When I was looking for another Las Vegas living option after selling my Las Vegas house, I decided that maybe the time was right to check out the glitz and glamour of some of the Las Vegas high rise condos. I figured it would be a carefree way to live in Las Vegas for a change.
So in the first installment of this special Vegas Inside Scoop series on Las Vegas High Rises, I'm sharing my experiences from my recent visit to Sky Las Vegas.
Sky Las Vegas is currently the only Las Vegas high rise condo that can claim luxury living on the strip (although if the Fountainebleau goes condo instead of condotel as is rumoured, then it would no longer be the only one to make that claim).
From Las Vegas Boulevard, Sky is an attractive white building with blue glass that commands attention. It's located right next to the Hilton Grand Vacation complex, with Circus Circus and The Sahara being its closest casino neighbors.
I toured Sky focusing on rentals, since it's a little early, in my opinion, to be buying into the Las Vegas high rise market, and it would make sense to know if I'd even like living there.
I made the mistake of walking over instead of driving (from Sky's security point-of-view). As soon as I started going to the front entrance, the security guard in the booth literally leaped off his seat to pop out to see what evil I might be thinking of inflicting since I obviously didn't yet belong there. Silly me, I thought there was an entrance near the guard gate. Nope, if you're gauche enough to walk, it's either through the lobby level 24-hour CVS, or around the other side of the building.
I went to the other side of the building, since I wandered around CVS and couldn't find the entrance still, and another guard said I had to be escorted to the building's real lobby to meet my Realtor. And so I was. The security does keep an eye on the place, that's for sure. An important point given Sky's location.
All of the beautiful common areas were spotless including the elevators, and I witnessed people cleaning as I walked through. The only negative I noticed was that even on a relatively temperate August day of 102 degees, the lobby and hallways of the building were pretty warm. In fact the side entrance guard had a portable air conditioning unit at her station!
Sky is just four years old, so the units are ultra-contemporary (all appliances are included through the in-unit washer/dryer), as well as the bathrooms with glass-enclosed showers and large roman tubs. The kitchen is the same in the one and two-bedroom units, and is small with appliances and cabinets lining a narrow passage way. But why waste space on a kitchen anyway?
You are immediately drawn to the floor to ceiling windows in each main room, and depending on the unit, you have a cement or glass balcony. I saw one unit that faced the Fountainebleau and Silver State arena construction and part of The Sahara, and another that was a spectacular upper floor unit with amazing Stratosphere views. The view, of course can be a prime strip one or not, and the price will reflect that accordingly. The one and two bedroom units I saw were about 800 and 1100 feet, respectively, and open and comfortable feeling.
How well a Sky rental unit is care for, of course, depends on the individual owner--I saw a unit owned by the developer that was like new, and two from individual owners where you can really tell it was a rental. Some owners obviously don't paint and clean up as well as others.
Two of the biggest surprises at Sky were the fact I was right on Las Vegas Boulevard, but inside the unit, the construction measures that were taken, resulted in virtually no outside Strip noise. The other surprise was the pool area. There's plenty of hang-out space, an attractive spa, cabanas, and even a small putting green and dog run, but Sky's pool was surprisingly small--it looked much larger in ad photos.
Overall, Sky itself is an attractive living option except that the truth is the neighborhood is not that great surrounding the property (a problem among Las Vegas high rise condos that is not limited to just Sky). The turnaround in the area surrounding Sky will rely heavily on what happens with the Fountainebleau across the street and the possible Silver State arena with the dream of landing an NBA franchise in Vegas (anyone betting on that proposition).
To some people (especially a single guy), this may not matter at all--they may want to be in a luxury place like Sky and say they live on The Las Vegas Strip. They may also be into being a pioneer ahead of the Silver State arena and Fountainebleau buildout. But as a female, I wouldn't want to live within a compound, no matter how nice that compound may be. I'd want to be able to walk around outside of where I live without worry--especially once the weather gets below 100 degrees :)
I'd compare it to people who live in Manhattan or Chicago with bars on their windows. The trade a higher degree of neighborhood safety, at times, for the convenience and excitement of living in the city. Now there's no bars on Sky Las Vegas, but it's a comparable situation that you need to think about outside the building, which is of course, beyond their control.
So I give Sky an "A" for the high rise condo itself, and the neighborhood a "C-". And that's the Vegas Inside Scoop on Las Vegas High Rise Sky Las Vegas.
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Please note that I have not been compensated for reviewing Sky Las Vegas in any way, and any opinions expressed are my own based on my actual experience as a propsective renter, and may not be your experience or opinion.
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