After a delicious breakfast at Zen Kitchen (Zen Kitchen at Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas) and after finishing up a fantastic weekly zoom meeting with my brokerage (there's nothing like an in depth review of Natural Hazards Disclosures and learning about radon gas levels in Los Angeles), I had only one thing on my mind: pool time.
So, after putting on my favorite Summersalt Sidestroke swimsuit (the best swimsuit I’ve ever worn) and grabbing my poolside book, I made my way to the 8th floor.
Settling in on a poolside chair, I was comfortable – until I wasn’t. It was HOT in Las Vegas. Due to a wind advisory, the pool umbrellas were closed. So, even though I slathered on the provided SPF 50 sunscreen and tried to cover my body in an extra large pool towel, I was roasting.
So, I moved over to the pool cafe, took a seat and looked over the cafe menu. I was determined to finish my book in the comfort of some sort of shade.
I settled on the GOLDEN PINEAPPLE WHIP COLADA (Bacardi 8 rum, pineapple whip soft serve, coconut, lime, Myers Rum) as the perfect match for my page turner.
There was something beautiful about relaxing outside with clouds lining the sky, feeling the wind against my skin, and carrying that quiet sense of completion that only comes after finishing a really good book.
For the first time in a long time, my day wasn’t about doing. It was about experiencing the fun and profound pleasure of simply being.
Sitting next to the pool, I realized how caught up I’ve been in the performative necessity of productivity. So much so that indulging in the pleasure of existing without a to-do list felt almost sacrilegious. But there, sipping a whipped piña colada and falling into the pleasures of the literary world, I felt something – like an inner reset.
For me, that’s really what Las Vegas represents. Glancing over at Park MGM towering next to the Waldorf Astoria, I thought about being there for Silk Sonic, for a Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett show, and for a few other stays. Same with The Cosmopolitan. But at those resorts, I felt that I was in those spaces. Like, I was physically there, of course. However, I never felt truly as relaxed as I did at the pool at Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas. Why? Because it always felt overstimulated, being one of thousands moving between slot machines, navigating that pulsing, electric current of people desperate to make their mark and be seen. But seen by who? And proving their worth to whom?
At the Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas, where the pool belongs only to residents and hotel guests, where the small and attentive staff are super friendly and the drinks feel worth I felt a distinct and almost rare sense of calm. Of not needing to justify my presence, because worthiness was already acknowledged the moment you checked in.
That’s the beauty of quiet luxury. It’s understated. You aren’t necessarily in it so much as you are of it, bathed in it, swaddled by it, nurtured by it. Because of that, it gives you permission to go deeper into who you actually are because you’re not fighting against someone’s raging ego to be seen and feel important. For, being forced to listen to a sonically overwhelming soundtrack of blaring music as drunks and coke heads hunt for who they’re going to sleep with that night.
At least, that’s in my experience, because I try and focus on pouring my energy into people, places and things that bring peace into my life.
Like finishing my book – poolside – as I finished the last sip of my pina colada.
The Pool at Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas
3752 Las Vegas Blvd SouthLas Vegas, Nevada 89158
