The Las Vegas Hilton is a hotel, casino, and convention center in Las Vegas, Nevada owned by Colony Capital , was built by Kirk Kerkorian in 1969 as the International . With more than 3,100 hotel rooms, this off-strip hotel is one of the largest hotel-casinos in Las Vegas. It is also is 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 then 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.
History
The hotel was built in 1969 by Kirk Kerkorian and opened at the International Hotel . When it opened, the International was the largest hotel in the world.
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 in 1971 by Hilton Hotels, which later spun off this and its other casinos into the company that became Caesar's Entertainment .
Star Trek: The Experience opens. The casino adds a space-themed casino, "Space Quest", that serves as the gateway to the attraction.
Converted the theater to be used for The Starlight Express show. This involved pouring concrete ramps into the seating area. When the show closed, the theater was used to film The Oak Ridge Boys Live series for one of the County cable Networks before it was gutted and renovated.
On March 18, 2004 a new "Borg Invasion 4-D" ride 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.
