Regent to manage five-star hotels in Summerlin

Gary Thompson

Thursday, Feb. 19, 1998 | 10:42 a.m.

One of the world's top names in luxury lodging will manage two hotels in The Resort at Summerlin.

Regent International Hotels, a subsidiary of Carlson Companies Inc., is joining Seven Circles Resorts Inc. to build a five-star resort complex on 54 acres at the corner of Summerlin Parkway and Rampart Boulevard.

When it opens in April 1999, the resort will include the 286-room Regent Grand Spa and 270-room Regent Las Vegas, separate six-story luxury hotels straddling a 50,000 square-foot casino.

Aimed at attracting high-end golf and spa customers, the resort will include gourmet restaurants, a 40,000-square-foot spa and a $13.5 million garden and pool complex that "will be, without a doubt, the finest in Las Vegas and quite possibly the finest in the United States," said Brian McMullan, Seven Circles president.

The project is Regent's second in this country. It operates the Regent Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills and eight other luxury hotels in Asia. Its Hong Kong Regent consistently ranks among the top five luxury hotels in the world.

"We wanted to expand in America and consider Las Vegas to be the most exciting market in the United States," said Paul Hanley, Regent International president.

Carlson Companies, a $20 billion travel and hospitality conglomerate, acquired Regent International last year from Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts. Since then, Regent executives have embarked on an expansion plan featuring new properties and acquisitions.

Curtis Nelson, president of the company's Carlson Hospitality Worldwide division, said Carlson expects to double in size over the next five years.

Carlson also operates 370 Radisson hotels in the four-star segment of the lodging industry, as well as 175 Country Inns & Suites. It has 500 TGI Friday's restaurant franchises operating around the world.

The Resort at Summerlin will control 75 percent of the tee times at the TPC Canyons golf course and will also be able to reserve times at four other golf courses nearby.

It will market its golf and spa facilities to upscale leisure customers and incentive travelers from Asia and the United States who are seeking a luxury resort destination away from the Las Vegas Strip.

The Regent Las Vegas will offer an Italian restaurant and a nightclub, while the Regent Grand Spa will feature a continental restaurant and golfers' lounge, along with an 8,000 square-foot putting green.

The resort's lifestyle center will include a winery, gourmet restaurant, Irish pub, cigar lounge, florist and patisserie. A 50,000 square-foot conference center will provide meeting and banquet services for up to 1,000 people.

The resort expects to command an average daily room rate above $200, Hanley said.

The $270 million project will employ 1,800 when it opens, McMullan said.

Seven Circles is providing $70 million in equity, while the remaining $200 million will be financed with debt.

Some Summerlin residents had opposed expansion of the resort to more than 500 rooms from the originally planned 300, but the City Council approved the new plans last fall.