8/4/2019 Hotel Department Article Winter 2009

1/2

8

CAPITALMarc \Veiswasser

What's In aTitle?HOTEL OPERAT IONS

Acco rding [0 rhe LasVegas Conven tion andVisitors Authority, inAugust 2008 there were a[Otal of 137,690 hotel andmote l rooms in the LasVegas area. Hotel occu-pancy was 92.5%, whichwas down 2.4% from the

year before. and average daily room rates weredown 15.3%. \Vle are all painfully aware of thechallenges faci ng our industry due [ 0 the economic. financial, and hous ing issues, bur be rte t rimes a re ahe-old so we must keep focusedduring che se turbulent times. The hoteldepartment is an area that has been particularly hard hit . \"'ieh so many room choices available how ca n the deparcment heads keep competitive wirhouc giving away the score?Rohecr leek , Vice President of HotelOp erations at rhe Sa ham HOtel and Casino,helped us oue. Robert has accumulated morethan 24 years in the hotel industr}' sta rting inthe culinary fi eld and reaching various leadership roles as Corponue nnd Regional levelExeclltive Chef, Direcror of F&B, andPurchasing & Sourcing. H e also held property-level general manager positions for induscry-leading companies sllch as Starwood,Marriott, Hyan, and \Vyndham Hotels, andh ilS continued his educat ion by attendingCornell University offered courses inHamburg, Germany. Prior co arriving in LasVegas. Robert was che General Manager at theLe Meridien Bever ly Hills.G&L: Tell us

8/4/2019 Hotel Department Article Winter 2009

2/2

bring value to each g uest that experiences ourSahara Hotel. This includes from the momentour guests arrive. lip to the point and timechey depart .

Ensuring chis ex perien ce includes propers taffing levels