Hyatt to manage Cosmopolitan hotel

By Liz Benston (contact)

Wednesday, April 6, 2005 | 10:49 a.m.

Hyatt Hotels Corp. has signed an agreement with the planned Cosmopolitan Resort & Casino to operate the property's 2,700 hotel and hotel-condo units under the Grand Hyatt brand -- the brand's debut in Las Vegas.

In addition to managing the hotel, Hyatt also will manage condominiums for condo owners who have the option of renting their units to hotel guests. Condo owners may also take advantage of services provided to Grand Hyatt hotel customers.

The Cosmopolitan is a $1.5 billion, multi-story resort under development at the corner of Harmon Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard and is expected to open by early 2008. The developer is 3700 Associates, a private company partly owned by New York high-rise developer Ian Bruce Eichner and former Venetian resort executive David Friedman.

Friedman said his company had talked with "several great hotel companies" about managing the hotel but "at the end of the day we felt the Grand Hyatt was the best fit for us."

Hyatt Hotels Corp., which owns several Hyatt brands, already operates the Hyatt Regency at Lake Las Vegas in Henderson but doesn't yet offer the Grand Hyatt brand in Las Vegas. Grand Hyatt hotels are among the company's most upscale brands and are typically located in urban settings.

"Grand Hyatt has built a stellar, luxury reputation in such culturally rich destinations as Tokyo, Hong Kong, Berlin, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., which perfectly suits Las Vegas' new Cosmopolitan lifestyle found at our property," Friedman said.

"We look forward to bringing the Grand Hyatt product -- internationally renowned for its service, grandeur and exceptional facilities -- to Las Vegas, a city that certainly fits the Grand Hyatt standard," Global Hyatt Corp. Executive Vice President Steve Goldman said in a statement. Chicago-based Global Hyatt is a newly formed parent company overseeing the Hyatt Hotels chain.

The Cosmopolitan will benefit from Hyatt's worldwide reservations system, relationships with corporate meeting planners and a large database of international customers, Friedman said.

Hyatt operates 27 Grand Hyatt hotels worldwide including Hong Kong, Tokyo and Berlin and seven more are planned by 2008. Seven of the Grand Hyatt properties are located in the United States, including hotels in San Diego and San Francisco.