The Hacienda... A flight into the unknown.

The Hacienda hotel started out as the Lady Luck, at the far south end of Las Vegas boulevard close to Mccarren airfield. Work on the Lady Luck Hotel had begun by 1953 but before construction reached the halfway mark, the projects' financing fell apart, and management was denied a gaming license by state regulators. One of the investors, Warren "Doc" Bayley, a travel columnist and owner of the Hacienda Motel in Fresno, stepped in to take over, agreeing to lease the property for $55,000 per month for 15 years. He changed the name from Lady Luck to Hacienda.
The Hacienda opened on October 17, 1956 at a cost of $6 million, with 266 rooms and the largest swimming pool on the Strip, with a Spanish colonial theme.
Bayley pioneered junket gaming when he formed Hacienda Airlines in 1957, one of the first strip property airlines, Offering packages that included transportation from Los Angeles to the Hacienda as well as a room and some complimentary chips. The airline included DC 3s and DC 4s and Lockheed Constellations listing as many as 30 aircraft in its fleet.
After Bayley's death in 1965, his widow, Judith Bayley, took over management, after her death, the property was sold in 1972 for $5 million to a group led by Allen Glick who was later revealed as a frontman for organized crime interests.
In 1977, Paul Lowden, the Hacienda's entertainment director and owner of a 15 percent stake, bought out Glick and the other owners for $21 million. The Nevada gaming control board voted to deny Lowden a license due to his association with Glick, but was overruled by the Gaming commission.
In 1995, the Hacienda was purchased by Circus Circus Enterprises from Lowden's Archon Corporation, this time, it was dwarfed by the many new megaresorts that were being built, in particular the Egyptian themed Luxor which had just been recently completed along with MGM grand on the other side of Tropicana Blvd.
On December 10, 1996, the Hacienda was closed to the public, and imploded later that month. This implosion was broadcast on the Fox network as a part of their New Year's Eve 1996 telecast. Despite the implosion, parts of the old resort still stood, due to the building not falling into its footprint, but toppling into its parking lot. The next day a wrecking crew was brought in to bring down the remaining parts.
Magician Herbert L Becker produced, directed and wrote his own show at the Hacienda beginning in 1977. The show ran for two years, on a staggered schedule before Becker went into retirement.
Magician Lance Burton also produced, directed and wrote his own show at the Hacienda beginning in 1991. The show ran for five years before Burton moved to the Monte Carlo resort just along the strip.
In March 1999, The Hacienda was replaced by the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.

 

Places to Dine.. Florida Cafe, Cuban Grill..

Florida Cafe is one joint I always visit when I'm in Las Vegas..

It's a traditional Cuban restaurant but also caters for American diners within a mouthwatering menu..

Traditional Cuban classics such as, Piccadillo Cubano..  A savoury dish of ground beef with olives, fried onions, peppers and raisins.. 

My particular favourite in the Strip Steak and avocado salad, complete with hot sauce and Cuban bread..

The whole menu is geared around American / Cuban, serving traditional breakfasts, but with Cuban twists, 

A whole array of Sandwiches on fresh pressed Cuban bread with pickles, Swiss cheese and mustard  

A Healthy option menu including a whole range of garden salads, with chicken , beef , shrimp or avocado, and a range of tapas at the bar..  

Florida cafe also has a full licences bar, alongside coffees , shakes and sodas you can get a whole array of Caribbean cocktails ... Materva, jupina, ironbeer, chamogna, inka cola, guarana..  Plus a selection of Cuban beers and spirits..

Prices are reasonable and the service is impressive..

The Florida Cafe is located inside the Howard Johnson Hotel on the strip just short of Charleston... 

Milton Prell... A visionary.

Milton Prell was born in St. Louis in 1905, but soon moved to Los Angeles in his teens..  Prell became a decent jeweler and was a natural as a car salesman, that in 1937 he took his business to Montana where he eventually followed a dream, in opening a hotel..  He in fact opened '30 Club' an successful ,illegal, but tolerated gambling joint, prompted by friend and neighbor Frank Schivo, Who would work in Prells casino. Schivo became a protege of Prells and would make trips to Reno and Las Vegas looking for openings to continue their success on a larger scale..  Prell and his family moved to Las Vegas in 1945 with the idea of opening a small hotel but he again opted to stick with the gambling theme, a non hotel casino called 'Club Bingo.' Prell toyed with the idea of adding rooms or even an adobe village to his Casino, but the plans never matched the grandeur of the luxury resort he always dreamed of..  Frank Schivo would become Milton Prells key employer at Club Bingo, and his sister Eda Schivo his executive secretary..   In 1951 Prell called together several former business partner to propose a deal which resulted in the construction of Prell's first hotel resort on the grounds of the old Club Bingo, the Moroccan themed Sahara which included a 300 seat bingo parlor, and statues of camels in front of the hotel..

In 1952 the Sahara Hotel and Casino first opened its doors to the general public. Its original low-rise design came from Max Maltzmann and owner Milton Prell; at a cost $5.5 million to construct. In 1959 Martin Stern jr was called in to design and construct towers for the Sahara adding 14 stories and 200 rooms to the original structure, Prell would also add the famous Congo room.. In 1960 he added another 200 rooms. Prell sold the Sahara in 1961 to Del Webb..    Milton Prell was looking for a new project.

In 1965, Prell bought the Kings crown for $16 million on the Las Vegas Strip. The place had been failing and Prell remodeled it and renamed it the Aladdin Hotel and casino with an Arabian Knights theme, it opened in 1966. Prell had added restaurants, a lounge, a 500 seat showroom and a golf course. Prell was a long time friend of colonel Tom Parker, the manager of Elvis Presley. Prell knew that Presley and fiancée  Priscilla wanted to marry but wanted to keep it as private as possible. On May 1st 1967 Elvis and Priscilla would be married privately in Milton Prells private apartment inside the Aladdin hotel to shield the event from press.

At the same time, Prell's brother-in-law sold his mattress business so Prell could purchase the Mint Hotel and casino on Fremont Street. Prell promised his brother-in-law a job and made him the manager.

Some time later, Milton Prell suffered a stroke. Prell needed to use a wheelchair much of the time, but continued to walk with two canes through the casino to his office each morning. The Aladdin's profits were dropping and eventually he couldn't keep up and the Aladdin was sold. Sadly Milton Prell passed in 1974. His legacy paved the way for newer properties on the strip, the Sahara closed in 2011 but still operates as SLS resorts, a luxury boutique hotel, The former Aladdin is now Planet Hollywood resorts and the Aladdin's theatre of performing arts still stands at the rear of the property..  

The best views in town... The Stratosphere..

You'd be hard pushed to find a better view in Las Vegas than from the tower at the Stratosphere hotel, Casino. The Stratosphere stands on the spot of the late Bob Stupaks Vegas world resort.. 

 Many thought Stupak had made a huge error in purchasing the property, considering it wasn't classed as a strip hotel  (The strip was commonly thought to end at Sahara ave)  stratosphere tower, as it was known was a couple of blocks north of Sahara,  and regarded  as downtown,  an  area   often frowned upon  by visitors.  Stupak did everything in  his  power to have the small area between Sahara and his new resort reclassified as 'Strip' knowing full  well,  resorts on  the strip are much more attractive and can demand higher rates than hotels further north.  Stupak  eventually got his  way as the Strat is now generally acknowledged as a Strip resort and is one of the most valuable plots in town..  

States and the second tallest in the Western Hemisphere..   The jewel in the crown of the tower is an indoorThe tower at the Stratosphere stands at 1149 feet, it is the tallest free standing structure in the United  and  outdoor observation  deck, restaurants, shops  and three crazy thrill rides  either hanging over  the 1149 foot deck, or shooting a further 60 feet above..  The views are incredible as you get a full 360 right across the valley..  

The Curious episode of The Silver Slipper..

Opposite what is now the Wynn hotel, where the Desert inn once stood, used to stand the Last Frontier and a joint called The silver slipper..  The slipper became a popular hangout for a lot of the old sands celebrities, Sinatra, Sammy Davis and Sands head honcho Jack Entratter would all let their hair down at the Slipper..   In the mid 1960s a Texan, Shelby Williams bought the Silver Slipper. By this time the joint was starting to slip, it was struggling to keep up with some of the popular carpet resorts along the strip.. Then one night in 1966, a fire broke out, an accidental fire of unknown origin..  Shelby Williams curiously had his fire insurance premiums up to date and the proceeds would help Williams save his resort..  No one was injured in the fire, only The Minsky girls of 'Minskys Follies' had to be evacuated from the Gaiety Theatre, all into the parking lot in heels and big feather headdresses..  Eddie Cantor happened to be in the parking lot with his camera to take photos of the beautiful showgirls standing in next to nothing with the fire in the background..  The photo is in the possession of the Nevada Historical society of Las Vegas.. 

The real episodes started when Howard Hughes moved onto the penthouse floor of the Desert Inn, exactly opposite the Silver Slippers, Slipper..The Slipper was the Hotels symbol, a huge silver slipper twirling 65 feet in the air out front of the resort.

One day the paranoid Hughes got it into his head that his privacy was being compromised, and that a cameraman either from the federal government or the media was hiding inside the giant slipper, and that he was being photographed in his own bedroom. Hughes paranoia got the better of him and he got his personal aid Robert Maheu to contact Shelby Williams to get him to stop that damn Slipper from rotating.

Hughes then insisted that the slipper be filled with concrete so that no one or nothing could fit inside it..  Shelby declined and laughed at Hughes absurd requests

Within one week, Howard Hughes purchased the Silver Slipper for $5.4 Million and the slipper in the air never rotated again..  It was even filled with concrete..     You can never be too careful..

The old Ice plant... Main and Bonneville.

Before the days of refrigerated railroad cars, Las Vegas ice plant was one of the most important buildings in the city, as it enabled produce yo be shipped across the desert without fear of spoilage. The original plant burned down in 1907, leaving Vegas without this precious commodity until the new plant picture above was built a year later.. Constructed out of reinforced concrete, the plant was the only icing depot between San Bernadino, California and Salt Lake City Utah..

Years later, after the plants railroad car supplying ended, the ice plant continued to produce ice on a commercial basis for Casinos, hotels, restaurants and grocery stores for many years..  But by 1983 the building was vacant and declared unsafe.. It was demolished in May 1988..
The approximate site of the old ice house now features the popular 'Ice lounge' a $5 Million Art Deco structure, a place to see and be seen with thumping music, modern decor, plasma screens and solid ice bar tops..  The inside of the ice house lounge showcases historical Las Vegas photography, including that of its former self as the ice plant..   The ice plant now Ice house lounges location is on Main and Bonneville...   Shown below..

Johnny Toccos gym, Charleston and Main.

A photo of Johnnys Gym from back in 1997. The gym was opened by St Louis boxing sage Johnny Tocco back in the 1950s after Toccos visited Las Vegas for a heavyweight title fight between Archie Moore and Nino Valdes at Cashman field stadium..  While in Vegas Johnny hired a car and took a liking to the place..  As he drove around town he noticed the vaccant plot on the corner of Charleston and Main Street where the gym stands today..  He soon purchased the plot and now 55 years on the iconic gym still stands.  Johnny was the last trainer of the notorious Charles Sonny Liston who relocated to be around Tocco..  Liston died under suspicious circumstances in 1971..   The gym is steeped in history..