I previously spent many years running a business whose products I had no real passion for. I learned a lot about entrepreneurship and the high growth experience reinforced my passion for technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship. But I also learned that I wanted to work on a product that I had a real passion for – it had to be about more than money or success but also about building something that I would want to be a customer of. I had always loved hotels and photography and so when the idea for Oyster came along it did not take much to convince me that it was an idea that I worth getting excited about.
Oyster continues to be a dream job for me – my “work” often involves visiting hotels in some of the best vacation destinations in the world. I don’t imagine I’ll tire of that anytime soon. And when it comes time for a vacation, I don’t need or want a change of pace from my work life – I stay in hotels instead.
Here are some of my favorite hotels in two of my favorite US cities:
- Wynn Las Vegas – The Wynn Hotel and Encore Las Vegas are sister hotels – attached by a long hallway that serves as a high end shopping mall that the two hotels share in common. Steve Wynn is a legend and pioneer in Vegas having built the Mirage, Treasure Island, and the Bellagio before building the Wynn and then the Encore. His attention to detail in the Wynn and Encore is maniacal. The design is, to me, the epitome of Vegas over the top without being gaudy (by Vegas standards). Patterns and textures rule the day here – a friend of mine said to me that she guesses that Wynn put all of his designers in a room, gave them acid and told them to go to town.
- I love the Venetian as well – though I have not stayed at the connected expansion property – the Palazzo Hotel Las Vegas – and used to frequent Delmonicos restaurant though I think it is now past its peak with restaurants like CraftSteak Las Vegas in the MGM Grand Las Vegtas and Michael Mina’s Stripsteak in the Mandalay Bay Hotel Las Vegas outdoing it not to mention Botero in the Encore Hotel.
- The Trump Hotel Las Vegas is a fantastic hotel and due to a glut of rooms in Las Vegas, it’s pretty inexpensive with rates often under 100 dollars/night. It has a limited supply of restaurants and no casino in the hotel but it’s an easy walk from the gaming and restaurants at the Wynn or Encore and an even shorter walk to the massive Fashion Show Mall.
- For an off the strip experience, I really enjoyed Green Valley Hotel, Las Vegas and while it’s an even longer drive from the strip or the airport, the brand new M Hotel and Casino Las Vegas is impressive for an off the strip casino.
- The rooms at the Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas are not up to the standards I hold the Four Seasons chain to – in particular the Four Seasons Miami – as the light in the rooms has a greenish hue to it as a result of the glass that was used on the exterior of the building (same building as Mandalay Bay Hotel Resort Las Vegas). But the poolside food and drink service at the Four Seasons Las Vegas is unsurpassed among Las Vegas Hotels.
- I live in Manhattan so I don’t typically stay in New York hotels here though I’ve very much enjoyed it on the several occasions I’ve done it – it feels like a vacation in my own city with the new perspective that it brings. But like many New Yorkers, I love to eat out and hotels in the city have some great restaurants. The Mandarin Oriental, New York has a fantastic lobby bar with some of the best views of Central Park that (bar) money can buy. The King Cole Bar at the St Regis New York is famous and a great place for a high class Manhattan drink. Unfortunately, Town in the Chambers hotel has closed but a new restaurant – Má Pêche- by celebrity chef David Chang of Momofuku fame will be opening shortly. I enjoyed my – fancy and expensive – meal at South Gate restaurant in the Jumeirah Essex House (hotel) New York. I love Nougatine in the Trump International Hotel and Towers – it’s a less fancy (and less expensive) version of its Michelin three star sister restaurant Jean Georges. Try the scrambled eggs at Nougatine.
- When my parents visit, they stay at one of several Upper West Side hotels including On The Ave, The Lucern Hotel New York and Hotel Beacon NYC.
- I’ve stayed at the Mandarin Oriental NYC, the Bowery Hotel NYC and the Trump Hotel, NYC and loved all of them – particularly ordering room service from Jean Georges while staying at the Trump.
