Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

‘W’ lifted into place on north Strip

First guests to the boutique hotel, a partnership with SLS, arrive Dec. 1

The W Marquee Sign

Mikayla Whitmore

A crane lifts the new W hotel marquee sign into position for its installation at SLS, Friday, Oct. 14, 2016. Marriott International hotel company is converting the Lux tower, one of three hotel towers at the SLS, into a 289-room hotel called the W Las Vegas.

W Las Vegas Construction

Construction continues on the new W hotel at SLS, Friday, Oct. 14, 2016. Marriott International hotel company is converting the Lux tower, one of three hotel towers at the SLS, into a 289-room hotel called the W Las Vegas. Launch slideshow »

It was too early to light up the giant letter “W,” some 13,500 pounds of sheet metal, lights and wiring lifted atop the large video sign of the SLS Las Vegas Friday morning.

The letter was placed there to advertise the SLS’s relationship with the W, a boutique hotel chain that’s part of Marriott International, but it still needs to be connected and integrated with the sign beneath it.

It’s also too soon to tell if the SLS’s partnership with the W and Marriott International will help the fortunes of SLS, which has struggled to find its footing on the far northern end of the Strip.

The SLS, formerly the Sahara, was opened in 2014 by Sam Nazarian and his company, SBE Entertainment. Nazarian, amid n Gaming Control Board investigation, subsequently sold his minority interest in the hotel to Stockbridge Capital Partners.

In November, SLS announced it was entering a partnership with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (which afterward merged with Marriott) that would bring the W hotel brand name to Las Vegas, specifically, its Lux tower.

And while reservations are already being taken for for the 289-room tower, the big “W” sign won’t be lit until Dec.1, when the first hotel guests arrive at the W’s entrance at the rear of the SLS.

And while the partnership with the SLS and Marriott’s huge reservation system has already begun, it’s too early to know what that will bring for the property.

“We won’t see the results until the first quarter of next year,” said Mark Eberwein, the W’s general manager.

Eberwein said the W has worked hard to marry the chain’s sense of style and luxury with the traditional feel and features of Las Vegas.

“Every W has a design narrative,” he said. “And our two narratives here are ‘bringing the desert inside,’ and ‘the electric city.’”

Those design narratives will be present in the design of the lobby and the meeting rooms, Eberwein said. The W’s relationship with Las Vegas will also be reflected in the way the guests interact with the hotel, he said.

Guests checking in will see the bar and DJ near the lobby that is a hallmark of W properties “and can get to their rooms without ever crossing a casino floor,” Eberwein said. However, he also pointed out that access to the SLS casino is just a short walk from the W’s front desk.

In addition, Eberwein said, the W will include the WET rooftop pool and two 5,000-square-foot convention rooms, a feature intended to take advantage of the W’s proximity to the Las Vegas Convention Center, just a few blocks south on Paradise Road.

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