Games - Las Vegas Hilton

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	Games - Las Vegas Hilton

The Las Vegas Hilton is a hotel, casino, and convention center in Las Vegas, Nevada owned by Colony Capital. With 3,174 hotel rooms, this off-strip hotel is the largest Hilton Hotel in the world and one of the largest hotel-casinos in Las Vegas. Located on 80 acres (324,000 m²), it has a 100,000 square foot (9,000 m²) casino and is also home to the largest sports book in Las Vegas.

The free standing Hilton sign in front of the hotel on Paradise Avenue is the largest free standing sign in the world. A larger sign that stood at the same location was blown down during a severe wind storm. While smaller than the original, the new sign is still the largest free standing sign.

Sitting next to the Las Vegas Convention Center and having its own 150,000 square foot convention center, the hotel is a popular place for convention attendees.

The hotel also houses Star Trek: The Experience and is a stop on the Las Vegas Monorail.

History

The hotel was built in 1969 by Kirk Kerkorian and opened as the International Hotel. When it opened, the International was the largest hotel in the world. Barbra Streisand was the opening-night performer.

In 1969, right after Barbra Streisand's engagement, Elvis Presley 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 of 1970, and again in August of 1970, and August of 1972. When playing Las Vegas, he lived in the penthouse suite, until his last performance there, in December of 1976.

The hotel was sold to Hilton Hotels Corporation in 1970 and renamed the Las Vegas Hilton in 1971. This hotel was sold by Hilton with the other Hilton casinos to form Park Place Entertainment.

The towers were added in 1975 (east) and 1978 (north).

Let's Make a Deal produced its final syndicated season here in 1977.

On the night of February 11, 1981, just 90 days after the devastating MGM Grand fire, a blaze started at the Las Vegas Hilton while it was being retrofitted with more 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.

The race and sports book was added in 1986 and at the time was the largest in Las Vegas.

In September 1991, the casino hosted the U.S. Navy's Tailhook Association annual meeting. During this gathering, widespread acts of sexual assault 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 Admiral Frank Kelso.

On September 18, 1995, 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 one of the County cable Networks before it was gutted and renovated.

In January 1998, Star Trek: The Experience opened. The casino added a space-themed casino, "Space Quest", that serves as the gateway to the attraction.

A Hilton Grand Vacations Company timeshare opens on the 59 acre site in 1999.

Colony Capital acquires the hotel in 2003.

On March 18, 2004 a new "Borg Invasion 4-D" ride was added.

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

On December 14, 2004 Barry Manilow announced that he will be doing the “Manilow: Music and Passion" show at the Las Vegas Hilton opening on February 23, 2005. As part of the contract, Manilow lives in the penthouse suite that was Elvis's home for 8 years.

Movie History

The hotel is forever remembered in film as the infamous "Whyte House" casino in the 1971 James Bond film "Diamonds Are Forever".

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Las Vegas Hilton ]

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