ARIA Resort & Casino is getting ready to make its mark in the Las Vegas skyline. The new property, scheduled to open this December on The Strip, is part of CityCenter, an urban resort community under construction between the Bellagio and Monte Carlo resorts. Once complete, ARIA will be CityCenter's only resort and casino and will eventually be joined by two nongaming hotels (Vdara and Mandarin Oriental), residential buildings, a retail and entertainment district, and a $40 million public fine art program.

The resort — which is accepting reservations for December 2009 and beyond — will feature 4,004 guest rooms with panoramic views; an 1,800-seat theater; celebrity-chef inspired restaurants; an 80,000-square-foot, two-level spa; three pools with 50 cabanas; 150,000 square feet of gaming; 300,000 square feet of meeting space; four ballrooms accommodating up to 5,000 attendees; 38 meeting rooms; and more than 500,000 square feet of retail and dining options just outside the hotel.

News Makers:

• Lawrence McCue has been named director of group sales for the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites, Los Angeles. McCue comes to the property from the Keystone (Colo.) Resort and Conference Center, where he served as director of sales and marketing for the past five years.

• The Miramonte Resort & Spa, Indian Wells, Calif., has hired industry veteran Steve Lee as national sales manager. Most recently he was an independent meetings contractor directing corporate, incentive, and association meetings globally.

• Wynn Resorts in Las Vegas has named Debra Edwards director of regional accounts, Southeast, focusing on all convention, meeting, and incentive business in the region. Edwards was most recently director of sales and marketing for Hilton Atlanta/Marietta Hotel & Conference Center.

• Sheila Hayden has been named director of sales and marketing at the Royal Sonesta Hotel Boston in Cambridge, Mass. Hayden most recently served as director of sales and marketing at the Lenox Hotel and Swissôtel Boston.

• Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Orlando has appointed Gary Gotling director of sales and marketing. He has been with Hyatt Hotels Corp. for 25 years, most recently with the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville (Fla.) Riverfront.

• The Carlton hotel in New York has appointed Bonnie Somerstein to director of sales and marketing. Before joining The Carlton, Somerstein worked for Bryant Park Hotel in New York, where she directed all sales, marketing, and catering activities for the hotel.

• Kerzner International has appointed two new directors of regional sales for its Atlantis, Paradise Island resort in the Bahamas: Linda Pond Rindos and Siri Gawecki. Pond Rindos was previously director of national accounts for Gaylord Hotels' Northeast national sales office, while Gawecki was a director of regional sales for MGM Mirage.

• Naples Bay Resort in Naples, Fla., has appointed Kerry Mitruska as senior sales manager. Mitruska was previously vice president of sales and marketing for Coral Hospitality of Naples.