Hotel Reviews
Travel Tuesday: Delano at Mandalay Bay to Become W Las Vegas
A Vegas property is changing brands… again. This week, MGM Resorts and Marriott announced that the W Las Vegas would be debuting later this year. The hotel will occupy what is currently the Delano tower at Mandalay Bay.
This update comes as MGM and Marriott continue to expand their partnership. First announced in July of last year — and then delayed following a massive cyberattack on MGM — several MGM properties are now available to book via Marriott Bonvoy. There are also reciprocal benefits for MGM Rewards and Marriott Bonoy customers, including earning points on stays and the ability for MGM Rewards elites to match their status to the Bonvoy program (but, sadly, not the other way around). Most recently, the two companies also introduced the option to transfer points between the two programs. However, as I detailed, this probably isn’t a great idea value-wise unless you find yourself in a bind with MGM points expiring.
When the conversion to W Las Vegas is complete, the property will join the MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy, which consists of most of the brand’s Strip hotels. However, there are a few exceptions as the Bellagio is in the Luxury Collection, Aria and Cosmopolitan are both part of the Autograph Collection, and (for whatever reason) Park MGM is classified as a Tribute Portfolio Hotel.
For a bit of history, the tower in question first opened as THEHotel at Mandalay Bay in 2003. It later became Delano in 2014. Incidentally, I stayed at both THEHotel and Delano, with my latter visit happening in 2020 (this also marked my first ever Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts booking). Even though it had been 15 years or so in between these stays, walking into the suite, it felt immediately familiar. That sentiment will come into play in a moment.
Meanwhile, on the other end of the transaction, there actually was already a W Las Vegas. As Vital Vegas recalls (in a post that predicted this rebrand back in August), W Las Vegas operated at SLS Las Vegas — which was previously and is now once again Sahara — from 2016 to 2018. Plus, for a decade or more before that, there had apparently been efforts to bring the brand to the Strip. So, in other words, this has really been a long time coming.
I also feel compelled to point out that, while surely unintentional, both Delano and W could be considered references to former U.S. presidents (Franklin Delano Roosevelt and George W. Bush). Again, this means absolutely nothing, but I find it hilarious.
As for the upcoming W, one interesting tidbit found in the press release hints that this transition will be phased. It states that, while the Vegas location will join the W Hotels portfolio this year, they will announce “additional plans for the property” in the future. To me, this suggests that minimal changes will be made to the suites right away, but that a larger refurbishment and remodel project will eventually take place. At least I’d hope that’s the case since I feel as though the W has a very specific brand image and design language that I don’t think they can implement to some 1,000+ rooms in just a couple of months.
Looking beyond the Delano/W update, I’m wondering when details on a rebrand of the NoMad hotel atop Park MGM will be announced. Earlier this year, Hilton purchased the NoMad brand — but that transaction specifically excluded the hotel-within-a-hotel on the Strip. Thus, with the boutique location seeking a new identity, I wonder whether it too will inherit an existing Marriott Bonvoy brand or whether MGM will invent a new one for it. Seeing as I, admittedly, don’t know everything about Marriott’s portfolio, I don’t have strong feelings either way, as long as they keep the location’s vintage charm intact.
Unlike several other brands and properties in Las Vegas (and despite Mandalay Bay being one of my favorite places on the Strip overall), I don’t have a particular affinity for the Delano name. Therefore, I take no issue with this rebrand to W Las Vegas in theory. However, as I stated, I do hope that they get around to refurbishing the property sooner rather than later so that it better fits the W brand as I understand it. Once they do, I’ll be very curious to go check it out — hopefully by using Amex FHR once again.
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