Desert Inn

Desert Inn
Location	Las Vegas
opening	April 24, 1950
closure	September 28, 2000
room	715
Previous names	Wilbur Clark's Desert Inn
owner	Steve Wynn

The Desert Inn was a hotel on the Las Vegas Strip . When it opened on April 24, 1950, it was the fifth hotel on the Strip. The architect was Jac Lessman from New York.

history

founding

The project was funded by Wilbur Clark, who ran out of money. The Mafia members Alfred "The Owl" Polizzi and Moe Dalitz one jumped. Dalitz and Polizzi had access to funds from the American National Insurance Company (ANICO). Dalitz became the man in the background, while Clark remained the official face in the foreground.

Like many other casinos , the Desert Inn was thus under Mafia control . When this infiltration in Las Vegas was no longer sustainable, Dalitz sold his shares in Howard Hughes .

Hughes had come to Las Vegas in 1966 and rented two full floors of the hotel. On March 1, 1967, Dalitz sold the Desert Inn for $ 13 million. This was the beginning of further purchases of similar complexes by Hughes in Las Vegas.

Decline

The hotel was bought by Steve Wynn in April 2000 , who closed it a few months later. Demolition work began on October 23, 2001 to make way for a new resort. Today the Wynn Hotel and the Encore Hotel are located on the site .

The Desert Inn Road , a central street with east-west orientation, is named after the hotel to this day.

Trivia

The Desert Inn was also known for its use as a film set. This is how Frankie and his cronies were filmed here. The opening scene of Sister Act 2 was filmed in the hotel ballroom . The hotel was last used in the film Rush Hour 2 , where it appeared as the “Red Dragon” hotel with an Asian theme.

In addition, among other things, were Elvis Presley , Paul Anka and Frank Sinatra on the casino.

Furthermore, the Desert Inn was the location of the Aaron Spelling crime series Vegas from 1978 to 1981 with Robert Urich in the leading role of the private detective Dan Tanna, who works for the fictional hotel owner Philipp Roth.

Web links

• The Desert Inn Implosion , Las Vegas Sun

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Jac Lessman 85 this; Hotel-Resort Developer ”. New York Times, Nov. 8, 1990. Accessed Sep. 14, 2008
2. ↑ Hal Rothman: {{{title}}} . Routledge, 2003, p. 16.

Coordinates: 36 ° 7 '46 "  N , 115 ° 9' 58"  W.