Hilton partners with Genting’s Resorts World Las Vegas

Elvis is coming back to the Strip.

That’s how Resorts World Las Vegas President Scott Sibella characterizes a partnership unveiled Thursday between Hilton and the 3,500-room Resorts World megaresort being built by Malaysia-based Genting Group and scheduled to open in summer 2021.

Hilton is partnering with Resorts World to connect three of its premium brands — Hilton Hotels & Resorts, LXR and Conrad — to the $4.3 billion Resorts World property.

The partnership takes effect immediately and Hilton can begin selling rooms at the resort, marketing to the company’s 100 million Hilton Honors loyalty club members.

Hilton has been synonymous with Elvis Presley, a headliner at the Las Vegas Hilton in the 1970s who had 636 consecutive sold-out shows. In January 2012, the company ended its affiliation with the Las Vegas Hilton and it became the LVH, which was sold to Westgate Resorts in 2014 and was renamed Westgate Las Vegas.

“We had various options before we decided on partnering up with Hilton,” Sibella said in an interview. “We decided we wanted to have a partner that is a leader in global hospitality, and Hilton is probably the best at it. They had the history of really starting what Las Vegas is today with the Las Vegas Hilton.”

For Hilton, it’s the first time in the company’s history that three brands are being affiliated in one resort property. Resorts World also will be the largest Conrad-branded location in the world.

Resorts World will have a Hilton tower and a Conrad tower and a dedicated porte cochere at which Hilton guests can check in.

Hilton is providing its digital key technology for Resorts World that it uses at more than 4,000 properties worldwide.

“Las Vegas is very important as a key market in the world and certainly for our Honors members it’s a very important destination for them,” said Greg Hartmann, senior vice president of full service, luxury and lifestyle development for Hilton.

“For them, having a place like Resorts World is fantastic,” Hartmann said. “We don’t have a Hilton there now, certainly nothing of this caliber.”

Hilton guests will have access to the resort’s facilities, including a 5,000-seat state-of-the-art theater, which is scalable to host A-list celebrity residencies and corporate events; a 220,000-square-foot pool complex with seven pool experiences; a spa and fitness center; a collection of casual and fine-dining food and beverage concepts; and 350,000 square feet of meeting and convention space.

Hartmann said Hilton and Genting have worked on developing a partnership for about a year, with talks intensifying over the past six months.

It won’t be the first time Hilton has hooked up with a Genting hotel or casino property. Hilton has a relationship with a non-gaming Genting hotel in Miami and with Hilton at Resorts World Bimini in the Bahamas, which features a casino.

Hilton also will enter the market sooner as a Curio Collection by Hilton affiliate of Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. The upscale Hilton brand will partner with Virgin later this year after the Hard Rock is renovated and rebranded.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.