I have that very same ironing board and love it. Yes, you can set your hot iron on the metal holder at the end -- it took me a while to get brave enough to try it, since there weren't any instructions with the board when I bought it.
I even got a "deal" on my board at WalMart. It rang up at $19, which is the price for the regular-sized boards. I told the checker that the price wasn't correct, and told him what the price should be, but he wasn't interested in changing it and told me, in effect, that I was mistaken. I didn't feel like arguing with him, or asking for a manager, so I paid the $19 and went home.