Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

New partnership gives SLS hope for turnaround

SLS Las Vegas

Steve Marcus

An exterior view of SLS Las Vegas.

Click to enlarge photo

Scott Kreeger, president and COO of SLS Las Vegas, said the resort has an 18-month to two-year period to “ramp up.”

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SLS Las Vegas just turned a year old in August, but the hotel’s ownership and image have morphed considerably.

Now, the $800 million resort is about to undergo further construction after announcing a partnership with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. Officials plan to turn the SLS Lux tower into W Las Vegas.

A quick refresher on SLS Las Vegas: Gone is the original visionary behind the hotel, Sam Nazarian, and his company SBE Entertainment. Beset by personal and professional concerns after an investigation by the state Gaming Control Board, Nazarian sold his minority interest in the hotel to Stockbridge Capital Partners, which today is the sole owner of SLS Las Vegas.

This month, hotel officials disclosed a new partnership, which will result in the 289-room tower closest to Paradise Road serving as the first W hotel in Las Vegas.

SLS President Scott Kreeger outlined the next phase for the hotel he took over in September 2014:

Sell me on why this partnership is good for SLS.

It’s based on the international brand strength, recognition and alignment of W. We think we make a great location for the first W in town. It continues to bolster our lifestyle positioning that garners the highest average daily rate and occupancy. Because of our location next to the convention center, we want to focus in 2016 on the convention and business traveler.

When you look at the Starwood Preferred Guest network and the strength of that network and the strength of its international sales force and the fact that the company doesn’t have a relatively large footprint in town, we think we’re going to become the pre-eminent destination for the SPG customer.

Will the property still be called SLS Las Vegas?

The property itself is SLS Las Vegas. And at SLS Las Vegas, there will be a W. Those 289 rooms in what is now the Lux tower will be accessed on the back entry through the porte cochere, with a separate pool, spa, fitness center and lobby. It’s a major commitment. They believe in it, and I believe in it.

So there will be more construction? The hotel just finished a major renovation in August 2014. What’s the timeline?

We hope to have it completely up and operational around the end of the third quarter of 2016. So, say September of next year.

In the meantime, the entire property will go under what is called the Tribute Collection, the company’s online booking platform of independently operated hotels, and in the next 30 to 45 days, completely integrate with the Starwood system.

This sounds like the partnerships between Nobu tower and Caesars Palace or Delano and Four Seasons and Mandalay Bay.

You could use any of those as examples, yes. But the distinction between that and this is, we’re a fully integrated Starwood hotel now. It won’t be just the W. It will be all of the towers that enjoy the support of the Starwood systems. We’ll manage the restaurants still and the remainder of the retail. They will have a spa and their own pool. The W will benefit from the overall amenities of the rest of the property.

This is clearly a move directed at convention and business travelers. What’s happening for locals at SLS?

A lot of our offerings for locals that make this a great place to play are working, and we continue to see month-over-month increases in local gaming. We’ve had great giveaways, where we offer to pay your bills for a year or make $50,000 in improvements to your house. The big thing now is we’re giving away a $250,000 house at the end of the year.

So this is where the house actually gives away a house?

Yes, that’s exactly right.

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