Sleep in style

The spirit of Bugsy Siegel is alive and well at the El Cortez -- and sleeping soundly in stylish new digs.

Four unique suites that harken back to hotel's heritage were recently unveiled at the downtown property as part of a design contest presented by the hotel along with the Las Vegas Design Center.

The Big Sleep, created by Urban Design Studio, was named the winner and will recreate the design in six of the hotel's luxury suites.

"Our concept came from researching the history of the hotel. El Cortez was once owned by Bugsy Siegel and we knew the hotel was already using this in some of their advertising," said Tina Enard, principal of Urban Design Studio, which is based in Reno. "The suite is small and we really wanted to make it seem bigger. The main focal of the room is a black and white graphic wall mural of a desert landscape. This, paired with striped carpet that runs the length of the room, help us achieve the illusion of a bigger space. We incorporated elements of the desert to play off the Vegas 'buried in the desert' vibe and then in contrast used clean-lined, sophisticated furnishings and with pops of colorful fabric."

There's even a floor lamp that looks like a tumbleweed and an animal skull with gold-accented teeth.

"It's a nice metaphor for everything. All the sparkle and success out in the middle of the desert," said Alex Epstein, executive manager of El Cortez.

She called the suite a mix of crime and charisma.

Enard said she decided to participate in the contest because "the last few years have been very brutal on the design industry as a whole. Many layoffs, talented people out of work and our business has been hit hard as well. We wanted to get involved in something positive, something that would be creative and give us a challenge."

The idea behind the contest was to highlight downtown Las Vegas and Nevada in general. "We have great talents and resources and not everyone knows about them," Epstein said. "It was such a fun project to work on. Really, we had no ideal what the response would be. There are a lot of local designers who are out of work and we wanted to see where their creativity would take us."

The team at El Cortez came up with the idea after discovering they had inadvertently missed several suites in their tower during a major revamp of the property.

"We wanted to do something fresh and interesting," Epstein said. "We have the World Market Center and Las Vegas Design Center down the street and were trying to figure out how to best work with them. We were discussing our options and thought why not do a design competition with them. We had no idea if they would be interested in the contest or working with a hotel property."

When approached with the idea, not only was the design center interested, staff members were helpful in setting up criteria and generous with their resources, she added.

In all, 32 Nevada-based designers and teams expressed interest in the contest. From there, 18 fulfilled all the requirements and submitted proposals. The judges selected four finalists, who had the opportunity to build out their suites, and four alternatives in case there were problems with any of the finalists completing the project.

The designers were given $22,000 and the stipulation to use as many resources as they could from the Las Vegas Design Center to renovate the rooms.

Epstein said selecting the winner was extremely difficult because each suite was beautiful and unique. Though she said it was a coin toss that determined the winner, what set them apart was the bathroom in The Big Sleep.

"The existing bathroom is very small with a pedestal sink and little room for toiletries. We knew to make it a "suite" bathroom we needed to upgrade the finishes and the vanity," Enard said. "We used a beautiful teal wallcovering on the vanity wall, created a marble vanity with a vessel sink and storage below, added a large mirror and new vanity light. On the floor and around the jetted tub, we used limestone tile in a brick lay pattern. The finishes give it an upgraded look and the new vanity gives the bathroom a whole new feel."

"It just elevated the bathroom and made it look a lot nicer than what we currently have to offer," Epstein said.

Not only did the contest find an interior designer to renovate tower suites at the hotel, the judges and executive team from El Cortez were so impressed with the entry created by Las Vegas designers Patrick Peel and Mikel Patrik of M[P]3, that they will be awarded the opportunity to redesign the lounge bar.

"Every time we met for the suite, we sat in that bar in our seats and ordered drinks and thought about what we would do here." Patrik said. "We're more excited about that (designing the lounge bar) because everyone who walks into the hotel will see that. We're very honored."

Peel said they hope to infuse the bar with the same spirit as their hotel suite, which was deeply rooted in the past but with a modern approach. They call the look modern glam.

"We were thinking what the El Cortez was all about and trying to bring in that retro feel, but in a modern way," Peel said.

The suite, dubbed El Contempo, was done in white and gold with black accents. They started by stripping the room of carpet and installing hard-surface flooring in gold. Then, they painted the ceiling to match and installed a shimmer screen of gold beads to separate the sitting and sleeping areas. Swarovski crystals accent one of the chairs, done in white to match the white sofas. Instead of a traditional headboard, the two created one with mirrors.

"The bed that we wanted was $18,000 so we had to take a step back," Patrik said. "We could have spent $100,000. Anyone could do that. But to do what we did for $20,000 speaks to our design talent and skill."

Like the winning suite, a mural is a key component of the design. Peel said it was one of the last pieces to be installed but it has become one of the room's focal points.

Both Patrik and Peel believe it would be an ideal addition to any home in Las Vegas.

"It's one of those things that you don't have to spend a lot of money on but it makes a lot of impact," Patrik said.

One of the nice aspects about working with the design center is that if people see something they like in one of the suites, they have the option of purchasing it for their own home, Peel added.