M Resort slated to open in March 2009

By Jenna Kohler

Friday, Aug. 8, 2008 | 6:34 p.m.

The Marnell name is once again finding a home just off the Las Vegas Strip. Come March 2009, M Resort, Spa and Casino will open its doors.

Marnell Corrao Associates has helped design casinos like the Excalibur, Treasure Island and Wynn Las Vegas, and Anthony Marnell II built the Rio in 1990, which was sold to Harrah’s about a decade later.

In 2008, it’s the same name, but with a different Roman numeral behind it. Anthony Marnell III has taken over the family’s architecture and design business.

M was on display during a media event Friday, when Marnell said he was reminded of the innovative thinking that made the Rio and his family’s company a success.

“I’m not really sure there's any unique ideas left in Las Vegas," Marnell said. "I think it's more how you deliver it."

Marnell said No. 1 on his list of innovations is bringing the service that Las Vegas was known for in the past back to the forefront.

“Bringing service back to this city, the way the local market used to have it 15, 20 years ago. That is the number one thing and on the forefront of everything we do at the M.”

Sitting on a 99-acre plot -- of which only 40 acres have been used for the 400-room resort, spa and casino -- Marnell described the inside of M as modern Italian, with warm colors, yet simple lines, forgoing the crown molding and intricately designed ceiling features seen in other casinos.

“A design that’s timeless, one that‘s not going to age,” Marnell said.

Located south of the Strip on the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and St. Rose Parkway, M will be different than other off-Strip properties, Marnell said.

“We’ve done a lot of things architecturally, outside of the service standard, like bringing things and ideas that you see on the Las Vegas Strip that you can’t get at a local casino,” Marnell said. “If you walk through you’ll see that a lot of the restaurants overlook the pool and overlook Las Vegas. They all have outside balconies.”

A retail center integrated into the resort is slated to open in late 2010 or early 2011.