GEORGE MALOOF’S GUIDED TOUR OF HIS NEW PALMS PLACE & A PEEK INSIDE JESSICA SIMPSON, PAUL STANLEY AND HULK HOGAN’S PENTHOUSES
Its 24-hours of non-stop action for Palms hotel tycoon George Maloof. He will spend today closing the final owner-purchase agreements of his fully sold-out new Palms Place condo-tower and then tomorrow will officially open it for new residents to move in.
Hotel guests will be able to start booking the apartments and suites there next week. The 47 story luxurious tower with a height of 520-feet and 58 numbered floors becomes the highest building (other than the 50-foot taller, amusement-topped Stratosphere) in Vegas because off-Strip rises slightly higher than the lower valley sited on-Strip properties.
“That gives us the best unparalleled panoramic views in all directions North, East, West and South,” said George proudly as he gave LUXE LIFE an exclusive, advanced, personally guided tour. There’s little doubt that the spectacular new Iron Chef winner, Kerry Simon’s stunning 6th floor restaurant with a staggering 50,000 square foot wrap-around swim-pool will instantly be dubbed “most beautiful in Vegas.”
I vividly remember back in January 2006 when George invited me to autograph one of the steel beams at the groundbreaking ceremony. Now just two years later he’s opening the valley’s newest super-swank resort destination.
“I’m only six weeks late,” he laughed. “We’d hoped to be in by New Year’s, but in this day and age of construction we’re right on time.”
Tomorrow’s opening completes the third additional tower to the hotel he opened in November 2001. His Fantasy Tower and Palms Place were planned in the same $300-million expansion, and he says he miraculously only went over budget by very little! George admits he will eventually add on a fourth tower to the Fantasy wing. “It was designed and built so we could just clip-on a duplicate of itself whenever we wish later,” he told me.
Ahead of the current condo boom and bust, George sold out every one of the 599 studios, one-bedroom and penthouse suites two-and-a-half-years ago, nobody’s backed out and a waiting list still exists!
He explained: “Unlike out of town developers who raced in for a quick buck, we are here to live. Every member of my family has bought a unit and people know we’re here to stay and not just hit and run.”
In fact, younger brother Phil Maloof, who runs the Maloof Entertainment operation, has the world’s ultimate bachelor rooftop with 6,000 square feet of interior living space and 15,000 square feet of outdoor play space, including an outdoor movie theater with a bar and a Jacuzzi pool. To say it is magnificent and overwhelming is still an understatement. I’d have to bring back my old Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous TV show to do it justice!
Originally Phil planned it that large to accommodate a basketball court, but engineers discovered winds would ruin ball-play and every ball would vanish over an ugly wire-fence that would have to be installed. So the b-ball court disappeared in favor of the outdoor entertainment center for over 100 friends to party in. When George throws the opening night ultimate party to beat them all on May 31, guests will get to see brother Phil’s completed play-palace for the first time.
I clambered through the remaining penthouse floor construction with George to peek into three of the five super sky-homes owned by Jessica Simpson, Paul Stanley of KISS and Hulk Hogan. Paul’s 4,000 square foot penthouse is complete with a sunken Jacuzzi tub with glass walls and exposures to the Strip on the East and the Red Rock range in the West—the rocker may just have one of the best views in the world! In all there are 440 sensationally decorated and equipped studios at 600-square feet apiece, 136 fully furnished magnificent one-bedroom apartments at 1,200 square feet, plus balcony and sexy jetted bathtub—and the privileged penthouse masterpieces. All come with minimum twin 42” plasma TV’s, hardwood and marble flooring, full state of the art kitchens, king size beds and queen sleeper sofas. The new complex is connected to the main Palms towers via SkyTube, an elevated enclosed moving walkway that lets guests out near the Pearl concert theater in the casino.
The excitement begins right in the arrival lobby area with separate valet parking for the sixth floor restaurant, pool, super-spa, salon and Sunset Tan parlor. Inside the main doorway is the first lobby bar in Vegas—the sleek and sophisticated Rojo—to be open daily from 12-noon to 2 a.m. Up in the Drift Spa is the most technically advanced massage therapy luxury in town, complete with the West Coast’s first co-ed heated marble “sweat it out” Turkish Hamman, plus couples treatment rooms, soaking pools and a series of interlocking private garden relaxation lounges.
My pal, world-famous color king Michael Boychuck runs the new salon there. It also includes the state of the art tanning studio Sunset Tan as seen on E!’s hit reality show—the first and only location in Vegas. The eight treatment rooms feature both high-pressure European tanning beds and sunless auto-bronzer spray tan rooms. Condo-tel guests who enjoy the 60-second flawless golden tanning experience in the salon can even have mobile airbrushing available in the privacy of their suites, too!
Owners Jeff Bozz and Devin Haman, who partnered with Britney Spears’ former manager, Larry Rudolph to open the five Sunset Tan salons in California, celebrated their Vegas opening today by partying at the Palms Playboy Club last night—and both George and I have agreed to be on the first show of their new official second season when filming starts next weekend.
Jeff and Devin plan to have 140 franchise Sunset Tans open over the next few years. Knockout Janelle Perry, who has become a TV-star from her appearances on the no.1 rated reality show, is the new manager and she has twin spray staffers to add to the TV fun for over 35-million weekly viewers!
But it’s star-chef Kerry Simon’s gorgeous giant restaurant that sits right in the center of the 50,000-square foot pool deck on the sixth floor that will take your breath away. The 240-seat restaurant comes complete with a sushi bar, two chef’s tables, an incredible bar lounge and fireplaces. The swim-pool wraps almost completely around the 8,400 square foot restaurant open for breakfast, lunch and dinner as of the end of next month.
For my good pal, Kerry, it’s the highpoint of his 11-years in Vegas after he moved out here from New York to launch Prime at the Bellagio for Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Simon at Palms Place will incorporate his love of pure simple flavors from his culinary days in Tokyo and Hong Kong. The modern California design is striking and airy and the indoor dining room seamlessly flows into the outdoor living room through retractable floor to ceiling glass windows. It’s earth-friendly with sustainable materials of bamboo, slate and stone, and inside the main dining room there’s a greenhouse wall for the chef’s herbs and micro-greens.
George summed up: “We set out to create the ultimate luxurious and most beautiful condo and hotel residential tower in Vegas. We succeeded beyond our wildest dreams. It has all turned out more sensational than we thought possible, and as of tomorrow I think everybody will be in full agreement with us. When the restaurant opens in April it will be the most incredible experience anywhere and a view unlike anywhere else in the world.”