'Death ray' at Vegas hotel pool heats up guests

Video: Guests: Hotel's reflection too hot to handle

Open in new window

2. Transcript of: Guests: Hotel's reflection too hot to handle

   Advertise | AdChoices

   MEREDITH VIEIRA, co-host: Poolside guests at one of the newest hotels in Las Vegas are complaining about getting a lot more sun than they bargained for. Amy 's back with details on that. Hey, Ame.

   AMY ROBACH, anchor: That's right . Good morning, Meredith . It's jokingly being called the Vegas death ray . Guests say the glass facade of the Vdara Hotel and Spa reflects and then magnifies the sun's rays, making it hot enough to singe hair and melt plastic. With its $8 1/2 billion price tag, the new CityCenter complex is the hottest spot on the Las Vegas Strip ; maybe a little too hot.

   Mr. BILL PINTUS: I actually thought that oh, my God, we've destroyed the ozone layer because I am being burned.

   ROBACH: Bill Pintus was laying out by the pool at the Vdara Hotel when he says the heat from the sun became unbearable.

   Mr. PINTUS: My head was steaming hot. In fact, my hair felt like it was burning. And I could actually -- I could actually smell my hair burning.

   ROBACH: Pintus ran for cover under a nearby umbrella to get away from the intense heat. He left his newspaper behind and says the rays melted some of the plastic away.

   Mr. PINTUS: This was not a little uncomfortable. This was impossible to sit there. I mean, you were literally being burned. This is the swimming pool . And this is where I was seated right here...

   ROBACH: Pintus said the sun's rays were bouncing off the side of the Vdara hotel and focusing right on him. It's a phenomenon known as solar convergence. The intense heat is created by the curved glass surface of the hotel, acting as a parabolic dish. The glass bounces the rays from the sun and concentrates the light in a 10 by 15 foot hot zone , moving across the pool area.

   Mr. PINTUS: I said to the staff. I says, 'I don't know if you know what's going on out here,' I says, 'but I was being burned.' And they're like, 'Yeah, we know. We call it the death ray .'

   ROBACH: In a statement to NBC News , a spokesperson for MGM Resorts International , the hotel's owner, says the "pool staff did receive occasional questions about the elevated temperatures at the pool area as the convergence moved across the pool deck" and "would offer to relocate guests to the other seats on the deck." When a reporter for AOL paid a visit to the Vdara pool this week, he felt the intensity of the hot zone and talked to guests who felt it too.

   Mr. STEVE FREISS (Blogger, Vegashappenshere.com): This is Vegas so people do drink and sleep at the pool -- it's kind of our sport -- that they might in fact fall asleep, not know that they are in a very, very hot area and get very serious burns.

   ROBACH: Bill Pintus says he has no interest in suing the hotel. He just wants to make sure no one else gets burned.

   Mr. PINTUS: I just want them to fix it so that nobody does get hurt and that everybody can enjoy the pool.

   ROBACH: Well, the spokesperson for MGM Resorts International said the company is working with designers on new options for the pool, including shade structures for guests, more greenery to provide additional shade, and more umbrellas. But, Meredith , as we were saying, you know, with kids around and people asleep...

   Show transcript