| Tropicana Las Vegas | |
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| Facts and statistics | |
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| Address | 3801 Las Vegas Blvd South Las Vegas, NV 89109 |
| Opening date | April 4, 1957 |
| Theme | Tropical |
| No. of rooms | 1,878 |
| Total gaming space | 61,000 sq ft (5,700 m2) |
| Permanent shows | Wayne Newton Xtreme Magic with Dirk Arthur Hypnosis Unleased The Sopranos Last Supper |
| 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 |
| Website | www.tropicanalv.com |
The Tropicana Resort & Casino 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 1,871 rooms and is attached to a 61,000 sq ft (5,700 m2) casino. The Tropicana also has 110,000 sq ft (10,000 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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History
The original building, with the Garden room wings, was built in 1957. The Paradise Tower, consisting of 21 floors of guest rooms and suites, was built in 1979 as the Tiffany Tower, adjoining the resort's Tiffany Theatre, until March 28, 2009 home to the Folies Bergere production show. A 22-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.
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.
On May 15, 2009 it was reported by the Las Vegas Sun[5] and the Forbes[6] 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. The company expects to hire Armenco Holdings to operate the casino while the company applies for its own license to operate the casino. Armenco is expected to take control of the casino on July 1, 2009 when Tropicana Las Vegas Inc. acquires control of the property.[7]
Film history
- A scene from Folies Bergere is featured in the 1964 Elvis Presley film Viva Las Vegas.
- In the 7th James Bond film, Diamonds Are Forever, 007 stays at the hotel Tropicana, claiming it looks "quite comfortable".
- It is also mentioned briefly in The Godfather Part II.
- It was featured on the TV Show Angel in the episode "The House Always Wins" as the casino where the character Lorne had his show.
- A show was taped here for Malcolm in the Middle in 2003.
- A two part episode of Designing Women, Season 7, is set here. Anthony meets and marries a showgirl from the Folies Begere.
- The revival of the game show Let's Make a Deal is being taped here. Hosted by Wayne Brady, it will begin airing on CBS October 5, 2009.[8]
Future plans
On November 2, 2006, Tropicana Entertainment publicly announced a $2 billion renovation of the Tropicana that would have been 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 $100 million plan to renovate the property around a South Beach Miami theme, 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 start in early 2010. The third phase, including the restaurants is in design phase.[9]
Present Amenities and Entertainment
In addition to the casino, the Tropicana includes a showroom, spa, swimming pool and shops.
Current shows are:
- Comedian Bobby Slayton, The Pitbull of Comedy performs Tuesday thru Sunday.
- Hypnosis Unleased, an adults only show playing in The Cellar.
- The Soprano's Last Supper, a dinner show performing Tuesday thru Saturday. (a parody of The Sopranos, not affliated with HBO)
- Xtreme Magic Starring Dirk Arthur a production show starring Dirk Arthur, featuring tigers and leopards.
References
- ^ New Trop owner vows return to glory (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
- ^ Tropicana Las Vegas emerges from bankruptcy (Associated Press)
- ^ Onex takes control of Tropicana Las Vegas Hotel (Reuters)
- ^ Onex, Yemenidjian Take Over Tropicana Vegas Casino (Bloomberg L.P.)
- ^ Equity firm plans to take over Tropicana
- ^ Onex to take control of Tropicana's Vegas casino
- ^ Knightly, Arnold M. (2009-06-04). "New owners promising big changes for Tropicana". Las Vegas Review-Journal. http://www.lvrj.com/business/46897947.html. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
- ^ On Camera Audiences - The official ticket source for your favorite shows
- ^ Knightly, Arnold M. (2009-08-16). "THE STRIP: Historic Tropicana poised for pricey renovation". Las Vegas Review-Journal. http://www.lvrj.com/business/53343157.html. Retrieved 2009-08-22.
External links
Coordinates: 36°05′57″N 115°10′15″W / 36.0992°N 115.1708°W
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