Thursday, November 19, 2009

Mystery of the windows

Tommy Angelo just posted this intriguing insight on his blog, about the arrangement of the windows on Treasure Island, Bellagio, and probably other Strip properties. The question with which he leaves his readers is why they do this (i.e., how does this help them make money). I don't know, but I'm curious. The only answer I can come up with quickly (and it's not a particularly good one) is that it makes the windows look bigger, so one is more likely to think, "Oh, I'll stay there because it has big windows." But who picks a hotel based on window size?

I'm stumped.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Well if someone sees bigger windows they would probably assume the rooms were bigger. So by combining the windows it may make some people assume the rooms are bigger so they would want to stay there.

Tarpie said...

I believe it's for aesthetic reasons. Look at Monte Carlo sometime...it kind of looks like a prison. Paris also looks a little intimidating, but clear views of it are generally obscured by the tower.

Bellagio would not be as pretty with "normal" sized windows, and would more accurately look like the very high tower it is.

Rob C said...

its an architectural mind-trick used in order to make the buildings seem not as tall as they actually are. instead of someone looking at ti and saying wow its 30 stories, it only appears to be 17 stories, and thus less intimidating/tall/whatever. If every room as an individual window, it could look very cluttered, ie. the monte carlo. anyways just a trick that builders use.

Anonymous said...

It is an architectural eye-trick, but I don't think it has to do with making the building look smaller or the rooms look larger. I think they wanted the facade to have the look of a French-Caribbean plantation house, with the large shutters and deep sills. This detail would be lost on an individual window, so instead they grouped them and made the shutters much larger and more distinct from a distance.

Its all about proportion and aesthetics.

Anonymous said...

right I was watching a vegas special a ways back and they said it was to make the building not look as far away. So you think you can walk to it but its really much farther than it looks. Jedi mind trick!

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Anonymous said...

http://www.vegastodayandtomorrow.com/windows.htm