Las Vegas' New Signature

THE CABBIE IS ASKING ME for directions. Neither of us is sure how to get into The Signature, a month-old tower at the MGM Grand. We see where we want to go—but getting there is circuitous. Finally, there’s the gated entrance. A security guard buzzes the metal gate open, and we arrive at Las Vegas’ first Strip-connected condo-hotel.

The Signature (opened in June) is the first of three 576-all-suite MGM tower properties. As a condo-hotel, each unit is sold to an individual owner. The first two towers are sold out; fewer than 100 remain in Tower Three. Condo-hotels are a popular industry trend. In Signature, there are one- and two-bedroom suites available, ranging from $650,000 to $2.5 million. Owners may live there full-time, or opt for part-time while putting their units in the rental program.

I’m checking into a 29th-floor, one-bedroom suite owned by somebody—I hope they’re clean—who splits the room rate with the MGM Grand, which staffs the property. The room is 1,000 square feet, including a mammoth main bathroom, equipped with a whirlpool tub. The unit has three flat-screen televisions—one in the bathroom; another that rises from a bedroom desk at the push of a button.

The allure of The Signature—besides no-smoking rules—is its relative tranquility, with proximity to the Strip’s rattle and hum. Start with the gated entrance. In the lobby there’s no casino cacophony—there’s no casino in the tower. Rooms have full kitchens for stay-at-home dinners. The Signature has its own quaint little pool (guests also are allowed access to the six-pool megalopolis of the MGM Grand).

A smart connective detail: There’s an air-conditioned walkway from the tower to the MGM action. The walkway zigzags over to the big hotel’s restaurant row.

Such is my destination. Celebrity chef Joel Robuchon has a pair of adjacent eateries. His fine-dining offering is Joel Robuchon at The Mansion. It specializes in French dishes, served in a very purple, 1930s Parisian setting.

Less formal is L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon. The name translates as “workshop,” but don’t think the translation connotes lesser quality or service. Sitting at a sushi-type bar, diners gaze into an open-air kitchen. L’Atelier is most impressive in its imported prosciutto dish, and a lobster salad in which lobster claws outnumber lettuce leaves. I order beef ribeye from an unusually well-informed waiter. Moments later, a kitchen staffer arrives. She shows me a slab of beef, and asks me how large a portion I’d prefer. She points out where a 9-ounce cut would be, and that’s my choice.

MY BIGGEST BEEF with Las Vegas is transportation. Getting a taxi is, no pun intended, a crap shoot. Cabbies are few and far between at The Signature (it’s worse elsewhere). To keep travel woes to a minimum, my night’s new restaurant, show and nightclub selections are all in one property. In its heyday, Mirage (a Steve Wynn creation) was a pinnacle of Vegas excess. It’s been surpassed by glitzier casino-hotels like Bellagio and the new Wynn. But Mirage is upgrading its image.

My agenda reads like an elementary-school spelling list: Stack. Love. Jet. These days, a sleek uni-name (with as few letters as possible) shows how cool you are/aspire to be.

Stack (a restaurant) is dark, with dynamic rock music pumped in. Open since September 2005, Stack serves American cuisine. I fall hook, line and sinker for the seafood selections— yellowtail sashimi, crunchy tuna tacos and “Scott’s Screamer” (tuna, sesame ponzu, daikon—and named after the owner). This is followed by a shellfish “stack”—a tall, tasty mix of chilled lobster, prawns and oysters.

Love is all I need after dinner. Love (opened in June) is a 60-member Cirque du Soleil acrobatic production set to Beatles music. Imagine “Back in the U.S.S.R.” blaring while multi colored hipsters jump from nets into trampolines and onto a British telephone booth . . . and around again. All the bouncing is interspersed with clips from Beatles master tapes, recorded at Abbey Road studios. Love is definitely a ticket to ride.

If the music is loud at Stack and Love, the volume goes to 11 at Jet—not quite a year old. Jet’s 15,000 square feet are divided into three rooms—the main dance floor, and house-music and rock-music rooms. Jet’s color scheme: jet black. You’d better know somebody to get past the velvet-rope sprawl and the grizzly-sized doormen. Jet’s taking off. At least until the next Vegas runway opens.

If You Go
For more information on purchasing at The Signature, call the Turnberry sales office at 888-891-1688, or go to mgmgrandresidences.com. For MGM hotel reservations, call 702-891-2902; a one-bedroom suite starts at $310 a night. For more information on Mirage action, call Stack (702-792-7800); Love (702-792-7777), tickets are $69-$150; or Jet (702-693-8300).

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