These new and recently renovated private event spaces, restaurants, galleries, villas, and private rooms in Las Vegas can accommodate groups small and large for meetings, conferences, product launches, presentations, and other types of corporate gatherings.
1. The new Villas at the Mirage include spaces that include three bedrooms and 4,545 square feet. Meeting-friendly amenities include music systems, printer-fax-scanner-copier combos with private fax numbers, and Dell XPS desktop PCs. Butler service is also available for meetings and other needs 24 hours a day.
2. Southern Brazilian steakhouse Fogo de Chão is slated to open its first Las Vegas location early next month. Part of the Hughes Center development, three miles from McCarran airport and one-half mile from the Strip, the space comprises more than 14,000 square feet and offers nine private and semiprivate dining rooms fully equipped with presentation screens and projectors, making them well suited for meetings.
3. Public House, planned for an opening later this year at the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian, will be a spin on an old-school tavern or gastropub. The venue is located near the meeting space at the Venetian and Sands Expo, and will have private space including a boardroom with room for 11. There will also be a semiprivate space that can be become private by closing sliding doors, and will seat about 30. Both areas have will have audiovisual capabilities.
4. The team behind the new Martin Lawrence Galleries at the Forum Shops at Caesars is billing it as possibly the biggest art gallery in the U.S., with more than 26,000 square feet of gallery, exhibition, and event space in all. About 8,500 square feet are currently open, but the venue will be available for meeting and event buyout when it is fully open in the coming months. There are soaring 80-foot ceilings, a 20-foot tall neon “Art” sign, huge guillotine walls that can be raised and lowered, an enormous projection wall, and a sound system.
5. Silk Road, which was formerly the restaurant that opened with Vdara, transformed into a private event space in the spring. It offers flexible meeting space with floor-to-ceiling glass windows overlooking Nancy Rubin's sculpture, "Big Edge." There is more than 4,000 square feet of available meeting space, with room for 200 guests. A private dining room is also available for smaller groups of as many as 14.
6. Caesars Palace is getting ready to open the Octavius Tower, a 668-room hotel tower including 60 suites and six luxury villas where groups can convene meetings. The resort’s sixth tower will have a private entrance, separate hotel lobby, and direct access to the Garden of the Gods pool complex and gardens. Three Octavius Villas are already open and three more are planned. Each averages 8,800 square feet, has a thematic design scheme from France, Greece, and Spain, and is named for a Roman emperor who resided in the region. Rooms in the tower are currently on sale for arrivals beginning January 2.
7. Crossroads is the new name of the House of Blues restaurant at all of the chain's locations. While the name change didn't bring physical renovations to the Las Vegas location, the venue does offer a new menu from chef Aarón Sanchez and audiovisual capabilities throughout, including monitors as well as a video screen on the stage. Book the restaurant for a festive evening meeting, or meetings can also take to the House of Blues' Music Hall or Foundation Room.
8. Central Michel Richard at Caesars Palace opened in September as the first-ever round-the-clock restaurant to be helmed by a James Beard award-winning chef, and the venue is courting meeting groups to its flexible space. The 9,600-square-foot restaurant seats about 300 guests in all, including on a patio terrace that can be booked for private parties. Central also has a wine room to the left of the main entrance and a red wine room deeper into the restaurant; both rooms have 13-foot-high ceilings. With advance notice of at least 14 days, Central is also available for buyouts for lunch meetings between 11 a.m. and 11 p.m.
9. Rice & Company opened at Luxor Las Vegas in July. The 10,000-square-foot restaurant, sushi bar, and lounge offer contemporary Chinese and Japanese cuisine, an array of sushi and sashimi selections, specialty cocktails, and an expansive sake menu. Three private rooms available for meetings and events hold 10, 30, and 40 guests.
10. The One Group, based in New York, has brought its STK steakhouse to the Las Vegas Strip. The Tempest Storm private dining suite holds 12 for a seated event, as does the Candy Barr private dining suite, which can each be used for meetings.
