Visitors to the Las Vegas Strip will now notice a major change at CityCenter. Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas hotel was sold by its parent company, CityCenter Holdings LLC. Keeping with a high-end offering, the property transitioned Aug. 31 to the Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas Hotel & Residences. It is owned by parent company Hilton Hotels.
Details of the Mandarin Oriental sale
The Mandarin Oriental sold for $214 million. Most of that money will be returned to CityCenter Holdings LLC shareholders, a joint venture between MGM Resorts International and Infinity World Development Corp. Each company owns 50 percent of CityCenter Holdings.
CityCenter LLC retains several luxury properties on the same parcel as the new Waldorf Astoria. These include Aria, Vdara, The Shops at Crystals and Veer Towers. All are non-gaming, except Aria, which includes a large, high-end casino floor.
CityCenter management sent Mandarin Oriental a termination notice in May of this year and ceased operations on August 30. Hilton took over management of the hotel immediately. Some employees at Mandarin Oriental have taken offers for similar positions with the new company.
CCLV Luxury Hotel, LLC, whose owners include commercial real estate developer Tiffany Lam and co-founders of the Panda Express restaurant chain, now owns Mandarin Oriental.
“We’ve been looking to enter the Vegas market for some time,” Dino Michael, global brand head of Waldorf Astoria Hotels and Resorts, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “It just felt (like) somewhere we needed to be.”
Luxe details at Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas
Though the property is open for business, the rebranding and redecorating of the former Mandarin Oriental began immediately with the removal of its signage. Hilton plans on transitioning Mandarin’s signature Asian theme into standard Waldorf Astoria décor through the end of 2018. Room renovations will begin in mid-2019.
The non-gaming hotel hosts 389 hotel rooms, including 57 suites and 225 privately-owned units. Additionally, it features 12,000 square feet of convention space, as well as four restaurants and a two-story, 27,000 square-foot spa.
The property has kept the luxury lounge space that was Mandarin Bar, which remained incredibly popular because of its superior, 23rd-floor views, and renamed it SkyBar. Furthermore, the Tea Lounge and chef Pierre Gagnaire‘s restaurant Twist, two other remnants of Mandarin Oriental, also remain. MOzen Bistro has transformed into Zen Kitchen, a casual dining option.
