M I S Q S

Well I have been meaning to get around to doing this.  Basically just wanted to provide some insight to the various Hotel Spa's that my wife and I have visited whenever we go out to Vegas.  So far we have visited the spa's at the following Hotels (in order of Best Value for your money to Worse Value in my personal opinion):

1) The M Resort
2) The Bathhouse at The Hotel, Mandalay Bay
3) Qua Spa at Caesars Palace
4) Wet - Treasure Island  (Please note that the Spa at TI has been renovated and is now called Oleksandra Spa.  I have not visited since this occurred)
    The Monte Carlo
    The Spa at NY NY
5) The SPA at Encore (see separate review below this one)

The Bathhouse at The Hotel, Mandalay Bay and The M Resort Spa tie for the best overall Spa's that we have visited.  However, Where The M Resort shines is the fact that the use of the fitness room is included in the cost of your room and you only pay $15 for access to the Spa.  When we used The Bathhouse at The Hotel the cost was $20 for Fitness room use,  $30 more for spa use, $50 per day for both.  However a 3 day pass was offered $45 for Gym use and $70 for Spa use or $115 for both.  Qua at Caesars Palace is very nice, however I have to rate them number three as there was a problem with their customer service and pricing.

The M Resort staff were very polite and soft spoke.  The tour of the facility was quick and to the point.  The amenities were all of excellent quality. (Given this is a newer hotel it is what I would have expected.)  The Fitness room is small, but very well equipped.   In fact better than some of the large Vegas properties.  The Steam room was a little on the cool side.  I would have preferred it being abut 10-15 degrees warmer.  The Dry sauna however was just right.  Whenever I stay in Vegas with my wife I enjoy the Steam rooms as they help rehydrate my dry mucous membranes of the nose and throat and help was out all of the cigarette smoke.  Visited this Spa November 2009.

The Bathhouse at The Hotel is opulent.  Everything in Black Bamboo (at least it has a bamboo feeling to it) in fact it has a very oriental feeling to the entire space.  The Wet and Dry Sauna's are perfectly tempered so as to not burn your lungs when you breath but cause a really good sweat.  There are showers right next to the sauna's but no COLD shower.  You just have to use the regular showers on cold, which for me did not get cold enough after being in the sauna's.   I prefer to rinse in a COLD shower first and then wade into the cool pool, which was about a third the size of the hot pool.  The hot pool could almost be used as a lap pool it is so large.  The lounge chairs are well designed allowing you to relax and read without having to strain your neck.  I did get a 80 minute massage and must say it was one of the best I have had.  I requested a female massage therapist because I believe they tend to be a little more into providing a good massage.  The one time I had a male massage therapist, it was like he was homophobic or germaphobic or something as he did not provide a quality massage.  The cost was a little high (think it was around $150, but I can tell you it was the best massage I have ever had.)

Qua Spa at Caesars Palace. First, I did not get any treatments here, but then I did not need em.  This spa is outstanding and except for the customer service and price would rate #1.  The fitness center is nice, however on our visit in November of 2009 various pieces of the equipment needed work.  There was no tour of the facilities.  Just sandals and pointed to the lockers and told how to operate them.  There was a large Mineral-enriched pool that was not hot, but very relaxing.  Then there were the smaller Hot Pool and Cold Pool.  The hot pool was very hot with over-excited jets.  The cold pool was lukewarmish and not cold enough for my liking.  There was a single dry sauna that was a decent temperature, but could easily have been 5 to 10 degrees warmer.  There was a warm/hot steam room and then there was the "SCORCHER" steam room.  AH!  That was the room for me.   This is by far the hottest steam room I have been in.  My sinuses and lungs were in heaven.  The amount of steam and moisture in this room is unsurpassed and is the best one in Vegas.  Then for an added addition Qua has the Arctic Room.  This room as a heated floor and benches but is kept at 55 degrees.  A very nice coolness on the skin after leaving the "SCORCHER".  The room also features "snow" that slowly drifts down on the chilled circulated air.  The snow is some kind of a soap bubble/foam and added that little extra touch to your senses to make you think you are in a room colder than it really is.  It was very nice to go back and forth betweeh the "SCORCHER" and the Arctic Room, my skin sucked in the moisture in the scorcher and then was able to seal it up in the Arctic Room.  The only real problem I had here was that when we checked in the first day we were told that the Fitness room cost was $30 a day and that we could do a three day pass for $75.  When I asked if that included the Spa I was told no that we could upgrade for $15.  So basically I am under the impression that for $90 I get a three day pass to both the fitness room and Spa.  My wife and I agree to this and we are show the fitness room and pointed into the direction of the spas.  The next day I go down early in the morning to the spa without any problems.  My Wife goes to the spa that afternoon after her meetings, (yeah we were there for her to attend Medical Education seminars, it is usually why we go).  The third day we repeat this same routine, me in the morning, my wife by herself in the afternoon.  Except on this day the attendant stops her and asks if she paid.  She hands him the receipt showing we paid $90 for three day passes.  He then informs her that no, the $90 was $75 for three day pass to the Fitness area and $15 to use the spa on the first day.  My wife calls me on my cell phone and I discuss with the attendant what we were told.  He tells us too bad that we were told wrong and that not only is he adding the charges for that day to our room bill, but he was going to add charges for the prior day for $40.  I complain about this as that is not what we were told.  He tells me to take it up with a manager when I check out.  Before checking out, I pull up the in room review of our folio on charges and not only has he charged us for the two days but he charged us $40 per person per day when the charges should have been $20 or $25 (not sure which it was now).  I call down stairs to the front desk and explain my situation and they pass me on to a Guest Services Host.  I explain the problem again and they tell me that I was mis-informed that the charges would stand, but they would correct it to the right amount.  The week after I get home, I pull up my credit card bill and they have overcharged us by $80 or so because they never correct the charges.  I am still in the dispute phase with my credit card issuer and Caesars Palace.  Needless to say, this is a great spa, but watch out for the customer service.

Wet at Treasure Island was a simple treat.  Nothing fancy or glamorous, just a good Spa.  Cost was like $20 or $25 per day use and included the Fitness Center with that fee.
The Monte Carlo and The Spa at NY NY both were similar to Wet @ TI (given that MGM owned all of these properties at the time we visited them, it is no wonder that they would all be similar.)   I will give the staff at The Monte Carlo the better rating as they were by far more friendly and outgoing than the staff at NY NY.  I got massages at each of these locations and they were all good.  I would not rate them as good as the one I got at The Bathhouse, but they were good.  Well, maybe not as good, given the price.  The massages were equivalent to a hometown therapist who charges $60 for an hour massage vs. the $120-140 they charged at the hotels.  (Visits to these spas were made throughout 2008).  Again, TI has renovated their SPA and I have not been there since the new owner took it over and made changes.

Encore was nice, but on our visit in September 2009, needed lots of maintenance work and a good cleaning. (see Wynn/Encore review below).