Here's a look at new Las Vegas eateries, drinking spots, hotels, conference areas, private rooms, and other spaces to open for events this spring. The new and renovated Las Vegas venues are available for corporate parties, weddings, fund-raisers, outdoor functions, business dinners, teambuilding activities, conferences, meetings, and more.
The Dorsey, a new cocktail bar and lounge at the Venetian Las Vegas, opened in December. The 4,500-square-foot interior of the space was designed with a variety of materials including French oak, leather, and marble, and it offers intimate seating options, a library space, and a fireplace. The 175-seat venue also has digital art showcased on eight screens from artists including Marilyn Minter and Poyen Wang. Innovative cocktails from a menu designed by Sam Ross include the Penicillin, Let's Elope, and the Coney Island Express.
Lucky Dragon Hotel & Casino opened in December. One of the city's newest hotels, Lucky Dragon's design was inspired by Asian culture and gaming. The nine-story hotel features 203 guest rooms that include 22 suites; a pool area connected to an oasis garden; a 4,500-square-foot spa, which offers traditional Chinese and Western treatments; two main bars; and a 27,500-square-foot casino floor with 37 tables and 287 slot machines. The hotel has a variety of spaces for meetings and events, including restaurants such as the night-market-inspired Dragon's Alley that holds 218 and dim sum restaurant Pearl Ocean that holds 133 for receptions. A casino tower atrium is available for public exhibition space, and the pool area is available for receptions of as many as 196. The top floor of the hotel features the 1,300-square-foot penthouse suite, which can be rented out for events.
MGM Resorts International opened the city's newest entertainment venue, the Park Theater, at the Monte Carlo Las Vegas in December. The theater's first headliners included Bruno Mars and Cher, and singer Rick Martin is slated to begin his residency in April. Features include an 80- by 40-foot LED display with 4K resolution, a 240-foot-wide immersive projection surface that can display 3-D motion graphics, a proscenium arch for projections, and a V.I.P. area with bottle service. The 150,000-square-foot venue has flexible seating for as many as 5,200.
Rainer Becker's Zuma, an international modern Japanese restaurant chain, opened its first Las Vegas location inside the Cosmopolitan in January. The restaurant serves shareable dishes that are brought out continuously, inspired by the traditional izakaya dining style. The 9,000-square-foot restaurant, which is designed by Studio Glitt's Noriyoshi Muramatsu, has 5,000 square feet to dining space. Seating 210 in total, the restaurant offers full buyouts and hosts private dining events in two dining rooms that each seat 14.
Iron Chef's Masaharu Morimoto opened Morimoto Las Vegas at the MGM Grand in October. The restaurant, which features a sushi bar in the front, offers a variety of sushi dishes that showcase Morimoto's talent of blending Japanese and Western flavors. Designed by design firm Glamorous, the space features a black-and-white sushi mosaic wall, as well as a life-size statue of Morimoto crafted with red and white ropes by sculptor Mozart Guerra. The 5,542-square-foot restaurant seats 196 in the main dining room, and a luxury teppan station in the back of the restaurant seats 30.
Hawthorn Grill, the JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort & Spa's first new restaurant in five years, opened in January. Managed by Blau & Associates, the venue offers elevated steak house fare with a menu helmed by chef Joseph Swan. The restaurant has more than 18,000 square feet of dining space with a main dining room, lounge, and outdoor patio that can seat more than 370 guests in total. For private events, the restaurant has two private dining rooms that can seat groups of as many as 40, along with semiprivate patios and a smaller reception area.
Charlie Palmer's Aureole at Mandalay Bay reopened in December after undergoing extensive renovations and a menu revamp. The new menu, helmed by chef Johnny Church, offers a variety of shareable dishes inspired by the natural foundations of surf, root, and ranch. Available for a variety of events, the venue has three private dining spaces: the Fountain Terrace, which seats 24 or holds 40 reception-style; the Center Room, which seats 20 or holds 30 reception-style; and the Board Room, which seats 36 or holds 55 reception-style. Combined, the three rooms seat 90 or hold 120 for receptions. The entire restaurant seats 400 or holds 500 for receptions.
Miami-based Sugarcane Raw Bar Grill opened its first Las Vegas location at the Venetian in November. Led by chefs Tim Balloo and Ryan Nuqui, the restaurant offers globally inspired small plates from a raw bar, open fire grill, and traditional kitchen. The 6,376-square-foot venue offers a main dining room that seats 87 or holds 125 reception-style; a private dining room that seats 30 or holds 50 reception-style; and a lounge that seats 54 and holds 150 reception-style. Other seating options include a 22-seat bar and a five-seat oyster bar.
Rà Rá Irish Pub at the Shoppes at Mandalay Place debuted new event and dining space the Bordello in December. Located at the back of the venue behind a secluded hallway, the red- and gold-color space features high black ceilings, lounge-style furniture, and furnishings including chandeliers, a disco ball, and black and white movie stills inside antique gold frames. Offering more than 1,400 square feet of space, the venue seats 64 or holds as many as 100 for receptions. Amenities include a full-service bar, an open dance floor area, a 52-inch TV, and a 170-inch drop-down projector screen.
The Jackie Gaughan Suite at the El Cortez Hotel & Casino completed its renovation in December. Named after the late casino magnate, the 2,700-square-foot suite was reimagined by local designers Gisela Isabel and Lora Hunsaker. Design features include a vintage intercom door entry system, an art wall of framed vintage records, and pastel pink upholstered walls and floors. The 2,700-square-foot suite, which can be rented out as event space, accommodates as many as 40 seated or 75 for receptions.
