Las Vegas Hotels
Artisan Hotel & Spa
- Critic's rating
- LAT
Average User Ratings
- Overall (8)
- Rooms
- Service
- Location
Coming in out of the midday sun, I blinked repeatedly. It was dark in the Artisan Hotel lobby, very dark. Candles flickered on tables. From her easel near the entrance, the Mona Lisa smiled enigmatically. Or was she laughing?
The family-owned 64-room Artisan, which calls itself Las Vegas' first "small, luxurious, non-gaming boutique hotel," is bizarre. For starters, there's the wall-to-ceiling art. Even the ceilings display reproductions of the Masters.
Through a pair of iron gates was the dining room, even at lunchtime dimly illuminated by candles, the tables laid with black cloths. Each table had a brown-at-the-edges lily in a vase.
Each guest room is named for an artist whose works (reproductions) hang there. Mine, 522, was the Kazimir Malevich Suite (a Russian abstract artist). It was all black and brown.
The Artisan calls itself the Artisan Hotel & Spa, but when I asked directions to the spa the desk clerk told me, "It isn't built yet."
Bottom line: This isn't a family destination, unless you're the Addams family.
Pros: Complimentary wine hour in lobby. The 24-hour lounge is a draw, with live music on Wednesdays and Saturdays and a $19.95 Sunday jazz champagne brunch.
Cons: Rooms overlooking the oh-so-close freeway where it meets busy West Sahara Avenue are so noisy even the drone of the air conditioner doesn't help. Neighborhood is gritty. Bathroom was poorly lighted and water flow inadequate. Hotel is a mile from the Strip, and not a pedestrian-friendly mile.
wherever it appears.