Vacations Blog

The M resort features progressive architectural style and design

In Las Vegas, resort builders are always pushing the envelope to create something new and exciting for the millions of tourists that visit the city each year. Rising from the desert floor on the far southern edge of the Valley, Las Vegas’ newest vacation destination, the M Resort, is no exception. As a matter of fact, with a view of it from my front yard, I’d call it immaculate example of cutting-edge architecture and design. It’s simply spectacular.

Scheduled to open on March 1 at Las Vegas Boulevard South at St. Rose Parkway, the 390-room M Resort is the first property travelers along I-15 from California now see. Its location also places the resort 400 feet higher than any other Las Vegas resort property, offering guests sweeping views of the world-famous Las Vegas Strip from the majority of its guest rooms and restaurants, many of which feature outdoor terraces overlooking its 100,000 square foot pool and events piazza as well as the Las Vegas Valley.

Here’s some the M Resort’s other great amenities:

• A truly one-of-a-kind design, the M Resort does not feature reflective glass like many of the areas resorts. Instead, it includes skylights on the casino floor allowing natural light in – a rare feature in the casino industry. The architecture is progressive in style, incorporating horizontal lines, natural lighting and a rich color palette of natural materials. It’s definitely not your run of the mill cheesy theme resort.
• Oversized guest rooms and suites ranging from 550 to 2,400 square feet. More than 70 percent of the rooms at the M Resort offer views of the Las Vegas Strip through floor to ceiling windows.     
  

  The M Resort features 351 guest rooms and 39 suites.

• Guest rooms equipped with high-technology amenities including Bose Wave sound system, iPod docking station and 42” HD LCD flat screen television. There’s also inlaid mirror television in the bathroom. Now that’s cool.
• Wireless internet connectivity throughout the entire resort, allowing guests to access wireless voice and data services, mobile phones, BlackBerry devices, PDAs and laptops.
• More than 92,000 square feet of gaming excitement, including 1,900 video poker and slot machines, 64 game tables, high limit area, live action poker room, race and sports book and poolside gaming.
• Nearly 30,000 square feet of kitchen and culinary work areas dedicated to the culinary arts. The resort will own and operate all of its nine restaurants and five destination bars, which feature the next-generation dining experience with unique culinary concepts and innovative social dining atmospheres.
• A buffet featuring a live action cooking studio – the first of its kind. The studio will engage diners providing them with ringside seats to cooking demonstrations and broadcasts. Perhaps it’ll feel like you’re in the Iron Chef Kitchen Stadium on Food Network.
• A 23,000 square foot, world-class spa, salon and fitness center will offer 16 treatment rooms, sauna, steam and hot tub wet areas and a state-of-the-art fitness center.     
  

  The 100,000 square foot pool overlooks the Las Vegas Valley.

• An on-site gas station and M Pharmacy provide unique amenities for locals and tourists.

So what’s nearby to enjoy during your vacation at the M Resort?

If you enjoy shopping, you can travel 30 minutes south on I-15 to the Fashion Outlets of Las Vegas on the California state line in Primm or just minutes north on Las Vegas Boulevard to the Las Vegas Outlet Center.

You can also tee up for a round of golf at the nearby Rio Secco Golf Club in Seven Hills, located just a few minutes east off of St. Rose Parkway. Or you can try the Bali Hai Golf Course, located adjacent to the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

Take a scenic drive through the loop at Red Rock Canyon. Take I-15 north to Blue Diamond and head west. If you’re into adventure, take a hike on one of the canyon’s many trails.

Whatever you’re in the mood to do during your next Las Vegas vacation, you’re sure to find it.

The M Resort is now taking reservations, so check it out.

All photos by The M Resort.

The city and the Golden Gate.

Early last year my wife and I took a trip to Larkspur, CA.

Now I will admit, Larkspur was not necessarily top on our list of “Places We’d Like to Visit Before We Die,” but at the time we were in possession of a $150 Marriott Hotels gift card and were in search of a local destination at which to cash it in. Much to my surprise, Marriott doesn’t have much to offer that’s off the beaten path, so in our quest for “exotic locales,” Larkspur won out over Walnut Creek and San Jose.

That being said, Larkspur is a very quaint little town, close to Mt. Tamalpais and only a stone’s throw from Sausalito, just over the Golden Gate Bridge as you leave San Francisco. The Larkspur Marriott, located at 2500 Larkspur Landing Circle, is but a short walk from the Larkspur Ferry Terminal. The hotel itself is your standard Marriott fare; far from horrible but certainly nothing special either. What did we care, we were only planning to sleep there.

Most of our day was spent testing out my wife’s new Digital Rebel.  And what better place to snap some beautiful test photos than the Marin Headlands.

Situated just North of San Francisco, high above the Golden Gate, the Headlands offer some of the most spectacular views of the world’s most famous suspension bridge, and the jewel that is San Francisco nestled below.  We spent several hours in the Headlands and watched the skies change from the crystal blue you see above, to the foggy white for which San Francisco is famous. It’s amazing how quickly the fog rolls in when you’re on the ocean, high above the city; how it spills over the hillsides, filling the valleys like mustard gas, only without all the uncomfortable blistering and accompanying screams of agony.

With the fog came the cold, the temperatures dropping from a comfortable 70 to somewhere closer to 55. At that point we decided to drive down to Sausalito, where we enjoyed some hot clam chowder and a cocktail at the now defunct Cat ‘n Fiddle Public House. Believe me, if you’ve never been you aren’t missing a thing. Seriously, where else can you pay nearly $30 for soup and a cocktail?

In search of a restaurant where our money would stretch a little further, we ended up at the Marin Brewing Company. This was much more our style; reasonably priced pub grub and beer, or at least what passes for reasonable in Marin County.

We spent the latter part of the evening enjoying the Marriott’s  hot tub, that is until the chiropractor from Nevada, his wife and three kids showed up. If I may interject a slight pet peeve here, I’m of the opinion that hot tubs are for the relaxation of slightly inebriated adults, not lap pools for youngsters.

In any event, after a good night’s sleep it was once again time to eat. We queued up for the Marriott’s plentiful breakfast buffet. As we ate, I watched an elderly gentleman rise from his chair to muck around with his wallet or handkerchief or some such thing that elderly folks are forever mucking with, and I noticed that his chair was in danger of tipping backwards. Timing my rescue with my third trip through the buffet line, I caught his chair just as balance lost its battle with gravity, righted it and moved on, all in one fluid movement. Batman could have done no better.

My wife nixed my suggestion to swing by San Quentin Village on our way home. Perhaps an adventure for another day.

Marin Headlands

Hawk Hill Tunnel

The author and the photographer

Marin Headlands

Photos: Lisa Romano