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     By Damon Hodge
     View staff writer
      Meet the antithesis of the Bellagio: HomeGate.
      HomeGate's smaller: 126 rooms compared to 3,000; shorter: three stories compared to a building the size of Italy; and cheaper: three percent of the Italian-themed Strip resort's $1.6 billion price tag could have financed the 177-acre HomeGate project.
      HomeGate does beat Bellagio in one aspect: It's newer. The 1550 E. Flamingo Road hotel is the city's newest. HomeGate Studios & Suites opened Oct. 25, 10 days after the Bellagio.
      John Leavitt, senior vice president of sales and marketing of Prime Hospitality Corp., which owns the hotel, said expanding to Las Vegas was inevitable.
      "This was a natural extension to brand development," he said, adding that the Fairfield, N.J. company has operations in other western markets such as Arizona and Colorado.
      Prime Hospitality Corp. manages or franchises more than 170 hotels in the United States and Virgin Islands, including Crowne Plaza, AmeriSuites and Wellesley Inns operations in Las Vegas. The company bought HomeGate last year.
      "Obviously, Las Vegas is an important hotel market and we are pleased to represent HomeGate as the first property in the area," said HomeGate general manager Marc Candeloro.
      He served as general manager of Extended Stay America's 177-room Las Vegas hotel and worked in food and beverages for Sam's Town and the Crowne Plaza Resort in Hilton Head Island, S.C. before coming to HomeGate.
      "I'm confident that both business and leisure travelers will find the amenities comfortable and accommodations HomeGate has to offer very appealing."
      The hotel has 74 studio rooms; 41 suites, which includes three executive suites; and a one-bedroom apartment and is located two miles east of the Strip and Interstate 15.
      Leavitt expects 60 to 70 percent of first-year business to come from vacationers. He said tour and travel packages and other amenities will be offered to appeal to conventioneers.
      "This is a convention city," he said. "It's also a tourist city with millions of people passing through every year. Being in Las Vegas gives us a tremendous flagship opportunity."
      Leavitt expects the thousands of rooms added by hotels such as the Bellagio, Mandalay Bay and Venetian will temporarily dampen occupancy rates. But the market should rebound by 2001, he said, and the hotel should be financially solvent.
      Through Dec. 30, HomeGate is offering special introductory nightly rates - $49 for a studio, $59 for a suite and $99 for an executive suite.