He might not have used exactly those words, but that was the idea from Las Vegas Sands President and Chief Operating Officer William Weidner on Wednesday.

Speaking at the Reuters Travel and Leisure Summit in Los Angeles, Weidner listed the many things that Las Vegas has going for it that make it an attractive destination when the economy’s going well and even when it slows down.

Weidner allowed that the economy might be slowing down a little, but he thought that the proximity of Vegas and the ease of getting there, the large number of convention rooms and meeting spaces, and the fact that Americans want to be able to go someplace for vacation — even if it’s not a more expensive trip to Europe — all bodes well for the city and for Las Vegas Sands.

Weidner was the final guest of the summit, which runs through Wednesday in Los Angeles. Up next for summits is the Reuters Housing Summit, scheduled to kick off in New York and London next week.  

It’s a good problem to have — exactly what should a company do with its cash on hand.

For Sunstone Hotel Investors Chief Executive Steven Goldman, it’sreally not much of a problem at all and he addressed his thoughts on exactly what he and his board plans to do in the coming months with its cash.

Goldman, speaking at the Reuters Travel and Leisure Summit on Wednesday in Los Angeles, said the company was looking at four options for what to do with its cash:

1. Sit on it.

2. Buy back stock.

3. Pay down debt.

4. Fix up their existing properties.

Goldman said that Sunstone, a real estate investment trust (REIT) with 46 properties in its portfolio, would like to be doing some of each category, but would likely be a net seller of some of its lowest performing properties in the coming year, giving it even more cash for other goals.

Goldman was one of the featured speakers at this year’s summit, which runs through today. The next summit on the docket is next week’s Reuters Housing Summit held in New York and London. 

Bigger isn’t always better. Sometimes bigger can just become more unmanageable.

But for privately-held Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, the next few years is going to have a lot to do with how it manages its growth and how it goes from a company with just some cool hotels in cool spaces to a much larger player in the growing boutique arena.

Kimpton has made its name for having a bunch of different themes for its rooms — some are pet friendly, some have celebrity themes (the Jerry Garcia Suite at the Hotel Triton in San Francisco, a John Lennon Suite in Seattle), and some hotels have special rooms for people who are very tall. 

Yep. Tall people. 

Boutique hotels currently make up a very small portion of the total U.S. hotel rooms, but Chief Executive Michael Depatie sees that number growing.

For Kimpton, he sees his portfolio of hotels growing to about 60 from 42 now within three years.

While he sees the growth coming largely within the United States, Depatie also has his eye on international expansion, but not until he gets done with his current crop of projects.

Depatie was one of the featured guests at this year’s Reuters Travel and Leisure Summit, which continues through Wednesday in Reuters Los Angeles offices.

(With apologies to Kevin Costner and anyone else in “Field of Dreams”)

Las Vegas is going to be one toddlin’ town for the next few years if you happen to be a building contractor, a painter or a carpenter.

Sin City has been on, and is planning to accelerate, a building jag over the past few years and if everything gets built the way some of the big hotel and casino companies think it will, they are going to need a lot of people to come to make it pay off.

At the Reuters Travel and Leisure Summit on Tuesday, Deutsche Bank analyst Bill Lerner said the amount of building on the overall Vegas planner is astounding, and would add more than 40,000 hotel rooms by 2012.

If all those rooms get built — and we’re not talking $69.99-a-night rooms with $10 in chips and a free buffet – many of them are going to be the kind of high-end rooms in the high-end hotels. This means that a lot more of us are going to have to travel there if they hope to make their money back.

But with funds tightening up and some projects in a little bit of doubt, that number of projected new rooms might be coming down, he said.

The Travel and Leisure Summit continues through Wednesday in Reuters Los Angeles offices.

The Presidential election is much on the minds of many in the media, as the guessing games continue about who the ultimate competitors will be for the big job.

The results of the 2008 election will leave many direct winners and losers in its wake — military spending being a big one of them. But, Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive of online travel company Expedia Inc, said at the Reuters Travel and Leisure Summit in Los Angeles on Tuesday that the travel industry will also see an effect following the election.

Khosrowshahi said at the summit that a change in the administration from President George W. Bush to whomever succeeds him will likely help attract visitors to the U.S. from other countries.

The view of the United States from some countries — especially some in Europe — has suffered during Bush’s administration and Khosrowshahi sees that turning around with a new team in Washington.

Khosrowshahi was one of the featured guests on the second day of the Reuters summit, which continues through Wednesday in Los Angeles.

That crunching sound you hear? It might be coming from the credit markets.

Dan D'Arrigo, chief financial officer of MGM Mirage, said at the Reuters Travel and Leisure Summit on Monday that he thought the concerns about the accessibility of capital was a real worry and that it might have an effect on projects either on the drawing board or even those that are underway.

D'Arrigo, one of the featured guests at this year's summit, warned to be on the lookout for companies that need to access the capital markets until this crisis gets resolved.

The Reuters Travel and Leisure Summit continues through Thursday at our Los Angeles offices.

Shufflemaster has had a rough couple of years.

After the company's shares hit a high of $47.50 in May 2006, they have more or less steadily slipped lower and were trading on Monday afternoon at about $9.00.

The casino game maker, battling a slumping share price, said it would entertain a buyout offer at the right price, its chief operating officer said on Monday.

"I'm not sure that I would tell you that I'm committed to remaining public, remaining independent, or committed to going private or committed to being acquired," Paul Meyer told the Reuters Travel and Leisure Summit in Los Angeles. "At the end of the day it all comes down to a number."

Meyer said he believes the company could deserve a valuation of 25 times earnings, compared with a current ratio of around 20.

Investors took notice and the shares jumped 3 percent to $9.24.

The Travel and Leisure Summit runs through Thursday in Reuters Los Angeles offices and brings together executives from the hotel, casino and online travel industries with Reuters reporters and editors.