The SLS Hotel & Casino just opened in Las Vegas over the weekend! At $415 Million it’s a beautifully sexy and sophisticated addition to the north end of the Las Vegas Strip. There’s so much being offered here, that it makes you wonder why you’d ever want to leave… ever.
While gaming is still a major component, it’s not the only draw for visitors. The list of top notch restaurants and nightclubs will make your head spin like a roulette wheel: Katsuya, designed by Philippe Stark, Bazaar Meat by Jose Andres, also designed by Stark, Cleo a mediterranean homage to glamorous Hollywood, Ku Noodle, Umami Burger – Beer Garden & Sports Book, 800 Degrees Neapolitan Pizzeria, The Griddle Cafe, The SLS Buffet, The Perq gourmet coffee bar, Life nightclub, Foxtail nightclub, Foxtail Pool Club, The Sayers Club, Monkey Bar, Center Bar and a 10,000 square foot rooftop space and pool called Beach Life.
If you’re not familiar with the SLS Hotel, it’s because there’s only a handful of them. There’s one in Beverly Hills on La Cienega at San Vicente, and another in South Beach Florida. I was enamored by my stay at the Beverly Hills SLS, and could’t get enough of Philippe Starck’s design. His impressive resume of hotels includes: The Royalton and Paramount Hotels in New York, the Delano in Miami, the Mondrian on LA’s Sunset Strip, the St. Martin’s Lane in London, Hotel Fassano in Rio de Janeiro… and so on. In 30 years he made quite an impression around the world, not to mentioned his work as a designer for household items manufacturer Alessi (see my earlier post) or wind turbines, bathroom fittings, floor and wall coverings, lighting.. you get the picture. He’s a gift from god and has shaped so much of how we view the world. I marvel at his creative output and am so thankful that he’s helped define artful living for a newer generation. That said, there was a steady stream of 60 and 70 year olds streaming in and out of the new SLS Hotel and Casino... I guess the word is out about Starck’s design and everyone wants a piece of it. It’ll be exciting to observe the evolution of the clientele in Vegas… will it only be a hotspot for millennial hipsters, or will the SLS revive the hipster in all of us. I choose the latter, sublime design knows no age limitation.
