ROSSI RALENKOTTER, executive vp of the Las Vegas
and Visitors Authority, will succeed Manny Cortez as the LVCVA's
president and chief executive officer. Cortez, who has served as
the LVCVA's president since 1991, will retire July 2. A Las Vegas
resident since 1944, Cortez was a member of the LVCVA's board of
directors for almost eight years. He also served four terms as a
Clark County commissioner, beginning in 1976. Ralenkotter, a
51-year resident of Las Vegas, has been with the LVCVA since 1973.
AMERICAN CASINO & ENTERTAINMENT PROPERTIES,
a unit of American Real Estate Partners, completed its acquisition
of Arizona Charlie's Decatur and Arizona Charlie's Boulder from
Carl Icahn and an entity affiliated with Icahn for $125,900,000. As
part of the deal, American Real Estate Holdings, a subsidiary of
American Real Estate Partners, transferred 100% of the common stock
of Stratosphere Corp., which owns the Stratosphere Casino Hotel
& Tower, to American Casino. The company now owns and operates
the three hotel-casino properties.
HAWAIIAN MARKETPLACE, a Polynesian-themed
retail, entertainment and dining complex inspired by the famed
Int'l Marketplace in Honolulu, opened last week on the Strip. The
$175 million, 80,000-square-foot marketplace features re-creations
of Banyan trees, a statue of King Kamehameha, tropical plants, and
a flock of animatronic birds that sing, dance and tell Hawaiian
folktales. To entertain shoppers, there's Team Aloha, a Las
Vegas-based troupe of island-born performers who dance, tell
stories and make crafts, as well as Samoan fire-knife dancers, who
juggle and twirl flaming knives. Tenants in the marketplace range
from clothing retailers to food and beverage outlets. There's a
7-Eleven convenience store and a wedding chapel, Weddings on the
Strip.
MONTELAGO VILLAGE RESORT AT LAKE LAS VEGAS
added almost 1,900 square feet of function space. The two new
rooms, Villaggio I and Villaggio II, offer 636 square feet and
1,258 square feet of space, respectively, or they also can be
combined to offer one large space. The new rooms can accommodate
classroom seating for 131 people, theater seating for 210, a
banquet setup for 157 or a reception for 200. With the addition of
the Villagio rooms, the property, which has six other meetings'
rooms -- all of which are wired for audio-visual presentations,
teleconferencing and high-speed Internet access -- now features
more than 6,000 square feet of function space. To make booking
meetings easier, the resort created a conference package that
bundles accommodations, breakfast, morning and afternoon breaks,
meetings' space and a standard audio-visual package into one rate,
starting at $108 per person, per night. Lunch and/or dinner also
can be added to the package price, which varies by season and does
not include taxes. Group activities are available and range from
dinner yacht cruises and golf tournaments to Grand Canyon
helicopter tours and team-building events. The resort features
studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom accommodations, all with
high-speed Internet access, robes, hairdryers, irons and ironing
boards and DVD players.
TRAVEL AGENTS curious about MonteLago Village
Resort can take advantage of the property's fam rate -- 50% off
rack rates -- which is valid year round. Commissionable room rates
start at $129 per night. Agents can find MonteLago Village under
chain code LM. For more information or to make an agent reservation
or a group booking, call (866) 399-2753 or visit www.montelagovillage.com.