Event offers glimpse of Trump high life

Hundreds of people got a taste of the resort lifestyle at Trump International on Thursday as they enjoyed wine, hors d’oeuvres and music on its fourth-floor pool deck as the sun set. The charity event, which benefited St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, showcased luxury amenities that await both condominium owners and hotel guests of the 64-story property at 2000 Fashion Show Drive, just north of Fashion Show mall.

Over 450 attendees sampled the culinary creations of the property’s farm-to-table food-and-beverage program, learned of executive sous chef Sydney Jones’ addition, and got a glimpse of its poolside atmosphere. A helicopter flyover represented its partnership with Maverick Helicopters, which offers tours and an on-call “house helicopter” to owners and hotel guests.

Earlier that afternoon, Real Estate Millions sat down one-on-one in a 64th-floor suite with the personable Eric Trump, executive vice president of development and acquisitions for Trump Organization, who oversees management of Trump International and later attended the event. The son of renowned businessman Donald Trump explained why Trump Organization likes Las Vegas, reasons behind Trump International’s uptick in sales, its high-end amenities and making a difference through philanthropy.

Q: Why does the Trump Organization like Las Vegas?

A: Las Vegas embodies many of the things that are Trump: Luxury, incredible buildings, great architecture, opulence. It has become an incredibly high-end city. It has become a metropolis that is not just focused on gaming as it used to be, but one that is focused on food and culture. You have some of the best restaurateurs in the world in Las Vegas and it has really become a food destination. You can then go out and hike Red Rock Canyon. You can obviously gamble. You can go to nightclubs. You can ride roller coasters and Ferris wheels. It is a destination that is easy to get to from anywhere in the country. … There is something to do for the entire family whether it be amazing shows or amazing entertainment.

They have created a true destination, and one that is not just about the family or one just about bachelor groups going out. It is a destination that has one of the largest convention centers and … some of the biggest conventions of the world, which brings people from all over the world. It is a city that is becoming incredibly diversified and a major metropolitan area. I think that for most developers this is their greatest dream: You can go out and build a project like this one that is so high-end, so beautiful but in many cases so unconventional. I think Las Vegas is so exciting. It has so much energy and it’s just a great city to be a part of.

Q. Trump Las Vegas has had an uptick in sales. What has been the response, or how would you describe that?

A. It’s been amazing. Back in 2006-07, Las Vegas was absolutely on fire and did amazingly well and we sold the building at some of the highest prices in Las Vegas. Then Las Vegas along with the country, really the rest of the world, saw some tough times. It’s fortunate that, being a private company that had little debt, we didn’t have to really reduce prices like others.

We sat back and said, “Listen, we are going to ride this out and we are going to continue to keep our price point high. We want the most discerning buyers. We have the best building. We have the best rooms. We have the best amenities.” We went through that market, and again we have started selling very hot and heavy. I think buyers really appreciate the fact that we never dipped, we never compromised the integrity of the brand or the building. It has boded very well for us and even today we sell at the highest price per square foot in Las Vegas.

Trump is almost synonymous with casinos and so is Las Vegas, but we wanted to take a different approach. We built a nongaming hotel because we wanted it to be high-end and it is very hard to do true luxury when you hear “ding, ding, ding” of slot machines or when you have to walk through a smoky casino to get back to your room. It’s hard to do luxury right.

We wanted to create New York City luxury service in a hotel in Las Vegas, one where they open the door with white gloves and they call you by your last name. One where you go home to a beautiful kind of oasis which has the cleanest rooms, the most comfortable mattresses and an immaculate setting which isn’t something that most of the other properties can boast. You walk into a very luxurious lobby, you have private elevator banks that bring you up to your floor. … There is no “ding, ding, ding,” you are not distracted and you do not have people coming up and trying to sell (polystyrene) mugs full of whatever it is.

People love it. I think that the business model of swimming against the tide and doing something different has really worked out incredibly well here.

Q. How does the hotel-condominium model work here?

A. Essentially, the hotel-condo is residential ownership that when you are not here, if you choose, you can put (your condo) in a rental program. When owners are not physically in Las Vegas, they can rent the unit and a lot of people choose to utilize that program. … It is a business model that has been very successful and one that I think people like.

Q. Do you or your family members have units here?

A. We own many of the units in the building and we plan to keep many of those we own. It is an amazing building. It is the tallest building in Las Vegas with the highest residences and the penthouses are truly phenomenal. It is just a beautiful place and a building that we are immensely proud of. … The views from the various rooms are stunning. The south-facing rooms are looking right down the Strip where you got all of the action and that is so Las Vegas. On the contrary, from the north side of the building, which people like just as much, you see the mountains and it is truly exceptional as well. We have the best of both worlds, with views down the Strip on the south and views of the mountains to the north.

Q. What are some of the new-and-improved amenities?

A. We are always reinventing ourselves whether it is changing menus, changing dining options, or spa treatments. People love the pool of our building. It is glamourous yet comfortable, clean and beautiful. There’s incredible service, incredible drinks, incredible food and a really nice relaxing atmosphere. People compliment us all of the time.

One of the things we hear often is “Where can I buy that mattress?” It’s funny that when we were picking out the mattresses for the Trump Hotel Collection, we took a vacant office floor where somebody just moved out. We got 40 of the best mattresses from all the best companies and laid them out on the floor and started lying on all of them. Forty went to 20, and 20 went to 15, then to 10. Then we started having people rate them. We finally got to one mattress that stood out. We get more compliments on that one mattress. “Where did you get that? I got the best sleep on the mattress that I ever had.”

Q. Are any of the amenities here unique to Las Vegas or are they found at other Trump properties?

A. One thing that we have been incredibly good at across the brand is that we always have to be better than the competition, we always have to be pushing the needle. I think that is what has carried the Trump name forward for so long. … You always push the envelope with your own building to make sure that it is better than your competition. The spa is so important. The gym is so important. The parking is so important. We consider everything, literally down to the finest detail of the concierge layout and the attaché program.

For instance, an attaché calls everyone before they come here and asks if there are there any special requests, anything at all. We’ve had people request eight boxes of Gummi bears. We’ve had people request specific wines. Requests that we get on a daily basis are to help plan something special for their boyfriend or girlfriend. For owners, we will stock their refrigerator with anything they want, we will literally go grocery shopping for them. We will get them tickets for any show they could possibly want. We will book them private jets, if they want. We will get them cars, if they want. We will get them reservations at the best table at the best restaurants. It is really an unbelievable concierge service that people really like.

These days in the hotel industry it is not about the free bottle of water on the nightstand, it is not about that little piece of chocolate. It is about making the guest feel at home and feel like a part of the family. … That is one of the reasons why we decided to go with a nongaming hotel. We can open that door and the doorman can call you by your last name as they open it. They greet you with white gloves at the airport and they pick up your bags. These things are not done in big-box casinos. I think that it is these amenities, the quality of service and our chosen business model that really set us apart.

Q. Now you have helicopter service, too?

A. We have helicopter service and people love that. I don’t think other hotels do that. We have the Fashion Show mall across the street and there are great things that we do with them, too. The list goes on and on and on. People really like the high-end level service and that is why Condé Nast ranks this as the No. 1 business hotel in Las Vegas.

Q. I realize that tonight’s event is a fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Why this charity, and how do you or Trump Las Vegas help out our community locally?

A. I have always been an advocate for combining philanthropy with charity. I picked St. Jude because they are the best children’s hospital in the world, bar none. They have the smartest doctors in the world who 24-7 work on nothing but solving the problem of pediatric children’s cancer. They are simply the best of what they do, they are incredible. This year we will raise $4 million for St. Jude. … So many of our great employees and teams have gotten behind that effort, and the general manager here was one of the first to do so. I think that my passion for St. Jude almost became contagious and today all of our properties raise money for St. Jude. … St. Jude is amazing because their research is disseminated out to every children’s hospital around the world and their protocols are what every children’s hospital uses whether it is here in Las Vegas or in Turkey. We get so many requests from local charities and we fill those, too.

It’s not just the tangible benefit of how much is given to charity. You also have the intangible, which is the philanthropy that’s created brings awareness to doing good in society. This also means that our employees bring that home to their families, they bring that home to their kids and they become a role model for other people.

Tonight is an example of obviously our sales team of bringing together many of the brokers in the Las Vegas community, but doing it for a purpose. It is a great event that promotes the building, but it has the other meaning that is just as important which is philanthropy, St. Jude and raising money. I think it’s fantastic.