Arizona Daily Star from Tucson, Arizona • Page 56

gfef Ariiana flailn Slar Tucson, Sunday, August 11, 1935 Pag Eight Section i Atmosphere at Alexis Park Hotel resorts Lasvegas is unique among 1 I )a ur Mr lit 1 By Jonathan Taylor Lot Angl Daily Nw. LAS VEGAS, Nev. The first sensation that strikes you upon entering the Alexis Park Resort Hotel even before the visual surprise of Mediterranean-style tile floors and white and arched walls, which you notice soon enough is the sound. What you hear is water trickling from a small fountain in the lobby and the too-prevalent sound of piped-in elevator music. But what you don't hear is just as notable.

What you don't hear, what makes the Alexis Park unique in Las Vegas, is the sound of anything having to do with gambling. There's no tinkling of coins from a slot machine, no excited shouts from the winners at the various games, no moans from the losers. If you didn't know any better, you'd swear you were in Palm Springs or Scottsdale. Even the atmosphere of the Alexis Park is different than other Las Vegas hotels. While there is a certain anxiousness associated with the other major hotels in town an anxiety due in part to the tension of playing with money the Alexis Park is surprisingly relaxing.

Unlike most major Las Vegas hotels, which are designed so that visitors must walk through the casino to get to their rooms, at the -Alexis Park you walk past rows of lounges arranged around a large swimming pool before you get to your room. It's a key difference. "The hotel's developer came to Las Vegas a lot of times on business, and he was stuck in casinos with the noise, distractions and buses," says Lynda Blackington, the hotel's tour and travel sales director, speaking about Robert Schulman, who conceived and built the Alexis Park. "Businessmen need a place to stay, do business and then go." The hotel's close proximity to the airport just a mile away is an added bonus. Indeed, so far the Alexis Park has been predominantly a business-oriented hotel, although aquarium around the perimeter.

The soft dance music played by Savoy and Lynne is the closest the Alexis Park comes to the glitz of the Strip, which is just a couple of minutes away. "There's already enough glitter and casinos in Las Vegas," Blackington says. Still, there have been persistent rumors that the Alexis Park will be forced to build a casino eventually. The feeling of many is that the Alexis Park simply cannot otherwise survive in a gambling town. Although the hotel is near the Strip, it isn't within walking distance for someone itchy to shoot craps, and that could hurt business.

Blackington didn't rule out the possibility of a casino in the future, although she insisted there are no plans to build one now. Even if one is built, she added, it would be in a separate structure, so that the current charm and relaxed atmosphere of the hotel wouldn't be disturbed. Instead, the Alexis Park's current priority is completing an expanded convention and meeting facility. In keeping with the hotel's newness it opened its doors just a year ago, in July it is equipped with several state-of-the-art fea- tures. Most notable is the "Marlok" key system, which features room keys with computerized tape where the ridges normally would be.

The photo eye in each keyhole reads the information on the key and will open only if it is programmed for that door. Because the key doesn't have a room number on it, it would be virtually impossible, for someone to figure out which, door the key opens if lost. There are still some bugs in the system, however. The dust and dirt that the Las Vegas winds blow around can interfere with the reading mechanism of the lock, making it impossible to open the door. But that's a minor, and correctable, irritation in a hotel that otherwise offers relaxation and serenity.

Those are new and needed features for Las Vegas. one wonders whether the lure of lounging by the pool is any more productive than sitting in a dimly lit casino. But Blackington notes that more of an effort is being made to attract families, too. The two tennis courts, three swimming pools, a complete fitness workout center and, especially, the suite design of every room should be an attractive lure to businesses and families alike. From the outside you almost might mistake it for an apartment or condominium development.

Each of the 16 complexes, which hold a total of 500 rooms, is only two stories high, and all have the distinctive white-washed Mediterranean exteriors, accented by forest-green tiles. Inside, they range from the comfortable, attractive single-bedroom suites ($85 a night), right up to an elaborate, two-bedroom loft suite with a Jacuzzi conveniently behind the bed in the master bedroom ($275 a night). All rooms are designed in soft, relaxing pastel colors. Water in general is held in reverence at the Alexis Park. Besides the three swimming pools, each with a large whirlpool spa nearby, the property is marked bynumerous mounds of simulated rock that have Water gently pouring out from the top and cascading down to form small streams that intersect the foot paths.

Even the Alexis Park's logo, a sort of seven-pointed fleur-de-lis, suggests a fountain of water. That visual design is carried over, cleverly, to a real fountain in the shallow end of the largest pool. Of course, even the most recreationally minded need something to eat. For that there is the elegant Pegasus restaurant there's a penchant for Greek mythological names here which ranks with some of Las Vegas' finest restaurants, and Cafinao, a classy coffee shop with food a big step above the microwaved monstrosities served at other local eateries. Opening up right on the pool area is the Pisces Lounge, a bar that features live music and dancing, on a dance floor with a built-in 4 7 ST 1 TIM Associated Prw Vegas Frolics The new $14 million Wet Wild water park that opened recently on the Strip in Las Vegas, was originally built for children, while their parents spent time at the gaming but kids of all ages have found out what fun it can be.

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