Saturday, February 20, 2016

Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas

I finally bit the $80 bullet and visited the spa at the Las Vegas Mandarin Oriental.  In hindsight, I can't say that it was worth the price of admission.  The $80 day pass rate is the highest that I am aware of in Las Vegas
The Mandarin Oriental is a maze of sorts.  The spa is located on the 8th floor.  From the ground floor entrance (the official hotel lobby is on the 23rd? floor) I too an elevator to the hotel lobby and then had to take another back down to the 8th floor.  In the spa reception area I was greeted and asked to make myself comfortable while my spa portfolio was prepared.  While waiting I was asked to complete the health specific forms even though I was not having a treatment.  A hostess then presented my with a small cup of peppermint tea and a  small warm towel with which I was to cleanse my face and hands.  After that came the shoe exchange ceremony where I surrendered my shoes and was presented with a pair of sandals.  Then a host came to escort me to the men's spa where he provided and extensive tour.  I basically just nodded yes to everything because his heavy Eastern European accent was quite difficult to understand.
The amenities included:
Vitality pool.  As you can see in the above photo, the vitality pool (as well as the heated stone loungers and the relaxation beds) fronted floor to ceiling windows which allowed views of the Las Vegas Strip as well as the mountains to the East. What is not evident from the picture is the fact that the vitality pool has 4 submerged stainless steel lounge chairs.  This simply means that you can only recline in the water as no other seating options are available.
Three heated stone loungers are located in a separate room. These loungers are similar to those found in the Encore and Qua spas.
Four daybed-like sofas are located in another room.  This room is where a few newspapers and magazines are available.
Two Experiential Showers.  These spacious showers offer a standard shower as well as options for a cascade of water, stimulating jets of water from two sides, tropical mists, thunderstorms etc.  The touch pad controls for these options were much easier to navigate than those found at the Encore Spa.
Laconium with room for one person to recline and perhaps three people to sit. A hand held shower wand is available in this room.  Cold water only....which makes sense.
Dry sauna.
Steam Room also with the hand held cold water shower wand.

The shower/vanity area seemed nicely equipped.  Plenty of .5 litre bottles of cold water are available near the laconium and a few snacks (dried banana, dried pineapple, tea)are available in the hall near the day beds.
When you were finished and dressed an attendant magically appeared to escort you to the gift shop where you could settle your bill (I insisted on paying prior to the intake ceremonies, but that doesn't seem to be the custom,,whoops) and participate in another shoe exchange,