The Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino is a hotel and casino in Winchester, Nevada. It is owned by Westgate Resorts and operated by Paragon Gaming. It has 2,956 hotel rooms including 305 suites. It opened in 1969 as the International Hotel, and was known for many years as the Las Vegas Hilton, then briefly as the LVH - Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. It was renamed the Westgate Las Vegas on July 1, 2014. The hotel is 30 stories tall with a height of 114.30 meter / 375.00 feet. Located on 64 acres (26 ha), it has a 74,000 square feet (6,900 m2) casino and is also home to the largest sports book in Las Vegas. The hotel is located next to the Las Vegas Convention Center and has its own 200,000 sq ft (19,000 m2) convention center, and a station along the Las Vegas Monorail.
Video Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino
History
International Hotel (1969-1971)
The hotel site was previously part of the grounds of Las Vegas Park, a defunct racetrack. In 1965, the 400-acre (160 ha) track site was purchased by National Equities, a real estate development firm chaired by Marvin Kratter. Kratter announced development plans for the site to include a 40-floor, 1,500-room hotel, as well as a golf course and private homes. In 1967, National Equities sold a 65.5-acre (26.5 ha) portion of the site to Kirk Kerkorian for $5 million. Kerkorkian, who was known at the time as the chairman of Trans International Airlines and as the landlord of Caesars Palace, announced that he would build a 30-story hotel with 1,510 rooms, at a cost of $50 million. He hired Martin Stern, Jr., who had designed several noted Las Vegas high-rises, as the hotel's architect. Kerkorian's hotel would be named the International Hotel, matching the name of Kratter's International Country Club (now the Las Vegas Country Club). Construction began with an elaborate groundbreaking ceremony in February 1968.
With planning for the hotel underway, Kerkorian purchased the Flamingo casino, to serve as a training ground for the International's staff. Later, during the International's construction, Kerkorian formed a publicly traded company, International Leisure, to own the two casinos.
The hotel opened on July 2, 1969. Upon opening, the International was the largest hotel in the world. Entertainment director Bill Miller was able to sign Barbra Streisand as the opening-night performer, along with Peggy Lee performing afterwards in the hotel's lounge.
On July 31, 1969, immediately following Streisand's engagement, Elvis Presley performed for 58 consecutive sold out shows, breaking all Las Vegas attendance records, (130,157 paying, and ostensibly gambling, customers in the period of one month), with stellar reviews coming from both critics and the public. Presley broke his own attendance record in February 1970, and again in August 1970 and August 1972. When playing Las Vegas, he lived in the penthouse suite (room 3000), located on the 30th floor, until his last performance there in December 1976. Between 1969 and 1976, Presley performed a total of 837 shows, all to sold out audiences. He was due to perform there again in 1978, to celebrate the opening of the North tower, but the singer died in August 1977. His manager, Colonel Tom Parker, lived in the hotel on the 4th floor from the 1970s to mid-1980s.
Hilton (1971-2012)
In 1970 and 1971, Kerkorian sold his shares of International Leisure to Hilton Hotels, because of a cash shortage resulting from his acquisitions of Western Airlines and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The International was renamed in July 1971 as the Las Vegas Hilton.
Liberace headlined in the showroom during the 1970s, drawing sold-out crowds twice per night. When he signed his contract at the Hilton in 1972 he earned $300,000 per week, a record amount for individual entertainers in Las Vegas.
The Las Vegas Hilton was the site in 1978 where Leon Spinks defeated Muhammad Ali for the World Heavyweight Championship. It was also the site in which Mike Tyson defeated Tony Tucker to unify and become the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion in 1986. Also, Donald Curry defeated Milton McCrory at the Las Vegas Hilton to unify and become the Undisputed Welterweight Champion in December 1985.
An east tower extension with 620 rooms was completed in 1975 at a cost of $20 million. A $23-million expansion added another 644 rooms to the north tower in 1979.
1981 fire
On the night of February 10, 1981, an arson fire started at the Las Vegas Hilton, which at the time was being retrofitted with modern fire safety equipment. Firefighters, using the knowledge they had learned from the MGM Grand fire, used local television networks to notify people to stay in their rooms and not go out to the halls and stairwells. Because of the lessons learned, only eight people died in this fire compared with the 85 people who died in the MGM Grand fire. Famed singer Natalie Cole was trapped inside the Hilton during the fire, possibly sustaining lung damage from smoke inhalation that was not detected by doctors in 1981. In 1982, Philip Bruce Cline was sentenced to eight life sentences for his role in starting the fire.
1986-2012
The race and sports book was added in 1986 and is the largest in Las Vegas.
In September 1991, the casino hosted the U.S. Navy's Tailhook Association annual meeting. During this gathering, alleged acts of sexual assault by Naval and Marine Corps officers took place in the hotel. The Navy investigated the event. The initial accusations stood up and fueled a large scandal receiving wide media attention. Responsibility was determined to include the entire chain of command, ultimately affecting the careers of over 300 pilots and 14 admirals, including Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Frank Kelso.
The hotel had what was the largest freestanding sign made mostly of steel in front of the hotel on Paradise Road. The old sign was semicircular in shape, and had three large steel posts close to each other forming a small circle, while three more posts on each side of the three main ones, this time more spaced out, formed the semicircle, also holding up a concrete sign. The old sign, which had been built at a cost of $5 million, was blown down during a major thunderstorm on July 18, 1994. A new $9 million freestanding concrete Hilton sign was built in 1997 at the same location and is the largest freestanding sign in the world. The sign is narrow, and gets wider as it gets higher, forming a fan-type design at the top.
In 1998, Hilton spun off its casino properties, including the Las Vegas Hilton, as Park Place Entertainment.
Hilton's timeshare arm, Hilton Grand Vacations, began construction of a complex at the northeast corner of the property in 1998. It opened in 1999 with 230 suites.
Around 1999, Park Place began seeking a buyer for the Las Vegas Hilton, because the company hoped to concentrate on its properties on the Las Vegas Strip, especially the newly acquired Caesars Palace. In 2000, Park Place agreed to sell the Hilton to Edward Roski Jr. for $365 million. Roski planned to transform the Hilton to shift its focus away from high rollers and toward convention attendees. The deal fell through, however, and the property was locked up in litigation between Park Place and Roski until 2003, when they settled their claims against each other.
In June 2004, Caesars Entertainment (formerly Park Place) sold the Las Vegas Hilton to Colony Capital for $280 million. The next year, Colony transferred the Hilton to its newly formed casino affiliate, Resorts International Holdings, which was headquartered at the property.
In October 2006, it was reported that the Las Vegas Hilton might be demolished in the subsequent 12 to 18 months. The claim was immediately refuted by president and CEO Rudy Prieto.
In June 2011, Hilton opted to terminate its franchise agreement with the property, effective at the end of the year.
After suffering from the recession, the Hilton began defaulting on payments to Goldman Sachs on a $252 million loan. Goldman filed for foreclosure in September 2011. Colony responded in October, claiming that Goldman, which owns 40% of the Hilton through its subsidiary, Whitehall, and owns competing resorts including the Stratosphere, was acting in conflict of interest.
LVH (2012-2014)
On January 3, 2012, the Las Vegas Hilton became the LVH-Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, as the contract to use the Hilton brand ended.
The LVH was sold at a foreclosure auction in October 2012 to the only bidder, a partnership of Goldman Sachs and Gramercy Capital. The Navegante Group was brought in to manage the property. On February 4, 2013 it was announced that LVH would be affiliating with Red Lion Hotels.
Westgate (2014-present)
Goldman Sachs and Colony sold the resort to Westgate Resorts on June 30, 2014 for between $150 and $170 million. Westgate renamed the resort the Westgate Las Vegas on July 1, 2014. The letters LVH were removed from the sign in front of the hotel that day.
Westgate retained Paragon Gaming to replace Navegante as the property's manager in 2015.
Maps Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino
Entertainment
Shows
On September 14, 1993, the Vegas version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Starlight Express show opened. This involved a massive conversion of the theater including pouring concrete ramps into the seating area. When the show closed, the theater was used to film The Oak Ridge Boys Live series for TNN before it was gutted and renovated.
During the summer of 2006, Reba McEntire signed an exclusive engagement performing at the Las Vegas Hilton titled REBA: Key to the Heart. Over five non-consecutive weeks, she performed for the fans traveling to see her for the first time in her career.
Barry Manilow performed his "Manilow: Music and Passion" and "Ultimate Manilow: the Hits" shows at the Las Vegas Hilton. As part of the contract, Manilow occupied one of the three "sky villas" which are three very large penthouse suites that were built in 1994 replacing the original penthouse (room 3000), Elvis's home for 8 years. In February 2007, the Hilton painted Las Vegas' largest mural, of Barry Manilow, on the side of the hotel.
Greg London Impressions That Rock, playing indefinitely, opened in March 2010.
On July 22, 2011, and July 23, 2011, Ethan Bortnick became the youngest Headline performer in Las Vegas. At 10 years old, Ethan made history at the Las Vegas Hilton as the youngest headliner in Las Vegas.
The King Starring Trent Carlini, playing indefinitely. Winner of ABC's The Next Best Thing, Trent Carlini has been the longest running show at the LVH. Trent Carlini opened his show at the LVH (former Hilton) performing from 2000 to 2005. He returned to the hotel in 2010 for a limited engagement and has performed six nights a week since 2011.
The Las Vegas Hilton has a numbered 13th floor--a fairly unusual feature for a Western hotel.
In 2013, the classic rock tribute show Raiding the Rock Vault began playing at the LVH. The cast consists of several actors and musicians, including Paul Shortino, John Payne, Robin McAuley, and Howard Leese. Tracii Guns was a part of the show for its 2013 run, but was replaced in 2014 by Doug Aldrich.
Cameo, the Grammy-nominated funk band, currently headlines the Westgate Cabaret alongside comedian Vinnie Favorito and Sexxy, the long-standing Las Vegas burlesque revue. Purple Reign, the award-winning tribute to Prince, performs in the Westgate International Theater five nights a week.
Star Trek: The Experience
In January 1998, Star Trek: The Experience opened. The casino added a space-themed casino, Space Quest, complete with high-tech table games. It served as the gateway to The Experience. Sometime prior to the summer of 2007 the casino was redone to largely remove the space theme.
On March 18, 2004, a new Borg Invasion 4-D ride was added.
On September 2008, Star Trek: The Experience closed and was completely dismantled the following January. It was planned to be moved to the Neonopolis mall, but as of 2011 it has not opened, and most props and costumes that were displayed have since been sold. Plans for the relocation have since been abandoned. Despite the closure, several of the "spaceship-style" wall panels in the Hilton installed for the experience are still there. On October 25, 2016 the Miss Grand International 2016 pageant was held in this arena.
Popular culture
Television
- Let's Make a Deal produced its final syndicated season here in 1976-77.
- The television series The Oak Ridge Boys: Live from Las Vegas was taped in the Starlight Theater.
- Two episodes of Roseanne were taped here in 1991.
- In 1998, 2002, 2005, 2009, 2010, and 2013 Wheel of Fortune was taped on location at the Las Vegas Hilton Theater.
- Two weeks of episodes of Jeopardy! were taped on location at the Las Vegas Hilton Theater: a week of Celebrity Jeopardy! and the 2001 International Championship, which was won by then-reigning Tournament of Champions winner Robin Carroll.
- Louis Theroux's BBC documentary 'weird weekends' was filmed here, discussing the lifestyle and merits of gambling and following several gamblers around the casino.
- On May 2, 1982 the National Cable Television Association held its annual convention in the ballroom of the then Hilton Hotel for the inaugural telecast of The Weather Channel.
Film
- In August 1970, it was the setting for the stage segment of Elvis Presley's concert documentary Elvis - That's The Way It Is.
- The hotel was used as the infamous "Whyte House" casino in the 1971 James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever.
- The hotel was also featured extensively toward the end of the movie Over the Top.
- Other notable appearances include the movie Indecent Proposal.
Music
- The Hilton is the setting of the song "Home on Monday" by the Little River Band on their album Diamantina Cocktail, starting with the lyrics, "Can you guess where I'm calling from? The Las Vegas Hilton."
Video games
- The Hilton becomes the target of a terrorist bombing in Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2.
- The LVH has been deemed the location for the 2014 Evolution Fighting Game Tournament series, a.k.a. Evo. See http://shoryuken.com/2013/09/15/evo-2014-announced/ for more.
Gallery
References
External links
- Official website
Source of article : Wikipedia
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