Friday 14 November 2008

Sahara


Taken at the car entrance of the original Sahara Hotel and Casino; the porte-cochere entrance, topped by an onion-dome minaret, is designed to set the resort's warm Moroccan flavour and hospitality.


According to the hotel's website:


"Located on the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip, the Sahara Hotel & Casino is a desert jewel rich with history, nostalgia and class.
Since 1952, the Sahara Hotel & Casino has been a refuge for glitzy entertainment, exhilarating casino action, sumptuous dining and relaxing poolside decadence.

The last remaining "Rat Pack" resort, the Sahara was the setting for the original "Ocean's Eleven" film and has played host to everyone from The Beatles to Dean Martin to Marilyn Monroe to Elvis Presley."
Wikipedia's account said that:


"The hotel was opened in 1952 by Milton Prell just outside of the City of Las Vegas, and was the sixth resort to open on the Strip. The resort was built by Del Webb.[1]

In late 1954, the hotel hired jazz musician Louis Prima to be their late night lounge act, one of the earliest ones on the Las Vegas Strip. Along with his then wife Keely Smith and sax player Sam Butera, they created one of the hottest late night attractions on the Strip.

In 1961, the hotel was purchased by Del Webb. In 1962, a Don the Beachcomber restaurant opened in the hotel, becoming a top attraction to not only hotel guests but a variety of celebrities as well. A 24-story tower was added in 1963.

The resort was the site of the annual Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon for many years, mostly in the 1970s, and for a brief time in the 1990s."

The northern end of the Las Vegas Blvd strip starts at and around Stratosphere, followed by this iconic structure, the last of the "originals". Nowadays, there are still many constructions on the northern of this strip and when visiting Vegas again, I am sure the landscape will change a lot more - might not be for the better but sure most of the iconic "heritage" buildings and signage will go down and relegated to the Vegas neon sign graveyard.

2 comments:

escape said...

ing ah daming mong alam sa lugar hotel na to. ganda ng kuha.

JayAshKal said...

Thanks DonG. Just the power of Google search.... heheheee. It helps to be there and be motivated to do research!