New owners have begun a  $40-million renovation on the nearly 25-year-old building which once housed the Maxim casino-hotel just off the Las Vegas Strip – what will emerge is the Westin Casuarina Hotel and Spa. Richard Kannapell, regional director of sales for Columbia Sussex Corp. says the project includes “gutting the entire building”, doing some exterior work and erecting a model room which will be open for public viewing in late February. The new hotel, scheduled to debut July 1, 2003, will include a 10,000-square-foot meeting area and an 11,000 square-foot spa. Westin’s trademark “Heavenly Bed” and Heavenly Roobet Crash Bath” features will be included in each hotel room, which will rent from $50 to $199 per night. Columbia Sussex’ casino management company will operate the new property. It currently operates 60 hotels in the U.S. and several overseas markets, including the Horizon Casino Resort in South Lake Tahoe.

Study Says More People Gambling

More people are gambling, showed a recent study by the Research Institute on Addictions at the State University of New York. The study, reported in The Journal of Gambling Studies, found 82 percent of adult Americans say they had gambled in the last year. In comparison, researchers cited studies showing that 61 percent of Americans gambled in 1975, as did 63 percent in 1998. Gambling was defined in the research as everything from office pools and friendly card games to dog racing and casinos. In a recent survey,  2,630 Americans nationwide were interviewed by phone in 1999 and 2000. They were asked  such questions as how often they gambled and how much they won or lost. Results showed that state lotteries are the most common form of gambling, but casinos account for most of the money. While those who play the lottery (66 percent) …

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