After taking in the sunset from a window table at Veloce Cibo, a stunning, top-floor restaurant inside the new M Resort Spa Casino, in Henderson, Nev., the lights come on. Not just any ordinary city lights, but the neon of the Las Vegas Strip. As the sky darkens, the glow — from some 10 miles away — brightens the kaleidoscope of colors, providing a welcome backdrop to a meal in a restaurant whose menu as eclectic as the city it’s in.
A standard room at M Resort Spa Casino
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Veloce Cibo has quite the mixture of cuisines, and dishes range from pumpkin and butternut squash ravioli to Kobe beef sliders and sashimi. There is also grilled lobster tail, filet mignon and comfort foods, such as a delectable macaroni and cheese. Even the most finicky diners are sure to find something to their liking.
But Veloce Cibo is just one of the nine restaurants and five bars at M Resort, the $1 billion resort and casino south of the Strip, which opened early last month. There is also Studio B Buffet, a buffet unlike any other. It features a live-action cooking studio where diners, while enjoying their meal, can learn culinary skills — such as cake decorating or creating a peach cobbler — from M Resort chefs. Studio B also serves a selection of beer and wine, but clients looking to sample some vino should head to Hostile Grape, a wine cellar tasting room with 120 different wines available in one-, three- or five-ounce pours. The selection features French and Italian wines, in addition to some hard-to-find vintages from South Africa and Germany, among others. Beer connoisseurs, however, will want to pay a visit to 32 Draft with its 96 beers on tap.
"Food and beverage is not an afterthought at the M Resort. It is our centerpiece, and it will be one of the many reasons our guests visit us again and again," explained John Lipkowitz, the resort’s executive vice president and general manager.
At an elevation 400 feet higher than the casinos on the Strip, M Resort offers dramatic views, further enhanced by the building’s angled design. In fact, 70 percent of its 390 guestrooms and suites boast views of the Strip. Rooms range in size from 550 to 2,400 square feet and contain a 42-inch, high-definition flat-screen television, an iPod docking station, marble vanities with double sinks and an inlaid mirror television in the bathroom.
A collaboration between Anthony A. Marnell III, the resort’s chairman and CEO, and his father, architect Tony Marnell, the glass building also draws in plenty of natural light, a refreshing departure from other resort casinos.
"We really broke the mold on this one. We’re letting the sunshine in," said Marnell III. "This is a boutique destination resort, a calm resort, and the design reflects that. Nobody in Las Vegas is providing this type of ambiance."
Adding to the ambiance is its 23,000-square-foot Spa Mio and the Villaggio Del Sole pool and concert stage, where summer pool parties will take place. The spa has 16 treatment rooms, a sauna, a steam room and a Jacuzzi, as well as a full-service salon and barbershop.
But no Vegas resort would be complete without the latest, state-of-the-art casino games. M Resort’s 92,000-square foot casino has nearly 1,900 slot and video poker machines, 64 table games including blackjack, roulette, craps, mini baccarat and Pai Gow poker, plus a 12-table poker room and a race and sports book. The sports book is currently the only one in Las Vegas offering in-game wagering with hand-held devices.
Clients who want to get the most bang for their buck while gambling can enroll in the resort’s rewards club, iMagine Rewards. Card members earn points for their play ($1 played equals one point), which can be redeemed for cash or used for purchases at the resort’s on-site gas station and car wash, its retail shop and pharmacy or at any of M Resort’s restaurants and bars.
The Details
M Resort Spa Casino
12300 Las Vegas Blvd. S.
Henderson, Nev. 89044
702-797-1000
www.themresort.com
Nightly rates for a resort room with a mountain view start at $54 (fees not included), while suites with views of the Strip begin at $74. A 1,440-square-foot suite runs about $354 per night.
Commission: 10 percent
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