Encore, M Resort added to Forbes Travel Guide list

By Amanda Finnegan

Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009 | 4:30 p.m.

Nevada has racked up six more hospitality honors, the Forbes Travel Guide announced today.

The Forbes Travel Guide, formerly known as the Mobil Travel Guide, unveiled its four- and five-star recipients for its first-edition travel guides. The brand transfer from Mobil to Forbes was announced earlier this fall.

Forbes awarded five stars to 14 new properties nationwide, two of which are in Las Vegas.

The latest additions in the lodging category include the Tower Suites at Encore Las Vegas for the five-star listing and the M Resort and Encore Las Vegas for the four-star listing.

Other resorts earning awards include the Skylofts at MGM Grand and Tower Suites at Wynn Las Vegas with five stars and the Bellagio, Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas, the Palazzo, the Ritz-Carlton at Lake Las Vegas, the Signature at MGM Grand, the Venetian and Wynn Las Vegas with four stars.

The Spa at Encore joins its sister spa, The Spa at Wynn, as the only two five-star spas in Nevada.

All Forbes four-star spas are repeat winners. The winners include the Canyon Ranch Spa Club at The Venetian and Palazzo, Spa at the Bellagio, Spa at Trump Las Vegas, the Ritz-Carlton Spa at Lake Las Vegas and the Spa at Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas.

Both 2010 five-star recipients in the restaurant category, Alex at Wynn and Joel Robuchon at MGM Grand, are repeat recipients. Forbes added only two restaurants to its five-star restaurant list for the 2010 guide.

Le Cirque at the Bellagio and Restaurant Charlie at the Palazzo were the only two restaurants added to Forbes' four-star list in Nevada. Also named to the list are repeat winners Mix and Aureole at Mandalay Bay, Bradley Ogden and Guy Savoy at Caesars Palace, and Michael Mina and Picasso at the Bellagio.

AAA Travel announced last week that Las Vegas was home to three more AAA Five Diamond winners. The latest additions included the Ritz-Carlton at Lake Las Vegas, Encore Las Vegas and the Palazzo in the hotel category. Nevada has eight Five Diamond properties, trailing only California and Florida.