Bally's Las Vegas
| Bally's | |
 |
|
 |
|
| Address | 3645 Las Vegas Blvd South Las Vegas, NV 89109 |
|---|---|
| Opening date | December 5, 1973 |
| Theme | Cosmopolitan Las Vegas |
| No. of rooms | 2,814 |
| Total gaming space | 67,000 sq ft (6,200 m2) |
| Permanent shows | Jubilee! |
| Signature attractions | Garden Walkway |
| Notable restaurants | Al Dente Bally's Steakhouse Ichiban Sushi |
| Casino type | Land-based |
| Owner | Caesars Entertainment Corp. |
| Previous names | Bonanza New Bonanza MGM Grand Bally's Grand |
| Years renovated | 1981, 1994, 2004 |
| Website | www.ballyslasvegas.com |
Bally's Las Vegas, formerly the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip. The Las Vegas resort is located within the unincorporated locale of Paradise, Nevada and is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment Corp.. The hotel features 2,814 extra-sized guestrooms that are 450 sq ft (42 m2) or larger and over 175,000 sq ft (16,300 m2) of banquet and meeting space. The casino occupies 67,000 sq ft (6,200 m2). About 75% of the rooms are in the North Tower, and have been renovated in 2004. The remaining rooms are in the South Tower with views of Paris Casino, with a limited number renovated.
One of the signature features of the hotel is the neon lighting wrapped around the covered moving sidewalk that brings guests from Las Vegas Boulevard to the entrance of the casino while old hits from the Rat Pack are pumped out. The resort has a large shopping area a floor below its gaming level, including several restaurants and there is a Las Vegas Monorail station at the rear of the property. Bally's is home for the long-running production show Jubilee! which opened in 1981.
Contents |
[edit] History
The 43 acres (17 ha) site was first occupied by the Three Coins Motel, which opened in 1963. The Bonanza Hotel and Casino opened on the site in July 1967. It was later renamed the New Bonanza Hotel and Casino shortly before construction on the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, owned by Kirk Kerkorian, began. It opened in 1973 with 2,084 rooms for the then staggering cost of $106m and was the largest hotel in the world at that time.[1]
The MGM Grand opened as one of Las Vegas's first megaresorts on December 5, 1973. It was the largest hotel in the world at its opening and would remain so for several years. When the hotel was built, it set a new standard of size and luxury in Las Vegas, and is considered to have made the biggest impact on Las Vegas until the construction of Steve Wynn's Mirage Hotel in the late 1980s.
The hotel had a movie theme to reflect Kirk Kerkorian's interest in movies from his ownership of MGM and the hotel's use of MGM in its name. The hotel was designed by architect Martin Stern, Jr. It featured many amenities, including numerous entertainment options. It offered live jai alai for betting and a large shopping arcade with numerous shops and restaurants.
It was also one of the Strip's most popular entertainment destinations. It featured two large theaters: The Zeigfield Stage and the Celebrity Room. The Zeigfield regularly featured productions by famed Las Vegas choreographer Donn Arden including the long running Jubilee! and Hallelujah Hollywood. The Celebrity Room hosted such acts as The Carpenters and Barry Manilow.
[edit] Fire
On November 21, 1980 the MGM Grand suffered a fire that started in a casino restaurant and traveled up into the hotel, killing 85 guests and employees.[2] The Grand was rebuilt in only eight months, and remodeling added a tower which opened in 1981. The tower had been under construction at the time of the fire, but remained undamaged. The fire made such an impact on hotel safety that it led to the implementation of fire safety improvements worldwide.
[edit] Sale to Bally
The hotel was sold in 1985 to Bally Entertainment Corporation for $594m and the property's name was changed to Bally's (the MGM Grand name was transferred to the former Marina Hotel, now known as MGM Grand Las Vegas). Bally Entertainment Corporation was purchased in 1995 by Hilton Hotels Corporation. On April 17, 1997 ground was broken on a sister property, the Paris Las Vegas. In September 1999 the new resort was opened and tightly integrated with Bally's property by a promenade. For many years, the two resorts operated under a single gaming license.
Hilton's casino resorts division was subsequently spun off and became Caesars Entertainment Inc in 2003. The hotel North tower was renovated in 2004. Caesars Entertainment, Corp. (formerly Harrah's Entertainment) acquired the property with its purchase of the now defunct Caesars Entertainment, Inc in June 2005.[3][4]
[edit] Media history
- Featured in the 1992 film Honeymoon in Vegas, starring Nicolas Cage and Sarah Jessica Parker.
- Featured in the 1993 film Indecent Proposal, starring Robert Redford and Demi Moore.
- Featured prominently in the 1995 film Leaving Las Vegas, also starring Cage and Elisabeth Shue.
- Bally's Las Vegas hosted Spike TV's 2006 poker tournament series King of Vegas.
- Featured in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas as the "High Roller".
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Las Vegas Essentials". http://www.independenttraveler.com/resources/article.cfm?AID=733&category=38.
- ^ "Clark County Fire Department - MGM". http://fire.co.clark.nv.us/(S(t22robrimfdbzqerp1uc0prf))/MGM.aspx. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
- ^ "Harrah's Empire News". vegastodayandtomorrow.com. http://www.vegastodayandtomorrow.com/harrah's.htm. Retrieved 2008-03-31.
- ^ Caesars Entertainment was acquired by Hamlet Holdings LLC in 2008.
[edit] External links
- Bally's Las Vegas official hotel website
- Bally's Hotels official brand website
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coordinates: 36°06′51″N 115°10′20″W / 36.11417°N 115.17222°W
