This was our third Four Seasons stay, and our first in Las Vegas. This is truly an 'oasis' in the chaos of Las Vegas. However, for the money, there is some very nice competition available in Vegas, and our stay did not quite measure up to our 5 star expectations.

We visited in mid-January right after the CES show/convention (which can be draining to all hotel staff members!). We stayed three mid-week nights and enjoyed a couple’s massage at the Four Seasons Spa, a room service breakfast, house car, and used the valet service several times. Overall, we had a great experience. First, a few general comments about the facility:

As others have noted, the Four Seasons on the top four floors of the Mandalay Bay with its own express elevator and own lobby. It truly feels separate from the Mandalay, but guests still have access to the restaurants and casino of Mandalay. There has been a recent facelift/renovation at the Four Seasons they are quite proud of. The new TV’s are HD and a very nice size. The interiors and furniture appear to have been re-done and the feeling is fresh and new. The light fixtures, carpet, and window coverings all appear new and are quite nice. The beds and linens (in typical Four Season’s style) are very comfortable. Robes, slippers, and in-room coffee/tea are provided.

The downsides to the renovations are minor, but worth noting: The toilets are ‘cruise-ship’ style. There is a very loud and surprising (the first time) sucking sound when the flush lever is pushed. It is so loud, that you can actually hear the toilet from the floor above flushing (and these are very quiet rooms!). The water flow from the single bathroom faucet is very, very low. Knob temperature changes take 5-10 seconds before the water temperature actually changes. Oddly enough, the shower flow rate is quite nice. The renovation did not include a larger tub or shower – and both are quite cramped (but I’m over 6’ tall).

Some of the following items may be in the process of being worked out as part of the renovations, but are significant in their scale:

1) The HVAC in the building is very, very out of balance. This is actually a building-wide problem (Mandalay), but it impacts the guest’s experience in the room. Anytime a stairway or elevator door opens on the floor, the entire floor de/re-pressurizes causing a 3-second jet-engine like whistling sound outside the door. Other reviewers have noted this, and it is apparently worse in some rooms than others.

2) At least in our room, the individual air handler in the room was very, very loud. The fan remained on 100% of the time and established a dull ‘roar’ in the room all the time. It was mostly noticeable at night when we were trying to get to sleep. However, because it was constant, it actually seemed to help!

3) Although the new TV’s are beautiful, the quality and/or strength of the video signal supplied to the TV’s is marginal at best. In the men’s spa locker room, the TV froze up and/or, pixelated at times. In our room, we received frequent “The video signal has been lost…” messages. Our room TV was also frequently freezing/pixelated. Some channels were worse than others (Bloomberg would not come in but just for a few seconds before blacking out).

As for the legendary Four Seasons staff, we had a mixed experience. Some of the best kudos go to:

* Room Service! They appeared right when they said they would at our door. The food was hot/cold as it should be. The presentation and flavor was top notch, and the service was cleared without any impact on our day.

* Housekeeping: When you don’t notice housekeeping, they have done a perfect job. We didn’t notice them at all in our room (other than some very nice hall conversation a time or two). Everything was spotless and replenished and cared for in every way. Classic Four Seasons!

* Bell Staff: Very cordial, prompt, and helpful.

* House Car Driver: This is a very nice amenity, and our driver was smooth, quick, friendly, and accommodating. A tip well earned!

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However, there were some very uncharacteristic gaffs in staff performance that really surprised us. Some examples include:

1) Cold (not pre-heated) massage tables in the Spa. They warmed up 5-10 minutes into our service, but someone had obviously forgotten to prepare the room properly. That was a shocker crawling into an ice-cold table before a nice massage. This was quite unexpected for a $450 (with tip) couples massage at a 5-Star spa.

2) Front Desk staff attempting an ‘upsell’ at check-in. The hotel did not appear anywhere near occupancy during our stay. Our first clue was when we were offered to ‘upgrade’ our room for an unspecified price at check-in. Perhaps a better approach would have been to simply provide the upgrade (very small incremental cost to the Four Seasons with no opportunity cost) and the impact would have been long-lasting on the guest. This has happened to us several times at other 4- and 5-star properties in Vegas and it has bought not only referrals of friends and associates, but also delivered brand loyalty during our subsequent visits. This ‘upsell’ approach used on us simply left a sour taste as we checked in…more like a “would you like fries with that” moment.

3) Lost key fob at the valet. We drive 11 hours to and from Vegas on each visit – and enjoy the drive. However, it means we have to get up early on our departure morning to hit the road. On this trip, we sat in the Four Seasons driveway, car loaded and ready to go, but could not go. The key fob was somehow lost between bringing the car around and our departure. Perhaps I just had not had enough coffee that morning, but after getting up early to hit the road, it rubbed me wrong that we just sat there for some time waiting for the key fob to be found. It was eventually found in a valet’s pocket and we were on our way. Not what we’ve come to expect from Four Season’s staff.

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I totally understand that every employee has a bad day, and perhaps CES the week prior had burned everyone out – but the Four Seasons has a little less leeway for gaffs than other hotels.

Much of our visit was as expected for the Four Seasons (very relaxing) – but much was not. I would return to take advantage of a promotional opportunity, or if I were attending/exhibiting at the Mandalay Conference Center, but I would also carefully check out the many other fine hotels available in Vegas before booking at the Four Seasons Las Vegas once again.