Posted on 02/09/2010 2:00:54 PM PST by NormsRevenge
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co will close its five-diamond property in Las Vegas this May, after the hotel struggled with a slide in demand and revenue.
"It's nothing the hotel did. It's a simple lack of business and a decline in the tourism industry," said Ritz-Carlton spokeswoman Vivian Deuschl.
The owners of the 348-room property, Village Hospitality LLC, an arm of Deutsche Bank, will stop funding the Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas day-to-day operations on May 2.
"That was the owner's decision and we reluctantly agreed to go along with it," Deuschl said.
Luxury properties have been hit hard in the past year and a half. Corporate travel and business from associations accounts for the bulk revenue of these hotels, but companies and groups have cut back on travel spending in the past year.
...
Last year, revenue for U.S. luxury hotels fell nearly 17 percent, outpacing the 14 percent drop in the overall industry, according to an analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC.
Revenue per available room (RevPAR), a fiscal measure of health in the industry, plummeted about 24 percent, compared with a 16.4 percent drop for the industry overall.
Luxury hotels have also suffered from the backlash from the so-called "AIG effect," referring to the uproar caused by American International Group's decision to fly top brokers and executives to a resort shortly after receiving a bailout check from the U.S. government.
"The whole demonization of luxury meetings and companies' pulling back on having their high-end meetings in luxury hotels -- this has had a tremendous impact on Las Vegas," Deuschl said. "I can't think of another destination that has had to defend itself more against comments from politicians."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Obama’s Fault
Hard to compete with all the new luxury properties at Wynn’s place and the new LV City Center. I never understood the attraction of LV Lakes since it is quite a distance from the Strip. Nice place but would hate to be stuck there on some convention without a car.
Unlike the smears on Bush, THIS REALLY IS OBAMA’S FAULT.
Obama is happy. One less place for the poor unemployed to blow their kids college money.
Unlike the smears on Bush, THIS REALLY IS OBAMA’S FAULT.
Paging Zero Nobama to the white courtesy phone..........
Too bad, because the Ritz didnt have a casino, and was spared all the casino crap.
Maybe the industry needs a massive stimulous package. /sarc
Obama: don’t waste your money on a trip to Las Vegas
ooh, all those hotel and restaurant employees, drivers and cleaners, etc. should really appreciate him
[I can’t stand Las Vegas but I don’t know why a POTUS would go around trashing one of the main tourism magnets of the USA]
I know a lot of people who go to Las Vegas and never step foot in a casino but to me it makes no sense not to have one. We stayed at the Ritz in Puerto Rico and they had a large casino.
but you see, now the property can be turned over to it’s rightful owners and converted into Cabrini Green on the Strip...
I haven't heard about the water level being in jeopardy. Just upstream, there is all kinds of work going on right now removing salt cedar, adding walking trails, and generally improving Las Vegas Wash, which of course spills into Lake Las Vegas.
Do you remember where you heard these reports (or when) about the water level?
The lender had already taken over the property.
“Paging Zero Nobama to the white courtesy phone..........”
He could be a bell-hop...or maybe the shoe shine boy.
Barak Obama is the shoe shine boy of the establishment.
“Now go home and get your shinebox.”
Goodfellas!
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