Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas to close in May

The Las Vegas Sun reports that The Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas in Henderson will close its doors May 2.

The 3,600-acre Lake Las Vegas, a development 20 miles southeast of the Las Vegas Strip, includes more than 1,600 residential units, luxury hotels and a casino. Lake Las Vegas is now in bankruptcy, burdened with $728 million in liabilities.

About 350 employees will be out of work as a result of the closure, but Deuschl said efforts are being made to relocate them to other Ritz-Carltons, Marriotts and other hotels in the Las Vegas Valley.

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company is an independently operated division of Marriott International.

The hotel will remain fully operational until the May closing date. Employees at the hotel were informed of the closure today.

"We have asked them to stay on until we can serve our last guest in the type of manner that a AAA Five Diamond hotel is expected to deliver,' Deuschl said. 'While they are obviously sad, they took the news with a commitment to continue to serve guests until the last day and we are very proud of them.'

Individual travelers and groups who have booked past May 2 are being notified. The Ritz-Carlton is working with them to relocate their business to other hotels.

The resort is owned by Village Hospitality LLC, which is an arm of Deutsche Bank.

Village Hospitality LLC purchased the property last year. The prior owner of The Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas sought reorganization in April 2008 to stop foreclosure on a $103 million mortgage.

The 15-acre, 349-room luxury hotel opened on Feb. 11, 2003. Before Village Hospitality purchased the property, Village Hotel Investors LLC had owned it since it opened.

Deuschl said she was unaware of Village Hospitality's future plans for the building.

"It is a very sad day for us," Deuschl said. "It's a sad reality of the economic decline in travel and tourism and especially of the disproportionate impact it's had on the Las Vegas area."

It is unknown how much money the resort is losing.

The Lake Las Vegas hotel received its first AAA Five Diamond Award in November.

"When the economy was good, this hotel was an extremely popular destination resort,' Deuschl said. 'It's been one of the real jewels in the crown of the company for us.'