| The Strip South Las Vegas Boulevard | |
.jpg)   .jpg) .jpg)  
Clockwise from top: Las Vegas Boulevard, MGM Grand Las Vegas, New York-New York, The Venetian Las Vegas, Caesars Palace, Bally's Las Vegas & Paris Las Vegas, Bellagio
| |
| Length | 4.2 mi (6.8 km) |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 36.119684°N 115.172599°W |
| South end | Russell Road |
| North end | Sahara Avenue |
The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of South Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, about 4.2 miles (6.8 km) long,[1] sits immediately south of the Las Vegas city limits in the unincorporated towns of Paradise and Winchester but is often referred to as being in Las Vegas.
Many of the largest hotel, casino, and resort properties in the world are located on the Strip, known for its contemporary architecture, lights, and wide variety of attractions. Its hotels, casinos, restaurants, residential high-rises, entertainment offerings, and skyline have established the Strip as one of the most popular and iconic tourist destinations in the world and is one of the driving forces for Las Vegas' economy.[2] Most of the Strip has been designated as an All-American Road[3][4] and is considered a scenic route at night.[5]
Boundaries[edit]
Historically, area casinos that were not in Downtown Las Vegas along Fremont Street sat outside the city limits on Las Vegas Boulevard. In 1959, the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign was built exactly 4.5 miles (7.2 km) outside the city limits. The sign is currently located in the median just south of Russell Road, across from the location of the now-demolished Klondike Hotel and Casino and about 0.4 miles (0.64 km) south of the southernmost entrance to Mandalay Bay, which is the Strip's southernmost casino.
In the strictest sense, "the Strip" refers only to the stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard that is roughly between Sahara Avenue and Russell Road, a distance of 4.2 miles (6.8 km).[6][7] However, the term is often used to refer not only to the road but also to the various casinos and resorts that line the road, and even to properties that are near but not on the road. Phrases such as Strip Area, Resort Corridor or Resort District are sometimes used to indicate a larger geographical area, including properties 1 mile (1.6 km) or more away from Las Vegas Boulevard, such as the Westgate Las Vegas, Hard Rock, Rio, Palms, and Oyo resorts.
The Sahara is widely considered the Strip's northern terminus, though travel guides typically extend it to the Stratosphere 0.4 miles (0.64 km) to the north. Mandalay Bay, just north of Russell Road, is the southernmost resort considered to be on the Strip (the Klondike was the southernmost until 2006, when it was closed, although it was not included in the Strip on some definitions and travel guides). The "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign is often considered part of the Strip, although it sits 0.4 miles south of the Mandalay Bay and Russell Road.
Because of the number and size of the resorts, the resort corridor can be quite wide. Interstate 15 runs roughly parallel and 0.5 to 0.8 miles (0.80 to 1.29 km) to the west of Las Vegas Boulevard for the entire length of the Strip. Paradise Road runs to the east in a similar fashion, and ends at St. Louis Avenue. The eastern side of the Strip is bounded by McCarran International Airport south of Tropicana Avenue.
North of this point, the resort corridor can be considered to extend as far east as Paradise Road, although some consider Koval Lane as a less inclusive boundary. Interstate 15 is sometimes considered the western edge of the resort corridor from Interstate 215 to Spring Mountain Road. North of this point, Industrial Road serves as the western edge.
Newer hotels and resorts such as South Point, Grandview Resort, and M Resort are on Las Vegas Boulevard South as distant as 8 miles south of the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign. Marketing for these casinos and hotels usually states that they are on southern Las Vegas Boulevard and not "Strip" properties.
Las Vegas Strip ~ Day and Night
History[edit]
Early years (1930s–1990s)[edit]
The first casino to be built on Highway 91 was the Pair-o-Dice Club in 1931, but the first casino-resort on what is currently the Strip was the El Rancho Vegas, which opened with 63 rooms on April 3, 1941 (and was destroyed by a fire in 1960). Its success spawned a second hotel on what would become the Strip, the Hotel Last Frontier in 1942. Organized crime figures such as New York's Bugsy Siegel took interest in the growing gaming center, and funded other resorts such as the Flamingo, which opened in 1946, and the Desert Inn, which opened in 1950. The funding for many projects was provided through the American National Insurance Company, which was based in the then notorious gambling empire of Galveston, Texas.[8][9]
Las Vegas Boulevard South was previously called Arrowhead Highway, or Los Angeles Highway. The Strip was named by Los Angeles police officer and businessman Guy McAfee, after his hometown's Sunset Strip.[10]
In 1950, mayor Ernie Cragin of the City of Las Vegas sought to annex the Strip, which was unincorporated territory, in order to expand the city's tax base to fund his ambitious building agenda and pay down the city's rising debt.[11] Instead, Gus Greenbaum of the Flamingo led a group of casino executives to lobby the Clark County commissioners for town status.[11] Two unincorporated towns were eventually created, Paradise and Winchester.[12][13] More than two decades later, the Supreme Court of Nevada struck down a 1975 Nevada state law that would have folded the Strip and the rest of the urban areas of Clark County into the City of Las Vegas.[14]
Caesars Palace was established in 1966. In 1968, Kirk Kerkorian purchased the Flamingo and hired Sahara Hotels Vice President Alex Shoofey as President. Alex Shoofey brought along 33 of Sahara's top executives. The Flamingo was used to train future employees of the International Hotel, which was under construction. Opening in 1969, the International Hotel, with 1,512 rooms, began the era of mega-resorts. The International is known as Westgate Las Vegas today. The first MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, also a Kerkorian property, opened in 1973 with 2,084 rooms. At the time, this was one of the largest hotels in the world by number of rooms. The Rossiya Hotel built in 1967 in Moscow, for instance, had 3,200 rooms; however, most of the rooms in the Rossiya Hotel were single rooms of 118 sq. ft (roughly 1/4 size of a standard room at the MGM Grand Resort). On November 21, 1980, the MGM Grand suffered the worst resort fire in the history of Las Vegas as a result of electrical problems, killing 87 people. It reopened eight months later. In 1986, Kerkorian sold the MGM Grand to Bally Manufacturing, and it was renamed Bally's.
The Wet 'n Wild water park opened in 1985 and was located on the south side of the Sahara hotel. It closed at the end of the 2004 season and was later demolished. The opening of The Mirage in 1989 set a new level to the Las Vegas experience, as smaller hotels and casinos made way for the larger mega-resorts. The Rio and the Excalibur opened in 1990. These huge facilities offer entertainment and dining options, as well as gambling and lodging. This change affected the smaller, well-known and now historic hotels and casinos, like the Dunes, the Sands, and the Stardust.
The lights along the Strip have been dimmed in a sign of respect to six performers and one other major Las Vegas figure upon their deaths. They are Elvis Presley (1977), Sammy Davis Jr. (1990),[15] Dean Martin (1995), George Burns (1996), Frank Sinatra (1998), former UNLV basketball head coach Jerry Tarkanian (2015),[16] and Don Rickles (2017).[17] The Strip lights were dimmed later in 2017 as a memorial to victims of a mass shooting at a concert held adjacent to the Strip.[18] In 2005, Clark County renamed a section of Industrial Road (south of Twain Avenue) as Dean Martin Drive, also as a tribute to the famous Rat Pack singer, actor, and frequent Las Vegas entertainer.
In an effort to attract families, resorts offered more attractions geared toward youth, but had limited success. The current MGM Grand opened in 1993 with MGM Grand Adventures Theme Park, but the park closed in 2000 due to lack of interest. Similarly, in 2003 Treasure Island closed its own video arcade and abandoned the previous pirate theme, adopting the new ti name.[19]
In addition to the large hotels, casinos and resorts, the Strip is home to many attractions, such as M&M's World, Adventuredome and the Fashion Show Mall. Starting in the mid-1990s, the Strip became a popular New Year's Eve celebration destination.
2000–present[edit]
.jpg)
With the opening of Bellagio, Venetian, Palazzo, Wynn and Encore resorts, the strip trended towards the luxurious high end segment through most of the 2000s, while some older resorts added major expansions and renovations, including some de-theming of the earlier themed hotels. High end dining, specialty retail, spas and nightclubs increasingly became options for visitors in addition to gambling at most Strip resorts. There was also a trend towards expensive residential condo units on the strip.
In 2004, MGM Mirage announced plans for CityCenter, a 66-acre (27 ha), $7 billion multi-use project on the site of the Boardwalk hotel and adjoining land. It consists of hotel, casino, condo, retail, art, business and other uses on the site. City Center is currently the largest such complex in the world. Construction began in April 2006, with most elements of the project opened in late 2009. Also in 2006, the Las Vegas Strip lost its longtime status as the world's highest-grossing gambling center, falling to second place behind Macau.[20]
In 2012, the High Roller Ferris wheel and a retail district called The LINQ Promenade broke ground in an attempt to diversify attractions beyond that of casino resorts. Renovations and rebrandings such as The Cromwell Las Vegas and the SLS Las Vegas continued to transform the Strip in 2014. The Las Vegas Festival Grounds opened in 2015. In 2016, the T-Mobile Arena, The Park, and the Park Theater opened.
On October 1, 2017, a mass shooting occurred on the Strip at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival, adjacent to the Mandalay Bay hotel. 58 people were killed and 851 were injured. This incident became the deadliest mass shooting in modern United States history.[21]
In 2019, the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino was renamed the Park MGM and the SLS retook its Sahara name.
Future developments[edit]
.jpg)
- Genting Group bought the site of the Stardust/Echelon Place with plans to build and open Resorts World Las Vegas in summer 2021.[22]
- The MSG Sphere Las Vegas, including a monorail stop, is being built behind The Palazzo and The Venetian and is to be completed in 2021.[23]
- Astral Hotels plans to build Astral, a 34-story, 620-room hotel and casino on the southern Las Vegas Strip. Construction is expected to begin in 2020 for a 2022 opening.[24]
- Dream Las Vegas, a casino and boutique hotel, is planned to break ground on the southern Las Vegas Strip by early 2021, with completion by early 2023.[25][26]
- The opening of 4,000 room The Drew Las Vegas (formerly planned as the Fontainebleau) has been pushed back to the second quarter of 2022.[27]
- As of June 2019, construction of the All Net Resort and Arena is expected to start "as soon as possible" and will take about 3 years.[28]
Transportation[edit]
RTC Transit (previously Citizens Area Transit, or CAT) provides bus service on the Strip with double decker buses known as The Deuce. The Deuce runs between Mandalay Bay at the southern end of the Strip (and to the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign and South Strip Transfer Terminal after midnight) to the Bonneville Transit Center (BTC) and the Fremont Street Experience in Downtown Las Vegas, with stops near every casino. RTC also operates an express bus called the Strip and Downtown Express (SDX). This route connects the Strip to the Las Vegas Convention Center and Downtown Las Vegas to the north, with stops at selected hotels and shopping attractions (Las Vegas Premium Outlets North & South).
Several free trams operate between properties on the west side of the Strip:[29]
- Mandalay Bay Tram connecting the Mandalay Bay, Luxor, and Excalibur
- Aria Express connecting Park MGM, Crystals (also stop for Aria), and Bellagio)
- Mirage-Treasure Island Tram runs between Treasure Island and The Mirage
While not on the Strip itself, the Las Vegas Monorail runs on the east side of the Strip corridor from Tropicana Avenue to Sahara Avenue, with stops at several on-Strip properties including the MGM Grand and the Sahara at each end of the route.[30]
Pedestrian traffic[edit]
Concerning pedestrian safety and to help alleviate traffic congestion at popular intersections, several pedestrian footbridges were erected in 1990s. Some feature designs that match the theme of the nearby resorts. The Tropicana – Las Vegas Boulevard footbridges were the first to be installed, and based on the success of this project additional footbridges have been built on Las Vegas Boulevard at the Flamingo Road intersection connecting Bellagio, Caesars Palace, Bally's, and The Cromwell; between The Mirage/Treasure Island and The Venetian, and at the Las Vegas Boulevard-Spring Mountain and Sands Avenue intersection connecting the Wynn with the Fashion Show Mall, The Palazzo and Treasure Island. The latest to be completed connects Planet Hollywood, CityCenter and The Cosmopolitan at the Harmon Avenue intersection.[31]
According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority's annual Las Vegas Visitor Profile Study, only 36% of people said they walked around the Strip, a figure that is a drop from 2013 (52%).[citation needed]
Attractions on the Strip[edit]
Golf[edit]
.JPG)
In 2000, Bali Hai Golf Club opened just south of Mandalay Bay and the Strip.[32]
As land values on the Strip have increased over the years, the resort-affiliated golf courses been removed to make way for building projects. The Tropicana Country Club closed in 1990[33] and the Dunes golf course in the mid-90s. Steve Wynn, founder of previously owned Mirage Resorts, purchased the Desert Inn and golf course for his new company Wynn Resorts and redeveloped the course as the Wynn Golf Club. This course closed in 2017, but the development planned for the course was cancelled and the course will be renovated and re-opened in late 2019.[34] The Aladdin also had a nine-hole golf course in the 1960s.[35]
Amusement parks and rides[edit]
The Strip is home to the Adventuredome indoor amusement park, and the Stratosphere tower has several rides:
Other rides on the Strip include:
- The Roller Coaster (also known as Big Apple Coaster)
- High Roller
- Fly Linq
Shopping[edit]
- Bonanza Gift Shop is billed as the "World's Largest Gift Shop", with over 40,000 square feet (3,700 m2) of shopping space.
- The Shoppes at the Palazzo featuring luxury stores.
- Fashion Show Mall is adjacent to Treasure Island and opposite Wynn Las Vegas.
- Grand Canal Shoppes is a luxury mall connected to The Venetian with canals, gondolas and singing gondoliers.
- The LINQ Promenade is an open-air retail, dining, and entertainment district located between The Linq and Flamingo resorts that began a soft open in January 2014. It leads from a Strip-side entrance to the High Roller.
- Miracle Mile Shops is part of the Planet Hollywood hotel.
- The Forum Shops at Caesars is a luxury mall connected to Caesars Palace, with more than 160 shops and 11 restaurants.
- Crystals at CityCenter is a luxury high-fashion mall at CityCenter.
- Harmon Corner is a three-story retail center located next to Planet Hollywood with shops and restaurants.
- Showcase Mall is next to MGM Grand, and displays a 100-foot Coca-Cola bottle.[37]
- The Park, a short east-west street between the Park MGM and New York-New York resorts is a park-like boulevard lined with retail shops and restaurants, leading to T-Mobile Arena.[38]
Entertainment[edit]
.jpg)
The Las Vegas Strip is well known for its lounges, showrooms, theaters and nightclubs;[39] most of the attractions and shows on the Strip are located on the hotel casino properties. Some of the more popular free attractions visible from the Strip include the water fountains at Bellagio, the volcano at The Mirage, and the Fall of Atlantis and Festival Fountain at Caesars Palace. There are several Cirque du Soleil shows, such as Kà at the MGM Grand, O at Bellagio, Mystère at Treasure Island, Zumanity for adults at New York-New York, and Michael Jackson: One at Mandalay Bay.[40]
Many notable artists have performed in Las Vegas, including Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Wayne Newton, Liza Minnelli, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Liberace,[41] and in more recent years Celine Dion, Britney Spears, Barry Manilow, Cher, Elton John, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, Donny and Marie Osmond, Garth Brooks, Jennifer Lopez, Reba McEntire, Mariah Carey, Shania Twain, Criss Angel, Olivia Newton-John, Queen + Adam Lambert, and Lady Gaga have had residencies in the various resorts on the Strip. The only movie theatre directly on the Strip was the 10-screen Regal Showcase Theatre in the Showcase Mall. The theater opened in 1997 and was operated by Regal Entertainment Group,[42] until its closure in 2018.[43]
Venues[edit]
The Strip is home to many entertainment venues. Most of the resorts have a showroom, nightclub and/or live music venue on the property and a few have large multipurpose arenas. Major venues include:
Locations of major landmarks[edit]
Current landmarks[edit]
Former hotel/casino locations[edit]
| North towards Fremont Street
↑
| ||
| Vegas World/Million Dollar Casino | Las Vegas Boulevard | |
| Jackpot Casino/Money Tree Casino | Holy Cow/Foxy's Firehouse | |
| Sahara Avenue | Sahara Avenue | |
| El Rancho Vegas | Club Bingo/SLS | |
| Wet 'n Wild | ||
| Thunderbird/Silverbird/El Rancho, Algiers Hotel | ||
| Riviera | ||
| Westward Ho | La Concha Motel | |
| Silver City/Riata | ||
| Stardust/Royal Nevada | ||
| Desert Inn Road | Desert Inn Road | |
| Silver Slipper/Golden Slipper | ||
| New Frontier/Last Frontier/Frontier | Desert Inn | |
| Spring Mountain Road | Sands Avenue | |
| Sands | ||
| Castaways | Nob Hill Casino | |
| Holiday Casino, Holiday Inn | ||
| Flamingo Capri/Imperial Palace/Quad | ||
| O'Sheas Casino | ||
| Barbary Coast/Bill's | ||
| Flamingo Road | Flamingo Road | |
| Dunes | MGM Grand | |
| Aladdin/Tallyho/King's Crown | ||
| Boardwalk/Mandarin Oriental | ||
| Monte Carlo | Harmon Avenue | |
| Marina | ||
| Tropicana Avenue | Tropicana Avenue | |
| Hacienda | ||
| Russell Road | Glass Pool Inn | |
| Klondike/Kona Kai | ||
| ↓
South towards Interstate 215
| ||
Demolished or closed Strip casinos and hotels[edit]
- Aladdin: Opened in 1962 as the Tallyho, became the King's Crown Tallyho in 1963, the Aladdin in 1966, and was demolished in 1998. A new Aladdin resort opened on the property in 2000, and was renamed Planet Hollywood in 2007.
- Big Red's Casino: Opened in 1981 and closed in 1982. Property developed for CBS Sports World Casino in 1997. Changed name to Sports World Casino after CBS threatened to sue.[44] Closed in 2001, now a shopping center.
- Barbary Coast Hotel and Casino: Closed in 2007, now The Cromwell.
- Boardwalk Hotel and Casino: Closed on January 6, 2006, demolished May 9, 2006 to make way for CityCenter.
- Castaways Hotel and Casino: Opened in 1957 as the San Souci Hotel and became the Castaways in 1963 and was demolished in 1987. Now The Mirage.
- Desert Inn: Closed on August 28, 2000, demolished in 2004, now Wynn Las Vegas and Encore Las Vegas; Desert Inn golf course was retained and improved.
- Dunes Hotel and Casino: Closed on January 26, 1993, demolished in 1993, now Bellagio. The Dunes golf course is now occupied by parts of Park MGM, New York-New York, CityCenter, Cosmopolitan, and T-Mobile Arena.
- El Rancho (formerly Thunderbird/Silverbird): Closed in 1992 and demolished in 2000. Now the unfinished The Drew Las Vegas.
- El Rancho Vegas: Burned down in 1960. The Hilton Grand Vacations Club timeshare now exists on the south edge of the site where the resort once stood; the remainder is now the Las Vegas Festival Grounds.
- Hacienda: Closed and demolished in 1996, now Mandalay Bay. Until 2015, a separate Hacienda operated outside Boulder City, formerly the Gold Strike Inn.
- Holy Cow Casino and Brewery: First micro brewery in Las Vegas. Closed in 2002, now a Walgreens store.
- Jackpot Casino: Closed in 1977, now part of Bonanza Gift Shop
- Klondike Hotel and Casino: Closed in 2006, demolished in 2008.
- Little Caesars Casino: Opened in 1970 and closed in 1994. Paris Las Vegas now occupies the area.[45]
- Money Tree Casino: Closed in 1979, now Bonanza Gift Shop.
- Marina Hotel and Casino: Closed, adapted into MGM Grand, now the West Wing of the MGM Grand.
- New Frontier: Closed July 16, 2007, demolished November 13, 2007. Currently being redeveloped as Wynn West.
- Nob Hill Casino: Opened in 1979 and closed in 1990. Now Casino Royale
- Riviera Hotel and Casino: Opened in 1955; Closed in May 2015 to make way for the Las Vegas Global Business District.
- Sands Hotel and Casino: Closed on June 30, 1996, demolished in 1996, now The Venetian.
- Silver City Casino: Closed in 1999, now the Silver City Plaza Shopping Center.
- Silver Slipper Casino: Opened in 1950 and closed and demolished in 1988. It became the parking lot for the New Frontier until its closure and demolition in 2007.
- Stardust Resort and Casino: Closed on November 1, 2006, demolished on March 13, 2007. Currently being redeveloped as Resorts World Las Vegas.
- Vegas World: Opened in 1979 and closed in 1995. Now The Strat
- Westward Ho Hotel and Casino: Closed in 2005, demolished in 2006.
Gallery[edit]
.jpg)
Hints & tips
- Take Monorail and go roundtrip in the evening
- Then walk in the strip at night
- Make sure to watch Belaggio water fountain show
Disclaimer
The above comments are based on my
personal travel experiences to this particular location in the summer months. Your
experience may vary due to weather and traffic.
My trips were not sponsored by any of
the authorities and my comments are not biased or representing any views of
governing bodies.
History and information extracted from
Wikipedia and photos were selected from Google images and all rights reserved
with original owners.
This is only for an informational
purpose. Not for commercial use.
Note.
Hope you will enjoy your visit.
Please make your comments, suggestions & travel questions. I am happy to
provide information on my earliest convenience & update the post
accordingly.
No comments:
Post a Comment