Unusual adventures/classes offered at Southern Nevada resorts, LV Review Journal 9/12

Visitors mix education and fun By LISA FERGUSON For some people, being on vacation means doing little more than sipping umbrella-adorned cocktails poolside at a swanky resort. But that’s not the case for others, whose idea of relaxation may include learning to cook a gourmet meal under the tutelage of a world-class chef, getting schooled on proper white-water rafting techniques or becoming educated about the finer points of pole dancing. All of these activities and more are available to guests at hotels throughout Southern Nevada. At the Westin Lake Las Vegas, guests can partake in stand-up paddleboarding lessons on its adjacent white sand beach. The sport is hugely popular, according to Kathy Holesapple, owner of Paddle to the Core, which contracts with the property to provide lessons to children and adults. “It’s actually easy. … The average person can stand-up paddleboard anywhere in the world, including (on) lakes and rivers,” said Holesapple, whose company also rents the necessary equipment — a board similar to one used for surfing, and a long paddle — to Westin guests during lessons, which cost $30. Paddle to the Core has a pair of certified stand-up paddleboarding instructors who spend about 20 minutes on the shore teaching students proper techniques before sending them onto the lake for an hour to practice what they’ve learned. The company, which has been in business for two years, recently partnered with the Lake Mead National Recreation Area and soon plans to expanded its adventure offerings to include biking, hiking and what Holesapple calls “excursion yoga.” “So we will need additional employees by next year,” she said, including fitness instructors. Inquiries about available positions can be made at www.suplv.com. The stand-up paddleboarding classes are “a perfect fit for us,” said Jeff Spaccio, director of sales at the Westin Lake Las Vegas. He says the company’s brand is “all about being well, eating well, playing well. … The uniqueness of (stand-up paddleboarding) and what it provides to our guests, there’s no other experience like it in Vegas.” Meanwhile, Spaccio said, the property is “looking to expand” its outdoor-related offerings for guests and is in need of “good, qualified folks in the recreation and outdoor programming departments.” A list of available jobs at The Westin can be found at www.besthotelcareers.com. ADVENTUROUS OUTINGS Adrenaline junkies will also find plenty to keep them entertained at the Red Rock Resort, courtesy of its Adventure Spa program, which offers guests a limited amount of hiking, biking, kayaking, rock climbing and river rafting instruction as part of the excursions offered there. Guests who opt for the seven-hour kayaking trip at Lake Mead, for example, can expect a guide to “teach you how to kayak, make sure you’re really, really safe before you get out there,” explained Angela Taverner, spa director of The Spa & Salon at Red Rock Resort. “It’s not going to be advanced training, so you’re not going to be an Olympic kayaker in two minutes, but you’re definitely going to learn how to be safe and get out there and do it and enjoy the day.” The spa contracts with local excursion companies to provide guides for its guests. “Even though they might sound like they’re gentle pursuits, people that are doing it day in and day out are your experts,” Taverner said. Although a good many Adventure Spa guests are outdoor “die-hards,” Taverner said a surprising number of families with children also opt for the excursions. “They can go horseback riding together, or teach the kids how to go river rafting as a family,” she said. Prices range from $15 per person for indoor rock climbing, up to $200 per person for other activities. “I think these days families are looking to do something together, so this particular option gives them a choice.” Employment opportunities, including massage therapists and stylists, are available at The Spa & Salon. To apply, visit sclv.com/Corporate/Careers. MIXING THINGS UP When it’s time for grown-up fun, the 21-and-older set can head to STK restaurant at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas for “Couples Cocktails,” an hour-long class during which a master mixologist provides instruction on how to properly shake (or stir, as the case may be) a variety of libations. The class is similar to a course called “Couples Cook,” which was offered at STK’s Los Angeles location. “It actually filled up every time we (scheduled) it,” said Devon Mosley, corporate director of marketing and public relations for The One Group, which owns STK. In June, the company began offering the monthly “Couples Cocktails” classes in Las Vegas. Mosley said, “It’s kind of a cool way that we can give the (restaurant) guests a little bit deeper experience with the mixologist,” who teaches students to make standard bar drinks as well as cocktails that are STK exclusives, including one dubbed Not Your Daddy’s Manhattan. Despite its name, single students are also welcome to attend the class. However, because it is held from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday nights, Mosley said its easy for couples to turn the event into a date night by following it with dinner at the restaurant, which is home to celebrity chef Stephen Hopcraft (a former contestant on the Bravo network’s “Top Chef” series). Liquors and cordials are on tap as the subject of the next class, scheduled for Oct. 17. The course costs $30 per person, or $50 per couple. Advance reservations, which are required to attend, can be made by emailing viplasvegas@togrp.com. “It just gives you a different perspective on the traditional dining experience,” Mosley explained of “Couples Cocktails,” which he said has proven popular with area residents as well as tourists. When he and his team devised the idea for the class, “I think it was more about how can we make (diners) feel that they’re getting more out of their STK experience. … You have an opportunity to come and engage with a mixologist and meet people at the bar, and get to know our servers and our bartenders.” Mosley said his company is “always looking” for additional “qualified” workers to staff STK. Employment applications are available at the restaurant. COOKING UP FUN Mixed specialty drinks are also on the menu as part of the five-course meal prepared by Geno Bernardo, executive chef at Nove Italiano at the Palms, during his “An Afternoon with Chef Geno” cooking class at the restaurant. Bernardo began teaching the monthly class three years ago and has since built a steady following of regulars (most of them Las Vegas residents) who pay around $75 to attend. Students watch the chef work his magic with seasonal and locally grown ingredients. Once the cooking is done, they sit down with Bernardo to enjoy the meal, which is paired with wine and a specially chosen cocktail that a mixologist demonstrates how to prepare. The three-hour class meets in the kitchen of Nove Italiano. The chef starts by explaining his menu for the class. “I prepare the dishes in front of everyone and I just give them the insider chef’s secrets — just how to (cook) my way,” he said. “I break it down as if I was cooking in your kitchen. I think about what an amateur cook would have in their kitchens, and I also get ingredients” that can be purchased at most supermarkets. During one class, Bernardo demonstrated pasta recipes that belonged to his great-grandmother. For another, he visited a local farmers market and cooked the ingredients he purchased there. “I just try to make these easy, fun recipes,” he said. Most of the dishes can be prepared “family style” so students can replicate them at home “and win the crowd over.” Bernardo knows a thing or two about crowds: Each of his classes typically attracts 20 to 40 students, although he once taught to a group of 60 people. Another class was filled with members of a bachelorette party. “It appeals to a lot of people,” he explained. “The whole thing I try to teach and I try to preach,” Bernardo said, “is that just because I’m in a professional kitchen doesn’t mean that you can’t do this in your kitchen at home.” The next session of “An Afternoon with Chef Geno” is scheduled for Oct. 13. The menu is set to celebrate the flavors of fall and likely will include dishes that feature pumpkin. To register to attend the class, call 702-933-9900. VIP TREATMENT Entertaining-yet-educational options are seemingly limitless for guests at Caesars Entertainment’s nine Las Vegas properties — as long as they reserve their stay through the company’s Total Experiences program. The program is offered as a complimentary service to guests who book at least five hotel rooms for their visit, making it a popular option among funloving groups such as bachelor and bachelorette parties, as well as wedding attendees. Guests are assigned a VIP manager who can secure hard-to-get show tickets and restaurant reservations; schedule spa, golf and shopping excursions; and handle unusual requests, among other tasks. Patty Kripitz, director of VIP operations/Total Experiences, said previous guests have taken part in pastry- making and cooking lessons at the renowned Restaurant Guy Savoy at Caesars Palace. Others received instruction at the Butch Harmon School of Golf in Henderson. Then there are the pole-dancing classes. “It’s very fun,” Kritpitz said. Guests can visit a local dance studio to receive the lessons, “or the instructor comes into one of our (hotel) suites and they do the class.” The Total Experiences program offers “insider access that makes it possible for our guests to do these kinds of experiences that they usually don’t have available back in their hometowns,” Kripitz said. “Even if maybe they do, it’s not likely that they would experience that. They’re on vacation, they want to have fun.” One of the keys to the program’s success, she contended, was employing VIP managers who are “true hospitality professionals who have a passion and a drive for customer service.” While the company is not currently hiring additional Total Experiences staffers, Kripitz says it may in “the near future.” WORK AND PLAY As it does for its guests, Caesars Entertainment also offers its employees educational opportunities. The company sponsors classes that teach computer basics and English as a Second Language, among others, to its staff members free of charge. Most classes are taught by members of the company’s training team. Tracy West, director of employee engagement for Caesars Entertainment, explained that her department receives the results of an annual employee opinion survey, which helps determine the types of classes the company may offer to its workers. “We get thousands upon thousands of comments,” she said. “So we read through them and anything that (employees) recommend or say that they want, we look into trying to get that onsite. Right now, someone wants to know if we can do … a self-defense class that they can go to on property to learn, so we’re looking into” whether that can be scheduled. Professional development classes are always a positive addition to the roster, West said. “Employees who are interested in learning a different skill set or advancing their current skill set, when we give them the outlet to do that, then they come back to us with … more knowledge about the (hospitality) industry, and they’re able to be more innovative and more creative and better the business in a lot of different ways.” The company also offers tuition reimbursement to employees who attend accredited colleges or universities to obtain an undergraduate or graduate degree that relates to the work they do for Caesars Entertainment. “We want to allow our employees to grow and develop in their career and to learn and to become better both personally and professionally,” West said. “Giving them that opportunity to go back to school and help them financially get through that is a great employee benefit, and it’s also kind of a mutually beneficial relationship for the company, (which) is also getting something back (with) a more educated work force.” HELP THEM GROW It’s a sentiment echoed by Christopher Henry, vice president of human resources strategy and measurement for MGM Resorts International, which offers its 62,000 employees locally and around the world an array of educational opportunities, including numerous career training and advancement programs. “The more you are able to educate and grow your folks, the more they are able to contribute to the business as well as be engaged because they understand the organization is investing in them,” Henry said. “So it’s sort of a give-and-take, a win-win on both ends.” Computer certification classes — which cover Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint — are also popular with MGM Resorts International employees. The company offers ESL classes as well as Spanish as a Second Language courses for English-speaking staffers “that are interested in being able to communicate with their teams better,” Henry said. Many of the classes for local employees are conducted at the company’s Las Vegas corporate human resources center before, during and after the workers’ shifts as well as on weekends. Teaching duties are outsourced to “third-party facilitators,” or are handled internally by personnel from the company’s local hotel-casinos, as those staffers are “able to provide training from a functional perspective that actually helps people to be better at the jobs and tasks that they’re doing on property,” he explained. MGM Resorts International offers college tuition reimbursement to employees who have been with the company for one year or more. It also struck deals with University of Phoenix and Capella University to offer reduced tuition costs for its workers. Because the company is so diverse, Henry said, employees who obtain tuition reimbursement need not limit their area of study to complement their current position with MGM Resorts International. “Pretty much for every (college) major, there is place in the organization,” he said. “We have hotel and hospitality. We have casino, but we also have retail. We have sales and marketing … finance and public relations. We do some of our own advertising and graphic design work. All of that is here.” Joyce Boissell, director of training at MGM Grand, stressed the importance of giving employees academic and career training opportunities. “If you look at training and development in general, one of the key catchphrases that we’re hearing lately is, ‘Help them grow, or watch them go,’ ” she said. “It’s important not only from a level of engagement and for the success of our properties, I think it’s also vital to our community that we create people who are able to feel good about what they do.”