Right after my last of 3 sessions on Wednesday morning I hit the road, but since I simply HAD to make it to my next client, instead of driving 45 min’s north to connect back through Scranton, I drove 2 hours straight south to Philadelphia, to catch my non-stop flight to Las Vegas.

What an interesting, ironic and symbolic occurrence it was for me that my very first training client back in Las Vegas since the launch of Kennedy Training Network 11 months back was to be the same hotel that was one of my very first clients in Las Vegas when my old company – HSA International – was entering the market for the first time 15+ years ago.  At that time Steve Wynn, who had started his Las Vegas career as a restaurant manager at Golden Nugget and who eventually emerged as the majority shareholder, still personally operated their sister hotels which were The Mirage and Treasure Island.   I could not believe that the same reservations manager – Kerry MacDonald – and her assistant – Chris, were both still there and doing a great job after all these years!  Almost everything else had changed though, especially since Golden Nugget was bought by Landry’s Restaurants and Hotels a few years back and a huge renovation was undertaken.

How nice it was to arrive at this bustling casino hotel by 9pm on Thursday.  Despite that it was really Midnight on my biological clock, when I looked out my window at the $30 Million dollar, three level pool and sundeck complex I knew I had to take a walk around.  How nice it was to re-discover The Golden Nugget as such a classic, one that has maintained its AAA 4-Diamond Rating for 40+ years now if memory servces.  It was great to be back downtown and to see all of the renovations and attractions they’ve added, such as having put a giant dome over the entire downtown Fremont Street area, which is a giant projection wall you’d only see in a discothèque if anywhere, other than this one has over 12 million lights.  The best part was being able to walk right downstairs and into any hotel restaurant, bar, nightclub, or show without having to traverse an entire mile or more as you would at most of the other “mega” hotels.  Here’s some pictures from downtown Las Vegas.

      

The next day I began a reservations sales training needs assessment as a precursor to the training that is scheduled for June.  How wonderful it was to meet up with my main client contact for this phase of the project, who was Nicki Keenan, Senior Vice President for Landry’s Hotels.  Walking into her office on the top floor of Golden Nugget, I felt like I was in a major motion picture like Casino or something.  What an intensive and very productive day it was discovering the huge milestones they’ve accomplished, while also charting out a map for the next phase of their continuous journey to reservations sales excellence.  I’ve known Nicki since she was starting her first corporate-level job as Corporate Director of Sales for a small hotel ownership/management company in the Midwest, and worked with her at other stops too such as when she was the Director of Sales & Marketing at The Woodlands Resort Conference Center in Houston.  At every stop I’ve seen her do her absolute best to actualize the full potential of each organization she was involved with.  As I told her over dinner, if I ever win the lotto and find myself with enough cash to buy a hotel asset I am DEFINITELY putting her in charge of running it!  After dinner I managed to talk her into having a third glass of wind to check out the incredibly talented high energy rock band – The Frankie Moreno Band - I had discovered the night before in own hotel.   Here’s a picture of me with my client and dear friend Nicki Keenan that evening at my now-favorite hotel lobby bar in all of Las Vegas. Also below is a picture of my now-favorite Las Vegas band!