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 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

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.

The hotel was sold to Hilton Hotels Corporation in 1970. In 1961, Elvis Presley performed and his performance was booed. He lived in the penthouse suite for 8 years. Acquired and renamed in 1971 by Hilton Hotels, this 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 guide hosted the U.S. Navy's Tail hook Association annual meeting. During these 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.On March 18, 2004 a new Borg Invasion 4-Dride 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.

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