Dolce Hotels and Resorts

Affordable Luxury: The Opening of Ravella At Lake Las Vegas

Dolce Hotels and Resorts' newest property, Ravella at Lake Las Vegas, opened its doors on February 11th. Ravella is a 349-room-and-suite resort, situated on the shores of the largest privately owned man-made lake in the country. Located 17 miles from the Las Vegas Strip on the site of the former Ritz-Carlton® at Lake Las Vegas, Ravella offers kayaking, boating and fly fishing, and the nearby SouthShore Jack Nicklaus golf course. Ravella also features a 24 treatment room, 30,000-square-foot Mediterranean-inspired spa, salon and fitness center, 39,000 square feet of meeting and social event space, Las Vegas's only over-water chapel called La Capella di Amore, as well as multiple lounge and dining experiences. Ravella guests may also access two marinas, near the Village Lake Las Vegas, an enclave reminiscent of colorful lake communities in Italy and France.

Guests will experience a redesigned lobby that serves as a social gathering spot. Its nearby Firenze Lounge spans three distinct activity areas for guests --to relax with something to eat, and/or plug in their laptop, and/or socialize over coffee or cocktails. Ravella guests also have privileged access to The Village Lake Las Vegas and can bill restaurant meals to their hotel rooms. Focused on affordable luxury, Ravella's room rates start at $120 per night. Nevada residents also enjoy a 25-percent locals discount with valid Nevada ID.

In addition, Ravella's environment provides a colorful backdrop for corporate retreats, a vital part of the Dolce Hotel and Resort's corporate identity. Large-scale meetings, weddings and lakeside events are palnned, and can be easily accommodated. Brides-to-be will enjoy the La Capella di Amore, Ravella's over-water chapel located on the Ponte Vecchio Bridge. There's also a Florentine Garden, Tuscany Courtyard; and private beach with waterfall.

Tags: Dolce Hotels and Resorts, Jack Nicklaus SouthShore, La Capella di Amore, Lake Las Vegas, Las vegas, Ravella At Lake las Vegas, Ravella At Lake Las Vegas Hotel Opening, SouthShore Golf Club at Lake Las Vegas, Southshore Jack Nicklaus Golf, The Spa At Ravella, Village Lake las Vegas

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The Evolving Re-Vision: Lake Las Vegas And The Ravella Hotel

by Susan Kime (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Real Estate Developments

My colleague, Deidre Woollard, recently wrote in Luxist about the opening of the Ravella Hotel at Lake Las Vegas. I found the article to be intriguing, as I knew the recent history of Lake Las Vegas, and also interviewed -- three times -- Ron Boeddeker, owner of Transcontinental Corporation, the developer/visionary who conceived this grand idea.

The new Ravella Hotel At Lake Las Vegas is located on the site of the former Ritz Carlton Lake Las Vegas that bankrupted in May of last year. To many, the Ritz Carlton bankruptcy seemed like the terminal blow to the original vision of Lake Las Vegas, the last Gordian knot in a string of bad news and bankruptcies. But the opening of the Ravella, and especially from Dolce, hotel managers and operators who specialize in meetings and conferences, seems relevant and positive in the forward evolution of Lake Las Vegas.

Mr. Boeddeker's original vision was to re-create a Lake Como-like, Mediterranean enclave 17 miles from the Las Vegas strip. Multi-million dollar residences would be built along the lake, there would be fine hotels, excellent food, substantial golf courses. It was a vision that had legs, and Mr. Boeddeker's unusual expertise -- his University education combined civil engineering and ( of all things) theology -- pulled it off, for awhile. He was one of the few developers who could simultaneously envision a 320 acre lake in the middle of a desert and know how to create it from a practical engineering standpoint. In the grand home of great developer visions, this was one of the most expansive. The dark side of such a vision, and one that Mr. Boeddeker would have surely acknowledged were he still alive, was the importance of a recession-resistant economy needful to the overall health of the concept.

But the economy was not recession-resistant, and even with celebrities buying houses, exceptional hotels and golf courses in active use, Lake Las Vegas reflected the economy's downturn. Transcontinental defaulted on $540 million in loans in fall 2007, and went into foreclosure. The development was acquired by the Atalon Group in January 2008, only for it to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection six months later. And this was just the beginning:

Tags: Atalon Group, Deutschebank, Dolce Hotels and Resorts, Lake Las Vegas, Ritz carlton Lake Las vegas, Ron Boeddeker, The Ravella at Lake Las Vegas, The Ravella Hotel, Village Hotel Investors

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