there is no way that a 3,000-room resort such as the Bellagio, as nice as it is, can offer the same type of service as the much smaller Four Seasons.

"There's no good business hotel in the market that caters to a high-end customer," Ader said.

And the opulent level of service promised by the Four Seasons will attract high-end customers willing to pay for that kind of pampering, the analysts said.

"There's a lot of people out there who appreciate that service," Zarnett said.

Though the Four Seasons hopes to gain new customers simply by being in Las Vegas, its biggest selling point may be its reputation. Four Seasons operates 42 hotels worldwide.

In fact, Ader said, Wall Street types used to staying in high-end business hotels in other cities are clamoring to get reservations at the new Four Seasons Las Vegas.

In keeping with its emphasis on personal service, the Four Seasons plans a "soft" opening to coincide with the March 2 opening of Mandalay Bay. The hotel will open only 50 to 100 rooms a day to ensure that its new employees are able to adequately meet the service needs of its guests, Morton said.