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A view of Element, a LEED-certified hotel, in Summerlin Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. President Barack Obama stayed in the hotel during his recent overnight stay in Las Vegas.
Published Friday, Jan. 27, 2012 | 2 a.m.
Updated Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012 | 12:24 p.m.
Obama talks energy at UPS
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KSNV coverage of the president's visit to a UPS Center to talk alternative energy, Jan. 26, 2012.
Element
Related coverage
If you’re the president of the United States and are in Las Vegas, where do you spend the night?
If you’re Barack Obama, you stay at the Element — an eco-chic, environmentally friendly hotel some 13 miles from the Strip that features such green amenities as in-room recycling bins for paper, plastic and glass, carpets made from recycled materials and energy-efficient appliances and light bulbs.
While Obama could have slept at one of the Strip megaresort’s over-the-top suites during his one-night stay, the LEED-certified Element by Westin seems a good fit for a president giving a speech focused heavily on energy policy.
David Smith, the hotel’s general manager, said he doesn’t know why Obama chose his hotel, but he suspects it was because of its environmental stance. “I believe the topic of his time here was along those lines,” he said.
Element — 10555 Discovery Drive, next to the Nevada Cancer Institute in Summerlin — also features charging stations for electric vehicles and designated hybrid-only parking spaces. Never mind that when Obama stayed there Wednesday night the lot was filled with heavy, black Chevy Suburbans driven by the president’s entourage.
Democratic sources say Obama was keeping the Las Vegas economy in mind when he chose to take lodging off the Strip. Sources say that because the president stayed at Element, a hotel about 15 miles from McCarran International Airport, private airplanes were able to continue flying in to McCarran during Chinese New Year, one of the busiest times for Strip casinos. Federal Aviation Administration guidelines allow for the restriction of airspace around locations where the president is visiting.
Smith, who had a chance to meet the president, said Obama “has a very impressive presence.”
Smith and the hotel staff had 12 hours notice that Obama, his Secret Service security detail and White House traveling staff would be booking the entire second floor — 47 rooms — of the modern, four-story hotel that caters mostly to corporate visitors and families.
A team that travels ahead of Air Force One secured the perimeter of the hotel and did a sweep of the building prior to Obama’s arrival.
“They really do button it down real tight,” Smith said. “When the motorcade came up, it was just extremely impressive.”
The last time Obama spent the night in Las Vegas, in May 2009, he stayed on the Strip at Caesars Palace.
The Element staff readied a one-bedroom suite with a king bed — a step above the deluxe room and studio suite, but smaller than the hotel’s two-bedroom and executive suites.
You, too, can sleep like a president for about $170, although Obama received a discounted government rate of $99.
A tour of a room identical to the one Obama stayed in revealed a comfortable living room with a sitting area and queen sofa bed, a desk and a kitchenette with stainless steel appliances.
The bedroom has a king-size bed with bright white linens, and the bathroom features a glass shower with a water-saving rain showerhead and modern appointments.
“He said that he had a good night’s sleep,” said Smith, who noted that the president also worked out at the hotel’s gym.
A workout might have been in order considering what the president and his entourage ordered for dinner — 20 cannolis and 12 pizzas: six cheese, two sausage, two pepperoni and two with sausage, mushroom and pepperoni.
Albert Scalleat, co-owner and general manager of nearby Dom DeMarco’s pizzeria, said he had no idea when he set out to make the delivery that the order was for the president and his staff.
“It was almost like being in a movie,” said Scalleat, 67.
Dom DeMarco’s doesn’t usually make deliveries, but when Scalleat heard the order was for a VIP, he decided to make the run himself, assuming he might get to meet a movie star.
“I had no idea who it was,” he said.
When he arrived about 8 p.m., he noticed about 50 black Suburbans parked outside the hotel and heard helicopters, he said. He saw snipers positioned on the rooftops of surrounding buildings.
Three men who appeared to be Secret Service agents helped Scalleat carry the pizzas inside the hotel, he said. A while later, the president’s chef came to the lobby to pay for the order, he said.
“The president wanted me to tell you he loved the pizza and the cannolis,” said Scalleat, repeating the chef’s words.
“I’ll remember it for the rest of my life,” he said.
Kudos to the Element hotel and its staff. Sounds like a great place to stay. And, the prices seem good too.
During WWII recycling, sharing rides, conserving energy was considered patriotic.
We now hear that that is something "environmentalist wackos" engage in.
I am sure that Obama's decision really helped the tourist trade in Las Vegas. Nothing but OK things to say about the Element but again no thanks to this pizza chomping nerdhead of a President for his green mongering tone deafness. I am totally happy however by the low budget food and room costs-that's never the case when Michelle is on the trip.
Why didnt he stay on board AF1? Save the taxpayers the expense of the motorcade. Green my you know what? How much fuel did his vaca to Hawaii cost?
As the "Church Lady used to say, "Now, isn't that special?" Or, perhaps, more to the point, symbolic. Osama Obama is nothing if not symbolic. He talks out of both sides of his mouth and "speaks with a forked tongue," as Native American's put it. In reality, he's a "vulture," if you use the Dumbocrats criteria because, under his "leadership," 100,000 servicemen & women are going to be laid off. "Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!" He and his underlings are doing exactly what Mitt did in order to balance the books (and, to Osama Obama's credit, that's a good thing in my estimation). But we'll have to wait and see how long it takes the fellow travelers to take him to task for his "vulturism." Don't hold your breath, folks!
We hope you enjoyed your visit to Las Vegas, Mr. President and look forward to your next term as you complete the task of fixing this Bush/GOP Great Recession.
Now go out on the campaign trail and kick some 13.9% tax paying, Swiss bank accounting, multi-millionaire, unprincipled RINO flip-flopper butt!
Another direct message to anti-gluttony...and the Adleson, Wynn, Harrah's barns.
Shouldn't our politicians be setting an example by driving eco-friendly cars? There would be more special elections, but better them than us.
LastThroes, "Now go out on the campaign trail", seriously?????
This dude has never stopped campaigning. It would be just great if he even attempted to do the job he was elected to. He is the lamest non-lame duck ever! Imagine just how lame he would be if he got re-elected.
GOPsux, whatever dude, you wouldn't recognize the truth no matter how obvious it was.
I would like to congratulate you on your epic milestone...... more comments removed in a shorter period than anyone EVER. I really enjoyed your objection to "libtard"..... it sounded more like "I am taking my ball and going home". You sounded like a sad petulant little kid.
You are dropping veiled threats, invective's and big talk all day long, yet you clearly can't take the heat. Good luck living in Searchlight.
I can only assume this will be deleted. That's cool. At least I accept that fact and don't blame the mods with a childish tirade.
Criticize as you may but here's a thought: can you imagine the snobby suits like Newt or Mitt staying here, supporting not only a small business off Strip but a green one as well? NO, they'd request the highest floor penthouses at Wynn and block off Las Vegas Boulevard with their entourages. Kudos to Obama for giving a tiny suburban hotel and local pizza business some national press.
All Muslims are aware that Islam prohibits gambling. Therefore, to avoid offending, Obama sleped as far from a casino as possible.
Steve, define 'sleped'. Nevermind. Teabaggers can't help but to make shi* up, even their own spelling.
President Obama is working, unlike George W.Bush who was always "taking a vacation" and was never working at the office. When 911 happened, it took him...how long...to figure out what he was doing? President Obama has to fix everything that Georgie Porgie screwed up to fill his pockets up with a bunch of money and allow innocent kids get killed in Iraq.It was Georgie Porgie's family and himself who had 30 yrs of relationships with the Bin Laden family and both George's were only looking at their own financial interests and not the U.S.A.Maybe the U.S. should have impeached Georgie Porgie because of his ignorance!!!
I can appreciate that the President made an effort to support local businesses. The Aria hotel, as well as many of the other Strip properties, are LEED certified, so I think this was more about supporting small business owners than anything. Kudos!
With any luck, the next time Oblamer comes to town, he will be looking for a job....
You Haters crack me up!!!
Why don't you just admit it...
NOTHING this President does would fall within your realm of 'acceptable'.
Steve Miller...
DUDE! You & FINK are a couple of really 'simple minded' folk...but then, what can one expect, truly?
http://news.yahoo.com/low-iq-conservativ...
Haters HATE...
it's what they do!
He's damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.
Comment removed by moderator. Personal Attack
The hypocrisy oozes.
Posters claim that Obama hurts the economy of Vegas, then they want him and his staff to stay on AF1 to save money.
A poster moans that 100,000 servicemen & women may be laid off during this administration, but not a mention of the 4,500 KIA (& hundreds of thousands of "collateral" deaths and injuries) in an occupation looking for WMD ghosts during the last administration. I guess the poster feels that fiscally conservative policies should never target the military, just the travels of the president.
And the grand prize is the poster who is offended that he may be Muslim, even though the constitution specifically states freedom of religion. The same constitution that the tea baggers and the like are claiming Obama is "trampling".
Keep it up wingers, someday you will have your own colony on the moon.
How "environmentally conscious" the President is, when myself and thousands of other drivers had to drive an extra 20-30 minutes to get home due to the freeway being shut down, thus using more gas and polluting the earth even more. Next time the President would like to "seem" eco-friendly, maybe he could stay in a hotel right next to the airport so the freeway wouldn't have to be shut down towards suburban areas? One step forward, and ten steps backward Obama.
Mr. Obama should have taken a cab from the airport to his hotel. Being an out-of-town visitor he would have been longhauled, thereby helping the local economy.
You're probably right, Steve. The President chose this hotel so as not to offend any Muslims.
Get a life.
Even if he was trying to avoid offending anyone, why is it automatically Muslims that you assume he's trying not to offend? What about Mormons?
Besides, he stayed at Caesars a year and a half ago. Why the change of heart?
You people are ridiculous -- it's only frustrating because you don't seem to realize it.
Matthew:
The Strip was build by Mormons. E.Parry Thomas was the primary banker for most of the pioneer casino builders. I stand by my opinion.
I'm an Obama supporter all the way but I'm a little disappointed that he stayed at a nonunion hotel especially in a city with one of the highest densities of unionized hotels anywhere. But, I guess he managed to stay in an "eco friendly" non-union hotel (good for him!). I'm pretty sure the Aira is a eco friendly UNION hotel. Oh well. I guess we can't win the all.
It is refreshing to see the Fox PORNO (Political Organization-Republican News Only) News and Rush Limbaugh crowd are alive and well on the LV Sun website comment section.
What gives him the right to fly Air Force One to Las Vegas like he's the President of the United States of America or something? Don't matter if that's his job, the important fact is that right wingnutnoids look at ONLY THE MONEY, not what the President is doing...not only President Obama...but ANY President. THEY ALL DO THIS. But because it's President Obama, it's not right, he shouldn't do that, it's a waste of money, he's not from here, he's not one of us, how dare he act like he's an American, WE REJECT THE FACT HE IS THE PRESIDENT.
How dare an Islamo socialist President who can't prove he's an American come here and stay at an off Las Vegas Boulevard eco style hotel?!?!?!
The complete gaul of someone to come here and order pizzas and other Italian style food for him and his people when he is in fact a socialist commie who is not from the United States and he should be ordering schwarma and rice??!?!?!!?
You people really don't know how stupid you sound.
Bring on the elections in November 2012.
I am going to cast my vote with only the purpose of CRUSHING the entire Tea/Republican Party and their foul message they continually pound out there.
And furthermore, I don't care if they even want to come to Las Vegas anymore. As a matter of fact, stay away from here. We're tired of your bull hookey.
Go down to Arizona where they have a Governor that loves to waggle a finger at people and scream in their face if she disagrees with them politically. Don't matter who you are. Go see her dumb butt. She will sympathize with you.
We'll be a helluva lot better off without your stupid grief and constant complaining. Complaining that is only thrown out there because you're like spoilt rotten brats who feel you should be in power in order to write legislation to keep the tax rates low for the filthy rich...pretty much because it effects you....and nobody else.
I am more than ready to vote. Bring it on. Some call it class warfare...I call it justice. Or better yet, just us. It's about time the rest of the people in the beloved United States of America make an impact and send a message to the privileged few filthy rich bastards...as well as the Tea/Republican politicians who always run interference for them at the drop of a hat.
Just us, baby. Just us. After the next election, people will remember that.
zooey, Obama is trying to curry favor with the enviros now with the cancelling of pipeline, etc.
Union support is already in the bag.
Colin, appears federal workers and retires are the most 'greedy'. Rush, Romney, Newt, Palin, and the other 'filthy rich' republicans don't seem to have the tax troubles that these people do.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...
BTW, Your taxes up to date?
rusty57 asks to me: "BTW, Your taxes up to date?"
They are.
I served 24 years in the military. I'm a retired U.S. Navy veteran.
You're trying to equate some nutball right wingnutnoid land version of current news history to me.
Of course Rush, Romney, Newt, Palin and other filthy rich Tea/Republicans don't seem to have tax troubles.
BECAUSE THEY NEVER SERVED THIS COUNTRY I LOVE AND MADE A SACRIFICE TO SERVE.
They aren't in my league at all. To me, they are just bottom feeders who say they sympathize with military retirees like me, but they don't. They just use us for political broo hah hah crap. They can't even be relied upon, or be entrusted to, form a pimple on the butt of any good veteran who served this country I love.
Especially when they only use us for political points and could care less if we live or die.
If you don't believe me on that point, ask Bush Jr., Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rove and any of the other scummy civilian politicans who only used us for political purposes in the political excuse called the Iran War Debacle where many, many American military were sacrificed for only their stupid political longevity.
And if you don't want to ask Bush Jr. or Cheney about that, PLEASE ask them why they can't travel to other countries anymore. Because they KNOW they will be detained and tried in a World Court for crimes against humanity. Don't believe me? Look it up. They can't travel outside this country EVER.
Because they are scum. And the rest of the civilized world cries for justice for what they did.
So, please take your sanctimonious partison bull crap somewhere else, rusty57.
Both Parties are puppets of the global elite and banks and get off the tea party/ows nonsense, nobama's no better than bush, he signed the NDAA and pushed it down our throats and other stuff, it makes me sick, I'm glad I'm a libertarian, both parties are more of the same
and by the way, global warming is nothing but a damn hoax for the new world order and ya'll f****** need to wake up.
And by the way, rustyr57, the aging old amphibious vessel USS PONCE (LPD-15), way past decommissioning, is headed over to be a mothership for special forces SEAL teams in the fight against pirates in the Persian Gulf and in the Northern Arabian Sea area close to the Horn of Africa.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/nati...
Those brave Sailors are paying their taxes.
And they don't have time to pay lip service to stupid Tea/Republican Party games that are only self serving and don't mean a damn thing at all to them.
They do their thing. They signed a contract to do this stuff. They ain't got time for this dumb political crap.
That's why I am so vocal. Because they don't have a voice. They just serve. If they do like Tea/Republicans do, they would get in trouble. Also, they would get in trouble. Because on their contract, they just serve. They don't dissent against America. They can't. They'd get in trouble for voicing an opinion. They are told to charge up the hill, and they do it.
They ain't got time for the rhetoric and trying to point out the truth of this political game the Tea/Republican Party always plays.
I do though. I'm retired. No one can touch me. I'm not subject to the active duty service UCMJ strictures anymore. I'm now a side slithering desert creature residing happily here in Las Vegas. That makes me their vanguard voice now.
I'm here to help.
Do your thing, Sailors and SEAL Teams on the PONCE, I got your back against the howling, disturbed ultra right wing zealots who just complain about stuff but don't take steps to solve a thing. Do your thing, PONCE. I'll run interference for you. I'll enunciate for you.
Actually, I dare you to make those Sailors and SEAL teams on the PONCE pay taxes. They need to serve this country tax free (like I did when I worked in the Persian Gulf).
Anyone in our Government that makes them pay taxes should be slapped in jail and throw away the key.
The guy flies into town, supports two small businesses (the hotel and the pizza place), avoids closing down the strip by staying at the Aria or some other fancy place, and he still gets flack from you guys?
He ended the Iraq war, authorized the operation that took out Bin Laden, reduced taxes on people making less than 250k a year and you still hate him?
Is there ANYTHING he can do besides killing himself or changing his skin color that would make you guys happy?
1.7 million for this campaign trip paid by the American taxpayer and you liberal morons
Colin, just pointing out that the federal employees and retires as a group appear to have a problem with paying taxes while the individuals you hate don't.
I see you want to pick and choose who pays them now too. Most enlisted sailors want to play captain from time to time.
BTW, Carter was the absolute worse to serve under.
GOPsux, relax, you're not Malcolm X.
Steve Miller proves its true, republicans with low IQs wind up being racists.
Kudos to the Element for putting eco-friendly amenities into place. Regardless of politics, being more hospitable is old school and new school in the hospitality industry.
Steve Miller,
How do you explain President Obama staying at Caesars Palace during his earlier visits given your assertion that he is a Muslim? (If Steve responds this ought to good!)
The strip was built by Mor...whose. The culture that has been designated as the builders and shakers of the booties are way to busy with their own interpretations of the holy spirit to be building any fabulous Las Vegas. If the holy spirit moved any one to build the Strip it was the influx of money from investors who saw some thing more than pebbles and wild horses and cared for the antiquity of the past and mingled the past present and future with their ability to melded a fortune 500 city. Look at the Bellagio art gallery. At last there is a notation that the prints are facsimilies of the original gogans, the monets, the degas, the moulin roge, and the penny slots. The Mor... are still looking for those cooper tablets that J. Smith supposedly buried in the desert when he was stuck by another vision just as Paul, the tax collector, was stuck with a vision to seek out the christo and follow the conservative christian order. Many power companies are constantly having to increase rates because of the cooper that is being stolen right out of the power lines.