The other day we found ourselves in a discussion with a friend about one of the Vegas strip hotels when he suddenly blurted out how “dumb” he thought the name of the hotel was. Although our discussion had nothing to do with the hotel name, his passionate stance, seemingly out of nowhere, made us pause. We soon realized we too had strong opinions on many of the hotel names and a list of the best and worst Las Vegas Strip hotel names was born.
The list is admittedly unscientific. No surveys were taken, no marketing studies conducted. By far the most difficult part in coming up with the list was trying to separate the “feeling” you have for the hotel based on things such as its decor and atmosphere in an effort to create a list based solely on a name. If we were provided with a list of 10 hotel names which we had never visited, a non-emotional list could be much more easily created.
We came to the conclusion that there is no way to separate any emotional attachment to a hotel from its name, so the list is a result of the name itself in combination with the “feeling” each one creates. Clearly a name + feel generated list is subjective and ends up being largely a personal list based on experiences at the premises and unconscious biased toward certain words, places or themes.
To be considered, the hotel has to be open to the public and we had to have spent time within the hotel – not necessarily a stay at the hotel, but have spent time within its public areas.
Some hotel names themselves simply don’t conjure up any emotion for us and don’t make the list. Hotels falling into this category are Wynn, Planet Hollywood, MGM Grand, Horseshoe, Flamingo, Harrah’s and Tropicana.
Some hotels are named based on a theme, location or hotel design and because of that their name suits them perfectly. Paris, Excalibur, Treasure Island (although much less than it once did), Luxor, Circus Circus, Caesars Palace, Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, New York-New York, Venetian, Palazzo fall into this category.
List of best Las Vegas Strip hotel names:
1. ARIA – Simply a beautiful hotel with a name that suits it. Simple and elegant.
2. The Mirage – The Mirage best sums up the Vegas Strip for me in that I often feel what I am seeing is an optical illusion. In my opinion it is a brilliant name with the top of the towers themselves creating a mirage. It’s a shame it’s being transformed into the Hard Rock.
3. Encore – What I like best about the name Encore is that it itself is an Encore to the Wynn resort. A second performance demanded by a brilliant first performance.
4. Cosmopolitan – The word cosmopolitan makes me think of a sophisticated, glamorous traveller. This hotel pulls off that feeling well.
List of worst Las Vegas Strip hotel names:
1. The Linq – There is only one. That is how bad this name is. A number two in the list wouldn’t even come close.
What impact, if any, does the hotel name have on your opinion or feelings about the property itself? What impact does the name have on your view of the fabulous hotels on the Vegas Strip?
