Condo Hotels in Vegas: Swanky, Sizzling, and Most of All – Sophisticated
By Vicki Salemi

What else could you expect from luxurious housing in the heart of the Nevada desert situated near the lively Vegas strip?

Unlike typical condos, luxurious condo hotels in Las Vegas offer amenities like no other.  For the real estate connoisseur or even the novice, luxury condo hotels offer the best services and amenities attached to a world-class establishment.  For instance, Signature at the MGM Grand represents the first condo hotel project in Vegas. The ultra-luxurious project includes three 38-story towers located on MGM Grand’s property located right on the ebullient strip.

Each tower has 576 units and is secured with guards at the gate. While it’s situated separately from the MGM Grand Hotel, the condo hotel offers all of the countless amenities and services as the hotel whether it ranges from spa services to concierge to same-day dry cleaning.  The posh entrance beckons: guests walk between the casino on one side and the pool and spa on the other.  

Typically in the Las Vegas market, luxury condo hotels are designed to be rented, whereby owners purchase the unit with the intentions to use it as a vacation home and rent it to tenants the remainder of the year.  According to Michael Karsh, president of Grand Sierra Resort & Casino and Summit at Grand Sierra (Reno, Nevada), the luxury "hotel-within-a-hotel" condominium-hotel residences are the investment. “When you look at the success of a hotel, the appreciation values.” As for the benefits, says Karsh –  owning a luxury condo equates to rental income with tenants when you’re not in town.  

While the rental procedures differ by property, Karsh explains, “Some condo hotels have an internal rental management group that assists owners in finding tenants.” For instance, owners of condo hotel units may use this as a second or third home, as a Vegas vacation, if you will. When the owners themselves aren’t occupying units, Karsh says the management team will typically find tenants to live there. 

According to Mark Chatow, vice president of marketing for the Las-Vegas based condo company, Gemstone Developers, in addition to the housing market, the long-term plan for Vegas will see unparalleled growth.  On the strip alone there will be an additional 41,000 hotel rooms built during the next four years, he says. “They represent world-class projects,” he says. “There’s also a report that shows by the year 2020 the population in Las Vegas will double in size.” 

Essentially, for the prospective luxury condo hotel owner, realizing there will be another population increase coupled with a housing boom and plentiful job opportunities, condo hotels represent the opportunity to reside in the lap of luxury.  Unlike other areas of the country such as Manhattan where many condo hotels are being renovated from hotels into condominiums with hotel-like amenities, condo hotels in Las Vegas are being built specifically for that purpose.