Russell Dazzio CHAIRMAN, CEO & FOunder R&R Global HOSPITALITY & Gaming

 

Russ Dazzio's prolific career began as a busboy, arriving eventually in the 'Boardroom" of R&R Global Hospitality. Along the way, his accent made stops in major hospitality hubs such as San Francisco, New York City, and Los Angeles. His journey into the world of the Hospitality Industry started in earnest upon graduating from UNLV’s Hospitality College in 1973 when an opportunity opened to work at arguably at that time one of Las Vegas's quintessential “Golden Era” casino resorts, The Stardust. After navigating a gauntlet of  "learn on the job" challenges, he found his footing and rapidly rose to be one of Las Vegas’s youngest Casino Executives where he was given the opportunity to make contributions to a litany of “Las Vegas Casino firsts".

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Yearning to grow his overall knowledge of the hospitality industry, Russ decided to leave a promising career in gaming for the opportunity to join then one of the world’s 3 largest international hotel companies ITT Sheraton where he ultimately would be responsible for the marketing of over 5,000 rooms in NYC and LA respectively, Shortly after joining ITT Sheraton he became one of their re-positioning and new openings assignment go-to men and played a pivotal role creating Sheraton's first upscale brand, The Grand, He opened the first Grande as the first all “Butler Hotel” in North America.  

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At the pinnacle of his international “Big Brand” hotel company career, Russ elected to make a bold move and cut the cord from mother ship ITT Sheraton to test his entrepreneurial skills and founded R&R Hotel Group. In short order, Russ navigated a course that allowed R&R to be ranked by Hotel Business Magazine as one of the fastest-growing independent hotel management companies in America and established the company among industry insiders as a trailblazer who was among the first to introduce the Boutique style hotel's too trendy West Hollywood. Over the next 35 years, R&R would weather 5 economic downturns surviving each largely due to innovative workout solutions Russ created for Lenders and Receivers holding toxic assets which made R&R a highly sought after distressed assets operator, 

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It was on Russ's watch; R&R executed a merger with Global Hospitality to become R&R Global Hospitality and Gaming. Armed with both company's decades of experience he would go on to build a multi-dimensional consulting, management, and development company that represented a diverse portfolio of clients located across numerous states and countries whose collective combined value was estimated to be over $12 billion.

 

R&R's boldest move would occur in 2018 when the company tied up over 140 acres on the Las Vegas Stip to develop a $4B integrated resort and theme park with Warner Bros studios. The outburst of Covid 19 in 2020 forced the project to be sidelined indefinitely.

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Russ is a popular guest speaker and the recipient of numerous honors and awards. He has been published in a number of Hospitality publications including the Cornell Quarterly, recognized as distinguished UNLV alumni for his two decades of service on their Hospitality College International Advisory Board, frequent stints as an Adjunct Professor. Other Boards he has served on include the John Hardy Group's Radical Innovation Competition, Hospitality Technology Magazine, and Las Vegas Rotary Club Youth Services Chair. Among his most notable accomplishments is work he performed during the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics as; Executive Producer of "The Big Picture", LA's Official Olympic Welcome Ceremony, and "Special Advisor" to LA Chief of Police, He also represented California at the "White House Conference on Tourism" and conceived "Operation Big Sweep" (an initiative which thousands of LA District students participated to eradicate gang activity, beautify and reposition blighted parts of downtown) Russ holds a B.S. Degree in Hotel Administration from UNLV attended UCLA’s Film School, a Charter Member of UNLV's Sigma Chi Fraternity Chapter, and a decorated United States Army - Reserves Vietnam Era veteran.

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