Nazarian, whose nightclubs include the popular Area and HydeLounge clubs in Hollywood, will operate the SLS brand under SBEHotel Group, a division of his SBE Entertainment Group. In additionto the US, the SLS group will ultimately include hotels and resortsin Mexico and the Caribbean.

Nazarian says that SLS "is not an exact acronym for anything inparticular" but is intended to be developed into a new brand thatis the ultimate in luxury hotels. Nazarian's hotel holdings alreadyinclude Miami's Ritz Plaza, which his company is currentlyredeveloping along with Newport Beach-based Makar Properties and isslated to reopen under the new flag in mid-2008.

The new brand is the latest in a series of hotel andentertainment ventures for SBE, which reached an agreement in Marchto acquire the Sahara Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas along withequity partner Stockbridge Real Estate Funds of San Mateo. TheSahara is the hotel immortalized by the Rat Pack as the setting ofthe original "Ocean's Eleven" film starring Frank Sinatra and DeanMartin.