Woman illustrates you can go home again; however, she is not planning to linger long

When Krista Tye left the Hard Rock Hotel in 2006, she never planned to look back.

But after spending time working in an orphanage in southeast Africa last year, Tye was persuaded to return to the property by President Randy Kwasniewski who wanted her to help the resort's financially troubled retail stores.

"I would have never come back if Randy wasn't here," she said. "It was the chance to do it right."

Tye, who signed an eight-month contract in April, is one of a handful of old-timers who have come back to help the hotel through its ownership transition from founder Peter Morton to New York boutique hotel operator Morgans Hotel Group.

Tye started working for the Hard Rock when the café opened in 1990. After travelling the world as a training manager, she returned to Las Vegas in 1995 to help open the hotel.

Until her contract expires in December, she is the senior director of retail operations overseeing The Retail Store, Love Jones, and the merchandise at the Pink Taco restaurant. Tye also oversees 44 employees aged 17 to 25.

But she isn't back to stay.

Tye has investors in place to help her open her own sandwich shop.

She also plans to return to the orphanage and the kids that grabbed her heart.

In her office in the back of the Hard Rock Store hangs a picture from her time working in a Tanzanian orphanage.

"This kid Jo-Jo, when they found him he was eating his mattress," Tye said pointing to a boy in the photo.

However, Tye's philanthropy is more than just a three-month stint in Africa.

She also sits on the council for Planned Parenthood and works on the hotel's "Save the Planet" initiative.

Question: What brought you back to the Hard Rock Hotel?

Answer: Randy (Kwasniewski) brought me back, and a little bit of convincing, too. I opened this hotel for Peter Morton. For the first three years we were open we were the busiest retail store in the country. It was phenomenal. We did more business in retail than we did in slots. It was the days of the theme restaurant with the big logo.

Question: Why did you only sign an eight-month contract?

Answer: My whole life I've wanted to own a restaurant. After telling him "no" four times, I told Randy I was opening a restaurant in December and I was committed to my investors. I feel like I have the best 25 sandwich recipes and I'm opening a place called Tiny Bigs: The best lip-smacking, life enhancing sandwiches in the Las Vegas area.

My dream location is West Charleston Boulevard, but I don't have a lease space right now.

Question: Why did you choose to leave the Hard Rock in 2006?

Answer: I woke up one day and decided I wanted to take a year off. The hotel had been good to me for 10 years and I had the incredible good fortune to be able to take a year off. I became more concerned with what was happening in the world and the problems that were going on than making the great revenue dollar. It snaps in your head that you're bummed out because the world's falling apart and I'm chasing the dough. It was the best thing I've ever done in my life.

Question: What did you do after leaving?

Answer: My goal was to go to Africa and start working on some of the problems they were experiencing. I lived in Tanzania and worked in the orphanage next to the Ngorongoro Crater. This orphanage was run by an American with 72 children. Many of them are AIDS orphans. In Africa there is no social system. So, if the parents pass away, there is no one to take care of the children. With the AIDS crisis, there are kids that have nothing to do.

Question: How did the experience of working with those kids affect you?

Answer: It was everything and more that I wanted it to be. I think the best thing I got out of coming back to America was that sometimes our biggest problems are our own conveniences. I remember being here at the hotel and being irritated because the pool guy didn't show up at my house. You go someplace like this and it's a great check-and-balance system for me.

Question: What's the hotel's "Save the Planet" employee program about?

Answer: This hotel is very conscious of the environment. I believe we're the only hotel that completely recycles. We'll pull all the Heineken bottles out from the brown bottles. We were doing recycling in town before it was done residentially.

While it was a focus of Peter's, Randy wants to carry that philosophy over. That's part of the beauty of working here.

Question: What was your reaction when you heard Peter Morton was selling the property?

Answer: It didn't surprise me one bit. He is always reinventing himself and this hotel was very good to him. The hotel needs to evolve. I also saw his interest really change to philanthropy. He had always been that way in the hotel, but that was where his true love.

Question: How did you change the store's direction when you came back and Morgans now owned the property?

Answer: I said to Randy, "We're a jeans hotel." That's who we are, that's who are clientele is. So I cut the 38 T-shirts down to 12, put them up front to celebrate the person who shops Monday through Thursday that pays our bills in here, the souvenir shopper. All we did was make a shift. Then I took half the store to take care of the guy that flies in from New York and wants a pair of jeans, or the girl that comes in and wants a dress for the weekend. We have two completely different demographics shopping here. It's working. We're up almost 10 percent over last year.

Question: What brought you to Las Vegas from Washington state?

Answer: I owed money. And I love hospitality, the restaurant business and hotels. I just thought it was the perfect place for me. The Hard Rock Café was my first job in town in 1990. I then went to open Peter's restaurants as a training manager. I opened the Hard Rock in Surfer's Paradise and Melbourne, Australia, Tel Aviv, Israel, and the Hard Rock in New Orleans.

Question: How did you go from waiting tables to traveling the world opening restaurants?

Answer: I wanted more of a challenge. For me it was no longer about the income, it was about having some form of challenge. Peter would very much promote from within. I wanted to go into management and I loved the food and beverage industry.

Question: How did you land back in Las Vegas and the hotel?

Answer: I was managing the café in New Orleans and I came to help open the hotel. The store was doing $100,000 per day and Peter asked me to stay. I checked into this hotel and, for three months I never left. I never saw light. I remember having dirty dishes in my sink in New Orleans and when they sent my stuff and brought it here, there was a box of dirty dishes.

Question: How has the change been from Peter Morton to the Morgans Hotel Group?

Answer: It has definitely been a step up for hotel operations. They bring the kind of hotel expertise in here that was needed. Morgans is very precise on what they want, but at the same time they want to celebrate what's best of the Hard Rock Hotel, which is our rock 'n' roll.