Knowing Sin City fairly well from previous missions there, this time around, we arrived as a family – with our kids, 12 and 14, in tow. The challenge was to find a hotel where we would feel at home without sacrificing creature comforts. And preferably, this had to be somewhere not too immersed in the roaring nightlife (and daylife) of the Strip, despite this being of no consequence to our tweens, who aren’t addicted to anything but their phones yet. For many reasons, Crockfords Las Vegas was the perfect solution.
How do we love Crockfords Las Vegas, let us count the ways. It’s an LXR-branded and Hilton-owned urban resort – and with the latter looking back at a 124-year history, it helps explain just why the hotel does such a good job at catering to guests. The general atmosphere of the property is less glitzy, more elegant, and more self-contained than the other big bruisers down the strip, and upon arriving, you feel like you’ve checking into some sort of haven.
The Resorts World complex provides three levels of ‘experience’, effectively three separately named hotel zones, which increase in price and luxury, with Crockfords Las Vegas being the top tier. For this, we got a special entrance flanked by statues of Chinese guardian demons (because it’s a temple, obviously), an absurdly plush lobby decked out in marble and soft furnishings that no one seemed brave enough to sit on, as well as very large upper-floor rooms with a glass wall at one end. This most certainly was the biggest window we’ve ever had in a hotel room. Meanwhile, our kids stayed in an interconnecting room. A chaise longue by the window was for lounging and mastering the universe below (and also for feeling like you might be risking death – kidding!). A large bathroom contained enough marble and hardwood alongside Byredo toiletries, that it was almost possible to forget that a barbarian family lurked just outside the door. Those looking to opt for the top end of the accommodation spectrum can rent private Villas or even ‘Palaces’ on the site. Whichever you choose, there’s no need to rough it.
| Perfect for | Fly into | Right on time |
| The Hedonist | LAS | GMT -8 |
| While you’re Out There |
| Get lost! No, not like that… What we mean is that you shouldn’t shy from a bit of aimless exploration while in town. Las Vegas packs a punch and it’s a city that attracts colourful characters and all sorts of curiosities, meaning a stroll down the Strip is guaranteed to end up offering plenty of entertainment and photo-ops. |
There is a kind of deluxe corporate decor that we like and which Crockfords Las Vegas at Resorts World excels at. No quirkiness, but rather a certain lustrous abstraction that only comes into focus when you concentrate on it. That’s when you realise it is very comfortable and pleasing. Is understated the word? If anything, and this being Vegas, it would be relatively understated. If you want the denser, patinated aesthetic you might know from other luxury hospitality brands, you’re in the wrong town.
The resort has an enormous pool complex – round, oblong, infinity, kiddy – flanked by several dining outlets if you aren’t in the mood to summon all that stuff to your sun lounger. We spent our afternoons in a cabana munching on lovely snacks, drinking smoothies, and swimming in the quiet pool nearby. Devices spat mist on us to help us cope with the minor inconvenience of the Nevada heat. Somewhere in the Bible (we can’t remember where), we believe it says that there are poolside cabanas in heaven.
Again, because this is Vegas, the resort sits on top of a complex that includes a casino, a world-class spa with a long, long menu of treatments, and more voguish shopping and restaurants than any human being could conceivably make sense of. On top of that, there is a sizeable Asian-inflected ‘street food’ area. We took the kids to a restaurant called Red Tail that specialises in games and American comfort food, and they thought it was a hoot. Young people were definitely welcome everywhere in the resort – except on the casino floor, where, to their great disappointment, the law states they are not permitted to loiter. Our children were mesmerised by the slot machines, which seemed to be designed to capture them, or maybe just to call to everyone’s inner child.
Crockfords Las Vegas at Resorts World is unquestionably Vegas luxe at its finest. The hotel embraces all that the city has to offer whilst simultaneously providing a refuge from the brash hedonistic glitz of the Strip. It’s the best of both worlds and we’ll certainly be back, although possibly – no, probably – without the kids.
Photography courtesy of Hilton Hotels & Resorts
