AntSol Travel

For this trip, my family & I went to Las Vegas to see the classic rock band, Foreigner, doing a six-night mini-residency at the Venetian Resort. It is 260 miles from Disneyland, averaging five hour’s drive, and about an hour and fifteen minutes flight time from most Southern California airports. My parents are Marriott Vacation Club members, so we did not stay at any old smoke-filled casino hotel. We stayed at a smoke-free, casino-less, extravagant-show-less, celebrity-endorsed restaurant-less, vacation club hotel, at Marriott Vacation Club Grand Chateau Las Vegas! 

While the casino resorts are meant to get you a gambling & drinking addiction (sarcasm), suck you dry of your money, and get confused about where you are in the building after gambling & drinking without any windows or clocks, the Grand Chateau is none of that is a respite away from the hustle and bustle of the Las Vegas Strip.

It is right off of the Strip, down the street in the southern half of the Strip at South Las Vegas Boulevard & East Harmon Avenue. It is across the street from Planet Hollywood Resort where we stayed last time to see the Florida Georgia Line mini-residency there in December of 2018, with the WalMart Yodeling Kid, Mason Ramsey, as the opener. Instead of new country music, we are going to see the classic rock band, Foreigner at the Venetian Theater on Saturday, April 1st. 

The Marriott Vacation Club Grand Château Las Vegas is a vacation club timeshare of the Marriott Vacation Club with 1114 units with three wings at 29 stories, according to AAA. It is located just off the Las Vegas Strip, located at 75 East Harmon Ave, right in the middle of the strip, and just off from there where you can easily walk from there to your next resort.

You can drive in and park at no additional charge with their valet services. However, don’t think about driving to another resort as traffic can get bad on Las Vegas Boulevard, walking can be your workout as we burned over 700 calories going to all of the resorts at the end of the stayover day. 

Units range from studios to grand three-bedroom units with some units having connecting doors. All have a full kitchen to make a full meal if the other resorts’ food & beverage prices are a bit too much, and can properly store & prep breakfast food in the full fridge, heat food in the microwave, cook with a full oven & electric stovetop, make a pot of coffee with coffee maker with coffee & condiments, blender make your own drinks to pregame before heading to the Strip. Along with cooking & dining utensils, plates, and cups that are fit for a group of the size of the unit. 

Since there were four of us, we got the one-bedroom unit with a King bed and a double-size sleeper sofa, the number of items in the kitchen corresponds to how many guests would typically for in the unit, however, there were six sets when the king bed & sleeper sofa sleeps four. 

In the utility closets next to the front door, there is the washer/dryer, great to wash off the casino smoke from your clothes or if you spilled too much food & beverages on your clothes from the night out.  The other closet has a coat rack, recycle bin, vacuum, brume, dustpan, fire extinguisher, iron, ironing board, and laundry basket for the washer/dryer. 

The living space has a round table with six chairs, a large flat screen TV on a console, two sitting chairs, a coffee table, a double-size sleeper sofa, and a side table with a lamp. 

The bedroom is separated from the living space by a door, it has king size bed, tv, a closet that is the size of an armoire, and two unique features of the larger one-bedroom unit, vanity with sink & jetted tub (commonly known as a Jacuzzi tub). 

The bathroom has a sink, toilet, and shower. It is connected by doors to the living space and the bedroom. The shower is all glass with a door, however, water can leak out as the door gasket does not fully cover when the shower water comes out from the door. Since this is a one-king-bedroom unit, there are two sets of towels by default, so we had to request two more sets of towels: a washcloth, a hand towel, and a bath towel. 

Depending on the direction you’re facing you can get an amazing view of the Las Vegas Strip as we did!

In the lobby is the front desk for registration & requests like our additional towels, the concierge desk to buy show tickets & get recommendations, the bell desk to store and/or assist with luggage, La Diva Bar for a drink, the Marketplace for coffee & snacks, and the Marketplace Express for a quick grab & go items next to the front desk. They also have indoor activities here such as the drinks of the day, wine & painting classes, and more. The fitness center is also on the first floor, I not did go this time, but it has most cardio and strength equipment. 

The fifth floor had the main pool bar & grill, they also had a live DJ, instructor-led games, table tennis tables, cornhole, and more. They also have a large TV screen to watch the big sports game, however, it was not working at the moment. 

On the 38th floor is the Sky Bar & rooftop pool deck with an amazing view of the Las Vegas Strip since the hotel is right off the Strip without any other towers obscuring the view, perfect for a panorama of the skyline. 

Parking is limited to valet only at no charge since the garage is on the smaller side, between the ground & the 5th floors. If you are driving in or renting a car to go to other Las Vegas Valley destinations, make sure you bring your standard-sized vehicle as the max height is 6 foot 9 inches tall. If you have anything taller or has a trailer, you have to park it elsewhere. When you are getting your valeted vehicle, you scan your valet ticket at a valet kiosk and a valet staff person will run up the garage ramp to get your vehicle. 

In conclusion, the Marriott Grand Chatoe is a great hotel to escape the hustle & bustle, smoke, and overstimulation of the Las Vegas Strip resort hotels. Just a nice clean smoke-free vacation club hotel suite, kitchen, two pools with one on the rooftop, two restaurants & bars, Marketplace Cafe & gift shop, and activities for all ages.