Las Vegas Hilton
Encyclopedia
The Las Vegas Hilton is a hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...

, casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...

, and convention center
Convention center
A convention center is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typically offer sufficient floor area to accommodate several thousand attendees...

 in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

. It is a joint venture
Joint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...

 between Colony Capital, which owns 60 percent, and New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

-based REIT Whitehall Street Real Estate Funds, which owns the remaining 40 percent. With 2,956 hotel rooms and 305 suites, this off-Strip
Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...

 hotel is the largest Hilton Hotel in the world, although it is smaller than the Hilton Hawaiian Village
Hilton Hawaiian Village
The Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort and Spa, formerly the Kaiser Hawaiian Village Hotel, has been a popular hotel in the Waikiki area of the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, United States since 1957. It is the largest hotel of the Hilton chain, with 3,386 rooms and with 7 towers...

 resort. Located on 64 acres (25.9 ha), it has a 74000 square feet (6,874.8 m²) casino and is also home to the largest sports book
Sportsbook
In the United States a sportsbook or a race and sports book is a place where a gambler can wager on various sports competitions, including golf, football, basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer, horse racing, boxing, and mixed martial arts. The method of betting varies with the sport and the type of...

 in Las Vegas.

The hotel is located next to the Las Vegas Convention Center
Las Vegas Convention Center
The Las Vegas Convention Center is owned and operated by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority in Las Vegas, Nevada....

 and has its own 200000 sq ft (18,580.6 m²) convention center
Convention center
A convention center is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typically offer sufficient floor area to accommodate several thousand attendees...

, and a Las Vegas Monorail
Las Vegas Monorail
The Las Vegas Monorail is a monorail mass transit system located on the Las Vegas Strip, in Clark County, Nevada, United States. It connects the unincorporated communities of Paradise and Winchester, and does not actually enter the City of Las Vegas. It is owned and operated by the Las Vegas...

 station.

History

The land that the hotel sits upon had been occupied in the 1950s by the Las Vegas Park Speedway
Las Vegas Park Speedway
The Las Vegas Park Speedway was a horse and automobile racing facility in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was built to be a horse racing facility and it held single races in NASCAR Grand National , AAA, and USAC Stock cars before it was demolished. It opened as the Las Vegas Jockey Club.-Construction:Joseph M...

, a failed horse and automobile racing facility.

The hotel, designed by architect Martin Stern, Jr.
Martin Stern, Jr.
Martin Stern, Jr. was an American architect who was most widely known for his large scale designs and structures in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is credited with originating the concept of the structurally integrated casino resort complex in Las Vegas.The International Hotel and the first MGM Grand...

, was built in 1969 by Kirk Kerkorian
Kirk Kerkorian
Kerkor "Kirk" Kerkorian is an American businessman who is the president/CEO of Tracinda Corporation, his private holding company based in Beverly Hills, California. Kerkorian is known as one of the important figures in shaping Las Vegas and, with architect Martin Stern, Jr...

 and opened as the International Hotel. When it opened, the International was the largest hotel in the world. Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...

 was the opening-night performer, along with Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...

 performing afterwards in the hotel's lounge.

In 1969, right after Streisand's engagement, Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

 performed for 58 consecutive sold out shows, breaking all 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. He 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
Penthouse apartment
A penthouse apartment or penthouse is an apartment that is on one of the highest floors of an apartment building. Penthouses are typically differentiated from other apartments by luxury features.-History:...

 suite (room 3000), located on the 30th floor, until his last performance there in December 1976. Elvis 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.

Liberace
Liberace
Wladziu Valentino Liberace , best known simply as Liberace, was a famous American pianist and vocalist.In a career that spanned four decades of concerts, recordings, motion pictures, television and endorsements, Liberace became world-renowned...

 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
Leon Spinks
Leon Spinks is a former American boxer. He had an overall record of 26 wins, 17 losses and 3 draws as a professional, with 14 knockout wins, and was the former World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association heavyweight champion of the world...

 defeated Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...

 for the World Heavyweight Championship. It was also the site in which Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson is a retired American boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles, he was 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old...

 defeated Tony Tucker
Tony Tucker
Tony Craig Tucker is a retired professional heavyweight boxer. Tucker fought professionally from 1980 to 1998. Nicknamed "TNT," he won a gold medal at the 1979 Pan American Games, and was briefly a world heavyweight champion as a professional.-Amateur career:Tucker had a notable amateur career,...

 to unify and become the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion in 1986. Also, Donald Curry
Donald Curry
Donald Curry is a retired boxer from Fort Worth, Texas, United States. Nicknamed the "Lone Star Cobra," Curry was the Undisputed World Welterweight Champion and the WBC Super Welterweight Champion.-Amateur career:...

 defeated Milton McCrory
Milton McCrory
Milton McCrory was a professional boxer in the welterweight division.- Amateur :Milton had a reported amateur record of 105-15.He lost in the 1979 National AAU finals to Lemuel Steeples and in the Olympic Trials to Johnny Bumphus.- Pro career :Known as "Ice Man", McCrory turned pro in 1980 an won...

 at the Las Vegas Hilton to unify and become the Undisputed Welterweight Champion in December 1985.

The International Hotel was sold to Hilton Hotels Corporation
Hilton Hotels Corporation
Hilton Worldwide is a global hospitality company. It is owned by the Blackstone Group, a private equity firm. As of July 2011 Hilton brands encompass 3,750 hotels with over 600,000 rooms in 84 countries...

 in 1970 and renamed the Las Vegas Hilton in 1971. In 1998, Hilton Hotels Corporation split their properties and stock into two different companies (Hilton gaming, and Hilton Hotels). Shortly after the split, Hilton Gaming Company merged with Bally Entertainment Corporation (owners of Bally's Hotel). The company was re-named Park Place Entertainment. In 2000, Park Place Entertainment purchased Caesars World (All Caesars Casinos). In 2003 Park Place Entertainment changed their name to Caesars Entertainment. In 2004, Caesars Entertainment sold the Las Vegas Hilton to Colony Capital LLC for $280 million. Colony Capital transferred the property to Resorts International Holdings
Resorts International Holdings
Not to be confused with the Las Vegas, Nevada based casino/resort operator MGM Resorts International.Resorts International Holdings, LLC , also known as Colony Resorts Holdings is an affiliate of Colony Capital, LLC based in Las Vegas, Nevada. RIH was created by Colony Capital in 2000 after it...

, a Colony Capital company also known as Resorts International. The Las Vegas Hilton is now Resorts International anchor property, with their corporate
office located on the second floor of the east tower.

The east tower was added in 1975 and the north tower was added in 1978.

Fire

On the night of February 10, 1981, just 90 days after the devastating MGM Grand fire, 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 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. In 1982, Philip Cline was sentenced to eight life sentences for his role in starting the fire.

1986–present

The race and sports book
Sportsbook
In the United States a sportsbook or a race and sports book is a place where a gambler can wager on various sports competitions, including golf, football, basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer, horse racing, boxing, and mixed martial arts. The method of betting varies with the sport and the type of...

 was added in 1986 and is the largest in Las Vegas.

In September 1991, the casino hosted the U.S. Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

's Tailhook Association
Tailhook Association
The Tailhook Association is a U.S.-based, fraternal, non-profit organization, supporting the interests of sea-based aviation, with emphasis on aircraft carriers...

 annual meeting. During this gathering, widespread acts of sexual assault
Tailhook scandal
The Tailhook scandal refers to a series of incidents where more than 100 U.S. Navy and United States Marine Corps aviation officers were alleged to have sexually assaulted at least 87 women, or otherwise engaged in "improper and indecent" conduct at the Las Vegas Hilton in Las Vegas, Nevada...

 by Naval officers took place in the hotel. The Navy attempted a cover-up of the event; however, the initial accusations stood up and fueled a large scandal receiving wide media attention. Responsibility included the entire chain of command, ultimately affecting the careers of over 300 pilots and 14 admirals, including Chief of Naval Operations
Chief of Naval Operations
The Chief of Naval Operations is a statutory office held by a four-star admiral in the United States Navy, and is the most senior uniformed officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Navy. The office is a military adviser and deputy to the Secretary of the Navy...

 Admiral Frank Kelso
Frank B. Kelso II
Frank Benton Kelso II is a retired admiral of the United States Navy, who served as Chief of Naval Operations in the early 1990s.-Early life:...

.
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.

A Hilton Grand Vacations Company
Hilton Grand Vacations Company
Hilton Grand Vacations Company, LLC, a subsidiary of Hilton Worldwide, is based in Orlando, Florida. In addition, there are regional offices in Marco Island, Florida and Sanibel Island, Florida....

 timeshare opened on the 59 acre (23.9 ha) site in 1999.

On June 18, 2004 the property was sold by Caesars Entertainment to Colony Capital for $280 million.

In October 2006, it was reported that the Las Vegas Hilton might be demolished in the subsequent 12–18 months. The claim was immediately refuted by president and CEO, Rudy Prieto.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Hilton Worldwide confirmed on June 29, 2011 that it has terminated its franchise license agreement with the Las Vegas Hilton, effective January 1, 2012. Its sister property, the Atlantic City Hilton, already has lost its agreement with Hilton and become ACH Casino Resort.

After suffering from the recession, the Hilton began defaulting on payments to Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational bulge bracket investment banking and securities firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients...

 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
Stratosphere Las Vegas
Stratosphere Las Vegas is a tower, hotel, and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Its tower is also the tallest observation tower, and the 5th-tallest structure, in the United States, as well as being the tallest structure in Las Vegas.It is owned by Whitehall...

, is acting in conflict of interest.

In November 2011 it was reported the Las Vegas Hilton will be renamed the LVH-Las Vegas Hotel and Casino on January 3, 2012 as the contract to use the Hilton brand will end.

Shows

On September 18, 1995, the Vegas version of Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...

's Starlight Express
Starlight Express
Starlight Express is a rock musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber , Richard Stilgoe and Arlene Phillips , with later revisions by Don Black and David Yazbek . The story follows a child's dream in which his toy train set comes to life; famously the actors perform wearing roller skates...

show opened. This involved a massive conversion of the theater, including pouring concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...

 ramps into the seating area. When the show closed, the theater was used to film The Oak Ridge Boys Live
The Oak Ridge Boys
The Oak Ridge Boys are an American country and gospel vocal quartet.The group was founded in the 1940s as the Oak Ridge Quartet. They became popular in southern gospel during the 1950s...

series for TNN
The Nashville Network
The Nashville Network, usually referred to as TNN, was an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming included music videos, taped concerts, movies, syndicated programs, and numerous talk shows...

 before it was gutted and renovated.
During the summer of 2006, Reba McEntire
Reba McEntire
Reba Nell McEntire is an American country music artist and actress. She began her career in the music industry as a high school student singing in the Kiowa High School band , on local radio shows with her siblings, and at rodeos. As a solo act, she was invited to perform at a rodeo in Oklahoma...

 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
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...

 performed his “Ultimate Manilow: the Hits" show 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 on the side of the hotel of Barry Manilow.

On July 22, 2011 and July 23,2011, Ethan Bortnick
Ethan Bortnick
Ethan Bortnick is a pianist, singer, composer, songwriter, actor, musician and one of the youngest philanthropists in the world.- History :...

 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 Las Vegas Hilton is one of few western hotels to not suffer from triskaidekaphobia
Triskaidekaphobia
Triskaidekaphobia is fear of the number ; it is a superstition and related to a specific fear of Friday the 13th, called paraskevidekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia.The term was first used by Isador Coriat in Abnormal...

 (fear of the number 13) by having a 13th floor.

Star Trek: The Experience

In January 1998, Star Trek: The Experience
Star Trek: The Experience
Star Trek: The Experience was a themed attraction at the Las Vegas Hilton in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, based on the Star Trek entertainment franchise. It opened in January 1998, closed in September 2008, and was scheduled to reopen in the Neonopolis Mall on May 8, 2009 in time for the premiere of the...

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.

In September 2008 Star Trek: The Experience
Star Trek: The Experience
Star Trek: The Experience was a themed attraction at the Las Vegas Hilton in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, based on the Star Trek entertainment franchise. It opened in January 1998, closed in September 2008, and was scheduled to reopen in the Neonopolis Mall on May 8, 2009 in time for the premiere of the...

closed, and it was completely dismantled the following January. It was planned to be moved to the Neonopolis
Neonopolis
Neonopolis, a shopping mall, is a $100 million entertainment complex in Las Vegas, Nevada located on top of a $15 million city parking garage. It is located on the Fremont Street Experience, at the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard...

 mall, but as of 2011 it has not opened, and most props and costumes that were displayed have since been sold. Despite the closure, several of the "spaceship-style" wall panels in the Hilton installed for the experience are still there.

Television

Let's Make a Deal
Let's Make a Deal
Let's Make a Deal is a television game show which originated in the United States and has since been produced in many countries throughout the world. The show is based around deals offered to members of the audience by the host. The traders usually have to weigh the possibility of an offer being...

produced its final syndicated season here in 1976–77.

The television series The Oak Ridge Boys: Live from Las Vegas
The Oak Ridge Boys
The Oak Ridge Boys are an American country and gospel vocal quartet.The group was founded in the 1940s as the Oak Ridge Quartet. They became popular in southern gospel during the 1950s...

was taped in the Starlight Theater.

Two episodes of Roseanne were taped here in 1991.

In 1998, 2002 and 2005 Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...

was taped on location at the Las Vegas Hilton Theater.

Louis Theroux
Louis Theroux
Louis Sebastian Theroux is an English broadcaster best known for his Gonzo style journalism on the television series Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends and When Louis Met.... His career started off in journalism and bears influences of notable writers in his family such as his father, Paul Theroux and...

's BBC documentary 'weird weekends' was filmed here, discussing the lifestyle and merits of gambling and following several gamblers around the casino.

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
Diamonds Are Forever (film)
Diamonds Are Forever is the seventh spy film in the Eon Productions James Bond series, and the sixth and final Eon Productions film to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film is based on Ian Fleming's 1956 novel of the same name, and is the second of four James Bond films...

.

The hotel was also featured extensively toward the end of the movie Over the Top.

Other notable appearances include the movie Indecent Proposal
Indecent Proposal
Indecent Proposal is a 1993 drama film, based on the novel of the same name by Jack Engelhard. It was directed by Adrian Lyne and stars Robert Redford, Demi Moore, and Woody Harrelson.-Plot:...

.

Music

The Hilton is the setting of the song "Home on Monday" by the Little River Band
Little River Band
Little River Band is an Australian rock band, formed in Melbourne in early 1975.The group chose the name after passing a road sign leading to the Victorian township of Little River, near Geelong, on the way to a performance. Little River Band enjoyed sustained commercial success in not only...

 on their album Diamantina Cocktail
Diamantina Cocktail
Diamantina Cocktail is the third album by the Little River Band. The U.S. version of the album was actually a partial compilation of the Australian versions of After Hours and Diamantina Cocktail. In the 1980s, Capitol Records released the remaining tracks on a U.S...

, 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
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 is the sixth installment in the Rainbow Six series. It is a first person shooter video game and the sequel to Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas. It was announced by Ubisoft on November 20, 2007...

.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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