A Vegas golf
vacation about the
golf? The JW Marriott
delivers it in Summerlin
By
Chris Baldwin,
West Coast Bureau Chief
LAS VEGAS (Aug. 16, 2005) - Rumor has it, there are people who actually tailor
their Las Vegas golf
vacations to ... the golf. This is a strange concept when it comes to Sin City
to be sure. For when it deals with Vegas, Baby! - the golf clubs are often just
an excuse to get here.
Guys lug the clubs along, tell themselves
they're going to visit some of the better
courses 20 to 30 minutes from The Strip and end
up never leaving their hotel casino.
The JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort & Spa
offers a counterpoint to this logic. This is a
place where golf is king. Heck, this is a place
where the golf threatens to overshadow the
casino. And they have the nerve to consider
themselves Vegas!
That's the point. The JW Marriott is Las Vegas in name only.
It's actually located in Summerlin,
a 36-square-mile development in which more than 22,000 people
live. Summerlin is about a 25-minute drive (at light traffic times)
and another universe away from the in-your-face gaudiness of The
Strip. More importantly for the serious golfer, there are 10 courses
located within a 10- to 15- minute drive from the JW.
The resort offers preferred tee times and free shuttle service
to all these courses. From the forced carries challenge of the
Tournament Players Club at the Canyons to the varied tests
at the sprawling Angel
Park Golf Club to Pete Dye's desert Paiute tracks, it is a
virtual cornucopia of golf choices. Summerlin is to golf what
the Strip is to overpriced restaurants and under-talented night
club acts.
"This is the part of town you come to for
golf," said Chris Burk, a local attorney and
semi-serious hacker. "The part of town where
people actually live."
And breathe fresh air. That's one of things
that will strike you about a Las Vegas stay at
the JW. This is a place that encourages you to
get outside, to actually break free from the
endless succession of pumped-in-oxygen
casinos.
A few of the courses are so close, you can
see them from your window. Plus, the grounds of
the resort itself are spread out and made for
walking, with an elaborate garden and pool
system.
After days of seeing
animated roman statues come to life and a
supposed Brooklyn Bridge right next to an
ESPN Zone, the real, live trees of the JW
resort are almost a revelation. You'd be
surprised by how unique trees can loom.
There are supposed to be more than 3,000
trees on the resort grounds and getting
yourself lost in them is a rare Las Vegas
delight.
There's no next casino to rush off to, no
special shooting fountains show to catch.
Yet, the JW is still very much in
civilization. It seems like every chain
shopping store and restaurant in existence
reside a few streets from the hotel. This is no
secluded resort. Summerlin is a bustling,
growing community and the resort grounds abut
some of the sprawl.
The JW is for those who want something less
hectic than The Strip, yet more busy than an
out-of-the-way retreat like
Hyatt Regency Lake Las Vegas. There is
plenty here when you when you want something to
do, including a 24-hour casino that's packed on
Friday and Saturday nights and a dance club
that attempts to replicate that thin veneer of
Vegas cool. But there are also plenty of ways
to just drift away and relax when you want to
relax.
The rooms are huge, significantly larger
than 500 square feet for even the smallest of
them. And if you get one of 2,200-square foot
suites, you may find it bigger and much more
comfortable than your average ranch house.
This is the phase where JW Marriott truly
excels. It's standard rooms are larger and more
luxurious than high-end Vegas Strip
trendsetters Bellagio and Venetian's standard
rooms. When J-Lo stays at Bellagio, she gets a
better room than you'll get at the JW, but for
the average vacation traveler, it's hard to
beat these digs.
This isn't a cheap place to stay, with
specials running around $170 per night, but for
those interested in the higher-end experience,
it delivers more value for the dollar than its
Strip contemporaries.
Nearly all of the JW's bathrooms have long
whirlpool tubs, perfect for soaking away the
memories of that particularly galling triple
bogey. Another great feature is the large
swinging windows that actually open. This isn't
your average cookie-cutter hotel obsessed with
limiting liability, sealing all the windows on
the off chance some idiot might fall out.
With the cool night
air drifting through the open windows into
your quiet room, it's easy to imagine
you're anywhere but in the gambling,
frenzied capital of the world.
This being a golf resort, there is the
now-requisite accompanying spa. Only this one
offers a service in which your "aura" is
photographed before and after treatment to give
proof of the wonders that rubdown just did. No
word on whether "aura" photos will be
admissible in a court of law.
Still for all the mystic healing, trees and
extra carpet space, the JW mostly excels
because it offers the perfect base for a Las
Vegas golf vacation that actually centers
around golf. After trying to clear the dramatic
drops at TPC Canyons or navigate through Dye's
punishing desert, you may wonder why you didn't
plan a Vegas trip like this before.
"I haven't thought about the casino once all
day," vacationing golfer Felix Collison said,
between swings at TPC Canyons, seemingly
surprised himself by this development.
The Strip never seemed farther away. You're
in Vegas on a golf vacation, actually
concentrating on the golf. If you're not
careful, you might forget the need to walk
through the faux cobblestone streets of a fake
Paris all together.
This is a Vegas trip? Who knew?
The information in this story was
accurate at the time of publication. All
contact information, directions and prices
should be confirmed directly with the golf
course or resort before making reservations
and/or travel plans.
RESORT REVIEW
