On I-25, just beyond the northernmost Albuquerque exit sign, a Ferrari is sitting on the side of the road.

Don't be fooled, friends. This hot rod isn't in need of a jump-start, a tire change or antifreeze. The Ferrari on the side of the road sits there as a temptress.

Sandia Assistant General Manager Stuart Paisano (left) and General Manager Shon Yazdan pose so Public Relations Director Amber Flores Jordan can take their picture. Yazdan and Paisano were photographed to be featured in an American Indian trade publication. The pair have taken the helm of the new Sandia Casino and Resort with a mission of making it world renowned. "The hospitality industry is growing on a daily basis, an hourly basis - by about $19,000 a second," Yazdan says. "The only thing that can separate us, Sandia, as a resort, is really customer service and consistency in operation." (Steven St. John/Tribune)

She's waiting for you to take her for a drive, feel in an instant the luxury, comfort and glamour of a vacation in a foreign land.

But this trip isn't to Italy. It's to Sandia Resort.

And as with a ride in a Ferrari, your comfort and high expectations should be met with ease. That's the philosophy of the resort's new general manager, Shon Yazdan, who arrived at Sandia this month.

Yazdan, who brought with him education and training from Germany, Switzerland, Japan and England, has been at the helm of several four- and five-star resorts.

Sandia, he says, is much like that alluring Italian sports car.

BY THE NUMBERS Sandia Resort and Casino, 30 Rainbow Road N.E., completed its expansion at the end of 2005. It has: 228 rooms and suites, priced between $139 and $2,000 a night. (The $2,000 suites are 3,000 square feet each.) Each room features 32-inch LCD flat-panel TVs, wireless Internet access and a separate tub and walk-in shower. Rooms also have unique tile-work designed by Albuquerque company Vernon Tile. 50,000 square feet of meeting space. An 18-hole golf course, named among the best in the country by Golf Digest. The Green Reed Spa, 12,000 square feet with nine treatment rooms featuring New Mexico-produced products and high-end lines such as Jan Marini. A Las Vegas-style casino with more than 1,700 slots and the largest poker room in the state. Source: Sandia Resort and Casino

"The way this place is built, it would be unfair to take it to a limit that is average or below average," he says, explaining that since the car was built for speed, it would be a waste to only drive it slow. "It (Sandia) can compete with big boys all over the world, and I mean that. As Albuquerque grows and as Albuquerque becomes famous, I can assure you we will be a major component of that success."

Success for Sandia, though, means recognition as a superior resort. To attain that recognition, Yazdan says Sandia must essentially act like one.

Achievement, Yazdan says, is rooted in one thing: superior customer service.

"My goal is to bring the service to a level where Sandia Resort finds itself among the most exclusive high-class luxury resorts known nationally and internationally," he says. "In order to achieve that, you have to go through certain criteria and certain steps, from every angle. From the moment you call the hotel to the moment you drive to the front door, to the moment you put your eye into the eye of the first employee, you have to say yourself, `My God, this is something different.'

"And this is something I think Albuquerque is ready for."

Yazdan, who carries himself as if he is a living white-glove test, admits he is a perfectionist - "not many people like to work with me, I'll be honest with you," he says - and says consistency is the only way to achieve his goals.

"The more tidy we are and the more accurate we are with things, the more consistent we are, the more beneficial it will be for all of us," he says. "With uniformity and consistency in guest relations, we can establish any property in the industry as an icon."

Former Sandia Gov. Stuart Paisano can't help but smile when he thinks about how far the property has come since 2003, when the casino first opened.

After accidentally getting locked out of their own resort, Sandia Resort and Casino General Manager Shon Yazdan (left) and Assistant General Manager Stuart Paisano look for someone to open a door. The new management pair had stepped outside during a walk-through to pick up trash that had blown out of the receptacle during a wind storm, and were quickly allowed back inside. The two, who bring years of experience and leadership to their new roles, say they roam the property seeking ways to ensure excellence at every level.(Steven St. John/Tribune)

When Paisano's term as governor ended at the end of 2005, he became a member of the pueblo's tribal council, where he helps make decisions about the future of the pueblo and its enterprises. Now, he is also the assistant general manager at the resort he helped launch as governor.

The resort - which includes a spa, golf course, meeting rooms and a hotel - opened in January. It's another piece of the project Paisano has helped grow.

"We didn't have an architectural eye. It all came from the heart, it all came from our rich history. It also came from our culture and our religion as well," he says. "When it opened up in May 2003, the planning stages had already begun for the resort. The council wanted to plan a true destination resort. We wanted to hopefully educate people about our culture in a certain sense, to have a picture in their mind of who we are as people."

It isn't enough that the resort is nice, he says. It has to be stellar; it has to leave an impression.

"The pueblo's vision, and our vision, we always wanted to provide a unique experience, so when they do come to stay with us, they'll take with them a piece of Sandia," he says. "If they are an international traveler, and even if they never return, maybe they'll talk about this beautiful place in the Sandias."

A grin sweeps across his face as Yazdan nods with the assurance of a man in church.

"Sandia was put together brick by brick by a bunch of visionaries," Yazdan says. "By people who sought with their hearts to put this together not for themselves but for generations to come."

But Paisano's grin transforms to a firm brow as he explains the challenges ahead, including employee retention and settling into the 228-room hotel, the Bien Shur restaurant and other amenities.

"We've built the facility, and now the dust is settling from being open," he says. "The honeymoon stage is pretty much ending. Now we're focusing on all the infrastructure needs and customer service, making sure the kitchens are running well."

Sandia Resort and Casino employs 2,000 people - an especially impressive number considering the pueblo is inhabited by fewer than 500.

Still, Paisano says, finding and keeping quality employees is a constant challenge.

"We're having trouble finding people to work," he says.

He says the administrative staff is uncertain as to all the hurdles in that employee-retention race. But one is the extensive background and drug testing the resort requires.

Yazdan says it is also important the employees understand his goal: to give them careers and not just jobs.

"Employee loyalty is extremely important to him (Paisano), is extremely important to the tribe," he says. "I have no intention at this moment to establish guest loyalty. At this moment, I want to establish employee loyalty. Guest loyalty will follow. I am delighted to see the quality of our employees.

"One thing is for sure, Shon Yazdan cannot do anything alone. If I want a one-man show, I have to go to Broadway. This is not Broadway, this is a very serious operation."

When chef Salim Khoury came to Houston from his home in Jerusalem in 1989, he had never heard of Sandia Pueblo.

He had a degree in hotel restaurant management but thought he could do better for himself if he complemented it with one in culinary arts. He was quickly hired by Hilton hotels in Texas, and came to Albuquerque as head chef of the Rancher's Club - the city's only AAA four-diamond restaurant - for the experience.

"It (the Rancher's Club) is a really nice place," he says. "However, it's just very classic and very intimidating. These days, people no matter rich or poor, they want new things, they want freedom."

Khoury, 44, jumped at the chance to create meals for a new audience, with fewer restrictions, in a restaurant named for the blue mountain it would look upon. He left the Rancher's Club in July last year.

"The response from the public was really great when we opened this place," he says. "We wanted the upscale feel, but not the intense, `You have to be in a suit and tie and act a certain way.' That was an advantage of this place. It's upscale level, but you can sit and eat and be casual."

He enjoys being part of a team committed to superior service, he says. He says he's just as committed: It's in the way he runs his kitchen. It's in the way he spends six hours preparing a meal it may take someone 15 minutes to eat. It's in the way he greets guests, wanting to know what they think is missing from the menu.

Soon, he says, he will be changing the menu a bit, adding more of the game he became known for at the Rancher's Club - but not ostrich, he insists.

He strives to ensure his regulars won't get bored, trying to do things to keep them enthralled with his creations.

He has even introduced an art-and-wine night, where guests learn about hard-to-find wines and local artists.

It's all for the guests, he says. It's to give them the best experience they could possibly have.

"Restaurants and cooking are like fashion and cars," he says.

"It's kind of a race, so people will say, `Oh, wow, this place has this.' I don't want to be a copy. I want to be unique and I want to be different and I want to be the first to do certain things."