gaming:

M Resort banking on reasonable prices in tough economy

By Jeff Pope (contact)

Saturday, Feb. 28, 2009 | 2 a.m.

M Resort

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M Resort shaking up south valley (2-27-09)
M Resort dares to be different (2-25-2009)
M Resort next in line for Marnell family (2-21-2009)
Studio buffet highlights M Resort dining options (1-29-2009)
M Resort to include nine restaurants (1-21-2009)
M Resort licensing gets OK from gaming board (1-7-2009)
M Resort asks for 11.5 more acres (10-20-2008)
Up in the sky, a (moving) sign of suddenly desperate times (10-7-2008)
M Resort to hire close to 2,000 (9-2-2008)
It’s on Las Vegas Boulevard, but M Resort aims mostly at locals (8-11-2008)

Audio Clip

Anthony Marnell III talks about how his "business plan has remained unchanged."
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Marnell talks about sticking to core values to make it through rough economic times.
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Marnell talks about getting back into the business.
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Marnell on collaborating with his father on the project.
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Marnell describes the interior of the M Resort.
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M Resort

Casino: More than 1,847 slot machines, 64 table games, a poker room and race and sports book.
Number of rooms: 390
Entertainment: Live music at the Villaggio Del Sole Pool and Entertainment Plaza
Restaurants: Baby Cakes, Marinelli's, Red Cup Cafe, Studio B, Terzetto, Veloce Cibo, Vig Deli, Piazza Grille
Nightlife: Five bars and lounges
Attractions: 14-screen movie theater
Pool: Main pool and VIP pool
Spa: Spa Mio, offering 16 treatment rooms, sauna, steam, Jacuzzi wet areas and a full service salon.
Shopping center: No
Health club: Yes
Convention rooms: Yes, more than 160,000 square feet
Child-care facilities: No
Players club card: Yes
Parking garage: Yes
Valet: Yes
Airport shuttle: Yes, included in resort fee

As of Sunday, residents will have a new place to eat, rest and play south of the Strip.

M Resort opens its doors with all nine of the property-owned restaurants and five bars serving guests, a full-service spa and 92,000 square feet of indoor and poolside gaming.

Opening night festivities include a poolside musical show with fireworks beginning at 9:50 p.m.

Designed with an Italian theme and natural materials, the resort’s wood, stone, warm color palette and abundance of natural light — including skylights in the casino — are intended to create a different environment from a traditional casino, said chairman and Chief Executive Anthony Marnell III.

“It’s very sexy. It’s very relaxing and it’s very open,” he said. “I think that the people are just going to love the architecture and layout of the hotel.”

The first phase of the $1.8 billion project includes 390 rooms, the Villaggio Del Sole pool, convention space, sports book, 1,847 slot and video poker machines, 64 table games, a live action poker room and a high limit salon.

Located in Henderson on the southeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard South and St. Rose Parkway, M Resort is eight miles south of Mandalay Bay but sits 400 feet higher than any property on the Strip. Three-quarters of the rooms will provide guests a panoramic vantage of the valley and have ceiling-to-floor windows for the optimal view.

One component that’s on hold is a 1-million-square-foot retail mall. Marnell said he’s still working with industry giant Taubman Centers on breaking ground on the regional shopping center at the resort, possibly in 2011.

“It’ll be a supply-demand issue that will drive it,” he said.

Opening up a resort at a time when many people are spending conservatively is a concern, but food and non-gaming amenities will be priced for an affordable night out, Marnell said. The days of the $200 a plate dinner and $1,000 a night rooms are over, he said.

“I’ve had many people look at the pricing and tell me I’m way too cheap,” he said. “I’m trying to get the doors open and get the momentum in the market and get people here.”

Rooms sell for between $54 for the resort room with a mountain view to $354 for the flat suite. Resort suites with views of the Strip start at $74.

Each restaurant, except for the buffet, has outdoor terraced seating with views of rooftops, mountains and the bright lights.

The terraces also overlook the pool and its amphitheater, which will host headliners starting in April and has space for 5,000 concertgoers.

The Zippers and the LA Allstars will be regular performers at M Resort.

The buffet also features entertainment with a live-action cooking show. The 500-seat Studio B Show Kitchen Buffet allows diners to learn the tips and techniques of preparation and cooking from the resort’s chefs and guest celebrities. The food prepared in the studio will be available to diners.

Buffet prices are $7.95 for breakfast; $10.95 for lunch; and $17.95 for dinner, which includes beer and wine. A seafood dinner is offered Friday and Saturday for $19.95; a weekend brunch also is $19.95.

Marinelli’s features regional Italian cuisine from the Marnell family recipe book and wines from the family’s private label. Diners can order angel hair pasta for $18 or a rack of lamb for $32.

Terzetto guests can dine on prime cuts of beef, like a 16-ounce New York sirloin for $40 or 18-ounce filet mignon on the bone for $44 including a reserve list from the Marnell family ranch in Montana, and fresh-from-the-ocean specialties like Alaskan red crab for $38.

At the top of the resort, diners have perhaps the best views from restaurant Veloce Cibo & Bar Veloce. The restaurant includes a menu of appetizers, entrees and sushi with cocktails and specialty drinks at Bar Veloce. Spicy tuna rolls are priced at $9 while lobster tails sell for $39.

For novice or expert sommeliers, Hostile Grape offers more than 120 wines by the glass in an underground cellar. It includes a wine-dispensing system that operates with pre-paid cards in pours of one, three or five ounces. The collection includes American, Italian and French wines as well as selections from Spain, South Africa, Germany and others.

Hostile Grape offers food for $10 plus wine tastings in three 3-ounce offerings from $16 to $28 per set.

The Vig Deli next to the sports book offers a variety of ballpark foods for less than $10 including foot-long hotdogs and 10-inch pizzas, plus sweets like eclairs and fruit tarts.

The Piazza Grille is for diners who enjoy eating al fresco and will only be open April through October. The menu includes black cod tacos, flat breads, grilled chicken and seafood dishes, wood-fired pizza, salads, cheeseburgers and fries. Food poolside includes chicken wings for $8.95 and flat bread topped with smoked salmon for $14.95.

No cocktail served at any bar is more than $8.50.

The 32 Degrees bar has $2 domestic and $3 imported draft beers up to a few specialty brews served in 1.5 or 3 liters up to a whopping 6 liters for $75, $125 and $250, respectively.

Jeff Pope can be reached at 990-2688 or jeff.pope@hbcpub.com.

Discussion: 6 comments so far…

Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy.

By BorisR

Feb. 28, 2009

3:52 a.m.

Suggest removal

This dining offer sounds somewhat more interesting than the "25-dollar-per-day-pass" by Excalibur, where people can piggen-up in zero time. Here at least, you can dine in class and enjoy a new hotel instead of plastic castle atmosphere. I am very much looking forward seing the M-Resort myself.
From Switzerland
By azsk8fan

Feb. 28, 2009

8:17 a.m.

Suggest removal

I still think the dining prices a bit too high to please locals - sounds more like strip prices when you start charging $18 for a simple pasta dish and $40+ for steaks. And I guess drinks that sell for 'no more than' $8.50 are what, supposed to be a bargain? Sorry - these just are NOT locals prices - any more than their $20.00 buffet price is :(
By torn

March 1, 2009

6:48 a.m.

Suggest removal

I was thinking the same thing... $18 for pasta is absurd...
By azsk8fan

March 1, 2009

7:59 a.m.

Suggest removal

If this place is really trying to cater to locals then I hope they put in a 24/7 Coffee Shop along with some good 2.99 hamsteak/eggs, 9.95 prime rib specials etc. etc. If not, then it will fail because it's too far down from the end of the strip for most tourists and it will be too pricy for locals - so they will be stuck in la la land until someone gets a clue.
By ibcarly

March 1, 2009

8:18 a.m.

Suggest removal

As a neighbor of The M, living close by in Henderson, I thought it would be nice to check out the one bedroom suites to see how nice they were. This so I could let my clients, family and friends coming to town know if The M was worth staying at being so far away from the action. They said there is no discount rate for locals for the one bedroom suites. Oh, well.
By azsk8fan

March 1, 2009

11:17 a.m.

Suggest removal

Well I live in Henderson but I didn't get any of the so-called 'mailers' that they sent to Henderson - oh well guess 89014 isn't ritzy enough - sure glad they sent them to Summerlin though