Don’t get too caught up in last week’s headlines regarding lawsuits and investigations between Starwood Hotels & Resorts and Hilton Worldwide. Everyone is eagerly awaiting the outcome of this court battle, and the detailed court filings uncovering juicy employee e-mails have added an interesting level of drama. But the fact that federal courts are part of the investigation is neither unusual nor new information.

We first learned a federal grand jury was investigating the case when Hilton executives received subpoenas from the U.S. Attorney’s Office last April. It is commonplace for federal grand juries gathering evidence and collecting information to ask prosecutors to halt civil cases. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is requesting documents relating to the employment of former Starwood employees in order to build their case, and a civil investigation would require those same documents, as well as interviews. A federal investigation will most likely trump the civil case.

According to the motion (download the 14-page document here), charges of conspiracy, computer fraud, theft of trade secrets and interstate transportation of stolen goods are possible.

The Associated Press reported the civil suit must be halted because Starwood had been demanding all materials Hilton exchanged with federal prosecutors and FBI special agents as part of routine discovery.

"Significantly, these requests have impaired, and will continue to impair, our office's ability to obtain full and complete information from certain witnesses who are essential to our investigation," the U.S. Attorney's Office wrote in the motion.

Don’t forget the grand jury could in the end determine there is not enough evidence to indict Hilton, although that usually is not the case. The feds don’t normally get involved unless there is significant evidence that charges could be brought.

But it could be a long while before we see an indictment. Let’s not sensationalize what are small and routine steps in the investigation because we want to be the first to share the gossip.

The announcement that The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Las Vegas will close its doors on May 2 could come as a surprise, but when you take a closer look, it’s an unfortunately accurate representation of the current lodging industry.

Scott Helfman, spokesman for Deutsche Bank, parent company of the hotel’s owner, Village Hospitality, said the decision to close the hotel was a mutual agreement between all parties after Deutsche Bank said it could no longer fund its operations.

“It’s been a very successful hotel,” said Ritz-Carlton spokeswoman Vivian Deuschl. “The closing had nothing to do with quality of the hotel.”

First, it’s no secret that luxury properties were hit hardest by the recent downturn. You’ve heard the numbers before, but they’re so alarming that I’ll give you a reminder: From September 2008 to September 2009, occupancy at U.S. luxury properties fell 11.7 percent (to 61.9); average daily rate fell 17.1 percent (to $241); and revenue per available room fell an astonishing 26.8 percent (to $149), according to Smith Travel Research.

Although a recent H&MM article predicted an emergence of the luxury segment in 2010 led by demand (down only 4 percent in September 2009 YTD), the big question surrounding a luxury bounceback is rate. The luxury segment has been forced to compete with lower chain scales and target normally select-service travelers looking to trade up at a discount. Group travel at the luxury level is nearly nonexistent. In the remaining months Ritz-Carlton, Lake Las Vegas is open, guestrooms range from $269 to $419 per night.

Deutsche Bank, of which Village Hospitality is a subsidiary, attributed the closure to an “unprecedented economic downturn [that] has had a significant impact on the hotel's operations,” Helfman said.

The closing adds to the pile of Las Vegas mess Deutsche Bank has gotten itself into.

The lender last week wrote down the value of Cosmopolitan Resort & Casino by another $103 million, the second write-off in less than a year on the 3,000-room property Deutsche Bank foreclosed on last year. Cosmopolitan now is two years behind schedule and $2 billion over budget; the project is expected to cost between $3 billion and $3.9 billion when all is said and done.

Deutsche Bank also is a lender to bankrupt Station Casinos Inc. and was a lender on the unfinished Fontainebleau, which was recently won at auction by Carl Icahn, who promised $156 million for the property; $2 billion already has been spent developing Fontainebleau.

Deuschl said the closing “saddens” Ritz-Carlton and Marrriott teams, and their biggest concern is placing the 400 employees in new jobs with other Las Vegas hotels. It is the only Ritz-Carlton in the state of Nevada, and “one of the most acclaimed Ritz-Carltons for amenities and service,” she said.

The hotel will continue to operate as-is until May 2.

The Ritz opened in 2003, and developer Transcontinental Corp. lost the property in foreclosure after defaulting on $540 million in loans. The property hit more financial trouble in 2008, and in February 2009, Village Hospitality bought it in an already distressed state.

Neither Helfman or Deuschl would comment on the future of the property. As far as looking to sell the property, Helfman said Village Hospitality will continue to monitor the current hotel real estate market.

As the number of full-service hotel closings climbs, Jim Butler, partner at Jeffer Mangels Butler & Marmaro, discussed recently the effect closing a property has on its value.

“The day you close a hotel, it’s worth half of what it was the day before,” he said. “And the bigger the hotel, the more likely that is because you lose the brand, you lose the staff, you’re going to have new opening expenses, all of those things.”

Oh, Las Vegas, get over yourself.

Instead of jumping all over President Obama every time he mentions your name, don’t you have bigger things to worry about?

When Obama spoke at a town hall meeting Tuesday at a high school in Nashua, N.H., he alluded that Americans should be tightening their belt in these tough economic times instead of taking lavish vacations to gambling hotspots like Sin City.

Politicians representing Nevada and the mayor of Las Vegas became irate, calling a quick news conference to publicly cry out and call Obama a "slow learner."

Now, it’s no secret that in the past two decades Las Vegas hasn’t developed itself into a family-friendly, middle-class vacation spot. Vegas caters to the whales—big spenders who can afford to have a good time. Recent additions to The Strip target Asian money; Aria hotel and casino has an entire wing with a seperate entrance for VIPs who can request their own international gambling tables. The Mandarin Oriental sits less than a block away, designed and staffed specifically so wealthy travelers from the Eastern Hemisphere can feel at home.

Vegas also relies heavily on group business and corporate travel, offering expansive meetings spaces throughout each hotel and supplying an enjoyable atmosphere for after-hour recreations.

Although he has in the past, President Obama clearly was not directing his comments to these upper-class citizens or business-class travelers with a corporate card.

He was offering a little needed advice to middle-class New Hampshire, a city full of people who, just like every American, should be paying the mortgage, not sitting at a blackjack table. After the debt-ridden debacle this country has gotten itself into, it’s about time someone suggested saving.

Obama’s exact words, according to a White House transcript: "When times are tough, you tighten your belts. You don't go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage. You don't blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you're trying to save for college. You prioritize. You make tough choices."

If you’re not saving for college, if you’ve got enough money to buy a boat, by all means, go to Las Vegas and have the time of your life. With promotional rates what they are, it even makes sense to hold a meeting in Las Vegas this year. But if you’re pinched and you’ve got choices to make, "blowing a bunch of money" in a casino is one of the worst decisions you could make.

"Once again he has threatened the struggling economy of Las Vegas," reacted Sen. John Ensign.

"The President needs to lay off Las Vegas and stop making it the poster child for where people shouldn't be spending their money," said U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman went as far as to say Obama is no longer welcome in his city.

"I'll do everything I can to give him the boot," he said. "This president is a real slow learner."

Instead of scrambling to throw together a news conference and name-call, Goodman’s time would be much better spent finding ways to shore up the record-level foreclosures in his district and funding the myriad developers who went bankrupt building outlandish condominiums and casinos on The Strip.

Perhaps it's the developers of Echelon, Fontainbleau and the former developers of the Cosmopolitan who should heed the president’s advice: Don’t live in excess when you can’t even pay the mortgage.

Is there room for another design event on the calendar? How about two more? Well, only time will tell, but the first of two new planned events has now launched.

The inaugural InspireDesign, held this week at the World Market Center in Las Vegas, was a great idea, weaving a trade show-like event into the existing, permanent showrooms of the complex. There's also a plan to include educational programs, as well as make the event more of a community-building gathering and less a traditional trade show.

Attendance was steady but slow, and reaction from the exhibitors I spoke with was mixed. All in all, though, this has been a very difficult economy in which to launch a new event in any industry, and I give the organizers a lot of credit for pulling it off. It will be interesting to see how year number two pans out for this event.

A sampling of photos follows.

Image: www.whitehouse.gov

In his State of the Union address this week, President Obama hit the expected high points: healthcare reform, Wall Street bailouts and unemployment. But designers, take note: The unspoken message of bipartisanship came through in the clothes. The purple dresses and ties, to be exact. 2010 is the year of centrist purple.

Centrist purple isn’t my term—it’s Mike Suomi’s. Mike, principal at Stonehill & Taylor Architects, created a design concept last year for The President Hotel, a Best Western property in Times Square. The hotel design was inspired by the 2008 presidential election, and the resulting fascination of all things political among the American people. You’ll see more about this unique property in an upcoming issue of Hotel Design, but what I liked most about it was Suomi’s concept of “centrist purple”—a mix of Republican red and Democrat blue.

Suomi and his team wanted the design to reflect not only overt historical and political symbols (graphics of donkeys and elephants, antique costumes on display), but also the subtle tension conveyed by the notion of a two-party political system.

It’s a fantastic design concept. All over the property you see the juxtaposition of hard and soft: stained wood floors against white-button-tufted sofas, lacquered casegoods opposite sumptuous seating. But it’s most obvious in the colors.

Enter centrist purple. The mix of Republican red and Democrat blue shows up in upholstery, wall treatments, subtle pops of color, and even in the lighting schemes (like you see in these photos of the lobby and bar area).

Images: Stonehill & Taylor

Back to the State of the Union address: This year, the power color was purple. You couldn’t miss Michelle Obama’s jewel-toned dress, Nancy Pelosi’s lavender suit and even Joe Biden’s purple tie. Was it a coincidence? Some might say yes. But I say 2010 is the year of centrist purple.

Don't believe me?

• Sherwin-Williams' "Refreshed" palette describes colors including "Verve Violet" as  "exuberant, fresh optimism."
• Pantone's Color of the Day just happens to be "Lavender Frost."