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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.
The hotel was sold to Hilton Hotels Corporation in 1970.
In 1969, right after Barbra Streisand's engagement, Elvis Presley performed for 58 consecutive sell 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.
Acquired and renamed in 1971 by Hilton Hotels, which later spun off this and its other casinos into the company that became Caesars Entertainment.
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.
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.
Star Trek : The Experience opens. The casino adds a space-themed casino, "Space Quest", that serves as the gateway to the attraction.
Converted the theater to be used for the Starlight Express show. This involved 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.
On March 18, 2004 a new "Borg Invasion 4-D" ride was added.
On June 18, 2004 the property was sold by Caesar's 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.
(cf : Wikipedia) |
| Description | |
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 then the original, the new sign is still the largest free standing sign.
Sitting next to the Las Vegas Convention Center and having its own large convention facilities, 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.
The hotel is forever remembered in film as the infamous "Whyte House" casino in the 1971 James Bond film "Diamonds Are Forever". |
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