The Venetian and The Palazzo Las Vegas Kick Off New Alliance With IHG in Unexpected and Extraordinary Ways and Welcomes "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" to Celebrate

ATLANTA, May 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ellen DeGeneres Show today helps IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) and Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) celebrate the launch of The Venetian and The Palazzo as the first-ever InterContinental Alliance Resorts. To commemorate this fitting partnership and encourage consumers to start taking advantage of the extraordinary benefits of the alliance, talk show host Ellen DeGeneres welcomed the 'first' InterContinental Alliance Resort guests by serving as celebrity concierge for the day.

The humorous segment airs on The "Ellen DeGeneres Show" Wednesday, May 4th, and will show viewers just how easy it is to start earning and burning IHG's Priority Club points at The Venetian and The Palazzo and global hotel destinations beyond the Las Vegas Strip. As "Celebrity Concierge," DeGeneres welcomed four lucky bachelorettes to check into the newly formed InterContinental Alliance Resorts, and showed them the access and benefits they receive at The Venetian and The Palazzo just by simply being a member of Priority Club Rewards, IHG's guest loyalty program. Ellen gives the bachelorettes the VIP treatment with drinks and dancing by the pool, a relaxing gondola ride and even hit the slot machines. Guests in Vegas were not the only ones to be part of the action; Ellen also surprised the entire studio audience of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" with a complimentary two-night stay at either The Venetian or The Palazzo.

As InterContinental Alliance Resorts, The Venetian and The Palazzo are now affiliated with the InterContinental Hotels & Resorts global portfolio. They will maintain their brand identity, yet are established as InterContinental Alliance Resorts on property and via various marketing channels, including www.intercontinental.com, where guests can book a suite at The Venetian or The Palazzo, just like they would any other InterContinental Hotel or Resort. The resorts, both of which have earned the AAA Five Diamond rating and a four-star rating from Forbes, are the perfect fit for the InterContinental Hotels & Resorts brand and provide the "in the know" experience that InterContinental guests have come to expect.

"Our guests earn a significant amount of Priority Club points when they're staying at our hotels for business travel," said Eric Pearson, chief marketing officer, the Americas, IHG.  Overwhelmingly, they want to redeem those points for a fun and relaxing vacation, and now with InterContinental Alliance Resorts we can offer two-award winning flagship resorts in one of the world's most dynamic destinations."

This new alliance brings together two world-class leaders in the global hospitality industry. It also offers extraordinary benefits to both guests at The Venetian and The Palazzo and to members of IHG's Priority Club Rewards program, the world's largest hotel loyalty program with 56 million members.

"Our guests will now be able to earn points and redeem them for stays at any of IHG's various hotels worldwide, just as Priority Club Rewards and Ambassador Members will be able to use their own points for stays at both of our world-class resort properties. In addition, Venetian and Palazzo guests can also earn Priority Club points on top of our Grazie loyalty program points," said Rom Hendler, chief marketing officer, Las Vegas Sands Corp.  "IHG customers will be able to experience the same Five Diamond Award winning service that Venetian and Palazzo visitors have always received. This is an exciting opportunity for all!"

To celebrate this new alliance, from now through the end of the year, consumers also have the opportunity to win an unexpected and extraordinary experience through a unique sweepstakes called "Unexpected. Extraordinary. Yours for the taking!" Each consumer who enters the online sweepstakes at www.ihg.com/lasvegas will be entered into a drawing for their chance to win an extraordinary giveaway each month.

Each monthly prize will include a two-night getaway in the Penthouse Suite at either The Venetian or The Palazzo, airfare to Las Vegas and VIP treatment, plus another extraordinary prize valued between $5,000 and $10,000 to experience in Las Vegas. The prizes will vary each month and include, but are not limited to, the chance to party like a celebrity at Tao and Lavo; private luxury box for four at Lagasse's Stadium(SM) during baseball's Fall Classic; and a culinary experience, featuring some of the award-winning restaurants on-site, including Postrio, CUT, Morels, Pinot Brasserie and Valentino. A full list of prizes can be found at www.ihg.com/lasvegas along with the rules for the sweepstakes which is being carried out by IHG.

About IHG:

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms. IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns, through various subsidiaries, over 4,400 hotels and more than 640,000 guest rooms in 100 countries and territories around the world. The Group owns a portfolio of well recognized and respected hotel brands including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn® Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites® and Candlewood Suites® and also manages the world's largest hotel loyalty program, Priority Club® Rewards with 56 million members worldwide.

IHG has almost 1,300 hotels in its development pipeline, which is expected to create 160,000 jobs worldwide over the next few years.

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group's holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales.

IHG offers information and online reservations for all its hotel brands at www.ihg.com and information for the Priority Club Rewards program at www.priorityclub.com. For our latest news visit www.ihg.com/media, Twitter www.twitter.com/ihgplc or YouTube www.youtube.com/ihgplc.

About Las Vegas Sands Corp.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) is the leading global developer of destination properties (integrated resorts) that feature premium accommodations, world-class gaming and entertainment, convention and exhibition facilities, celebrity chef restaurants, and many other amenities.

The Venetian and The Palazzo, Five-Diamond luxury resorts on the Las Vegas Strip, are among the company's properties in the United States. In Singapore, the iconic Marina Say Sands is the most recent addition to the company's portfolio.

Through its majority-owned subsidiary Sands China Ltd, the company also owns a collection of properties in Macau, including The Venetian Macao, Four Seasons Hotel Macao and the Four Seasons-branded serviced-apartments at its Cotai Strip development, as well as the Sands Macao on the Macau peninsula.

SOURCE InterContinental Hotels Group