| Tropicana Las Vegas | |
|---|---|
| Address | 3801 Las Vegas Blvd South Las Vegas, NV 89109 |
| Opening date | April 4, 1957 |
| Theme | South Beach Miami |
| No. of rooms | 1,658 Guest Rooms & Suites |
| Total gaming space | 50,000 sq ft (4,600 m2) |
| Permanent shows | Brad Garrett's Comedy Club Hypnosis |
| Signature attractions | The Las Vegas Mob Experience |
| Casino type | Land-Based |
| Owner | Tropicana Las Vegas Hotel and Resort Inc.[1][2][3][4] |
| Operating license holder | Armenco Holdings |
| Years renovated | 1979, 1986, 2011 |
| Website | www.troplv.com |
Tropicana Las Vegas is located on the Las Vegas Strip, in the township of Paradise, Nevada. It is owned by Tropicana Las Vegas Hotel and Resort Inc. and operated by Alex Yemenidjian's Armenco Holdings. It offers 1,658 rooms and is attached to a 50,000 sq ft (4,600 m2) casino. Tropicana Las Vegas also has 100,000 sq ft (9,300 m2) of convention and exhibit space.
This location, Tropicana - Las Vegas Boulevard intersection, has the most hotel rooms of any intersection in the world and is extremely busy. Pedestrians are not allowed to cross at street level. Instead, the Tropicana is linked by overhead pedestrian bridges to its neighboring casinos: to the north across Tropicana Avenue, the MGM Grand Las Vegas, and to the west across the Strip, the Excalibur.
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In 1955, Ben Jaffe, an executive of the Fontainebleau Miami Beach, came to Las Vegas and bought a 40-acre parcel at the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Bond Road (now Tropicana Avenue).[5] Jaffe aimed to build the finest hotel in Las Vegas, featuring a Cuban ambience, with four room themes for guests to choose from: French Provincial, Far East, Italian Renaissance, and Drexel.[5]
Construction ran over schedule and over budget, due in part to competition for labor with the under-construction Stardust down the road.[5] Jaffe had to sell his interest in the Fontainebleau to complete the project, which finally opened in April 1957.[5]
Jaffe first leased the property to his associate, Phil Kastel. The Gaming Control Board raised suspicions over Kastel's links to organized crime, which were confirmed in May when a note bearing a Tropicana earnings figure was found in the possession of mobster Frank Costello.[5] Jaffe next turned to J. Kell Housells, owner of the Las Vegas Club. By 1959, Housells bought out Jaffe's interest, gaining a majority share in the Tropicana.[5]
In the 1960's, the Tropicana fared poorly from competition with larger hotels like Caesars Palace and the Las Vegas Hilton.[5] Houssels sold out in 1968 to Trans-Texas Airways.[5] Deil Gustafson took control in 1971, but sold a 51% share to chemical heiress Mitzi Stauffer Briggs in 1975. Briggs began construction of the 22-floor Tiffany Tower in 1977.
A skimming operation by Kansas City organized crime members was discovered, and the owners were forced to sell out. In December of 1979, Ramada Inns, Inc. bought the Tropicana, but in 1989 spun it off along with other casino properties in a separate company called Aztar.[6] In 2006, Aztar was acquired by Columbia Sussex, but Columbia soon ran into financial difficulties and filed for bankruptcy.
A 21-story Island Tower was constructed in 1986.
In May 2006, Tropicana Entertainment, LLC acquired the Tropicana Resort & Casino Las Vegas from then publicly-traded Aztar Corporation for approximately $2.1 billion in cash. The acquisition was approved by the Nevada Gaming Commission on November 17, 2006 and was completed in December of that year.
On May 15, 2009 it was reported by the Las Vegas Sun[7] and Forbes[8] that Canadian investment firm Onex Corporation will take control of the Tropicana Resort and Casino in Las Vegas from Tropicana Entertainment when it emerges from bankruptcy later this year. Alex Yemenidjian who previously served as CEO of both the MGM Mirage resort company and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie studio under Kirk Kerkorian's ownership has been tapped by Onex to be the Las Vegas Strip resort's new CEO and oversee the casino's day to day operations.
Tropicana Las Vegas Hotel and Resort Inc. is the company formed by Onex in which it has the controlling interest but it has several equity partners. Tropicana Las Vegas Inc. owns the property.[9]
On November 2, 2006, Tropicana Entertainment publicly announced a $2 billion renovation of the Tropicana planned to be completed in 2010, making it the largest resort casino in the world. Unlike previous Las Vegas projects however, there would have been no demolition of the entire resort. The existing Paradise and Island towers would have received both interior and exterior renovations and 4 new towers would have been built on the property (the last will be branded as a separate hotel).
The plans included a 100,000-square-foot (9,300 m2) casino, five hotel towers totaling 10,000 rooms and a sprawling 200,000-square-foot (19,000 m2) retail promenade. Other amenities included spas and fitness centers; more than 20 restaurants and lounges; a 1,500-seat entertainment venue for big-name headliners; and a water–ride attraction. All improvements to the property were put on hold since the recession began in 2008, and became moot when Tropicana Entertainment filed for bankruptcy.
In August 2009, the Tropicana's new CEO, Alex Yemenidjian, announced a "$165 million" plan to renovate the property around a South Beach style, to be done in several phases. The first phase would renovate the Tropicana's back office facilities with completion planned for the end of 2009. The second phase would renovate the conference facilities, rooms, and common areas, with construction to finish at the end of August 2010. The third phase, including a Nikki Beach Night Club and Nikki Beach multi-million dollar pool renovation is planned to be completed by April 2011.[11]
In February 2011, the Tropicana opened a new sports book, operated by Cantor Gaming.[12]
Brad Garrett's Comedy Club opened at the Tropicana in July 2010. It will close in January 2012, and reopen at the MGM Grand. Garrett said he was unable to turn a consistent profit, and that his decision to locate at the Tropicana was partly nostalgic, because the room was once a club run by Rodney Dangerfield.[13]
In March 2011, the Tropicana opened the Las Vegas Mob Experience, owned independently by Las Vegas businessman Jay Bloom. The exhibit describes the rise and fall of organized crime in Las Vegas, featuring mob artifacts and holograms of famed gangsters like Bugsy Siegel, Tony Spilotro and Meyer Lansky.[14] In September 2011, after being plagued by technical issues, litigation, and low ticket sales, much of the attraction was closed for retooling, with plans to reopen by January 2012.[15] The Experience's parent company, Murder Inc., filed for bankruptcy in October 2011, with a plan for outside investor John Vipulis to spend $4 million to buy and operate the attraction.[16]
Bodies: The Exhibition, a presentation of 21 human bodies that have been dissected and preserved for the collection and Titanic—the Artifacts Exhibition, were featured from 2005 to 2008. Both shows are now at the Luxor.
Along with the retail shop Essentials, located in the lobby adjacent to the main entrance, there are several Mini Boutiques located in Palm Way on the second floor. These include, Marshall Rousso Accessories, Tropicana Logo, Flip Flop Stop, Accessories, and Gemstones & Globes.
In addition to the casino, the Tropicana includes a swimming pool.
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