The Stardust Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip was imploded on March 13, 2007 at 2:33 am to make way for the now defunct Echelon Place. The stardust operated from 1958 to 2006. When the hotel opened, it had the largest casino and swimming pool in Nevada and the it was the largest hotel in the Las Vegas area.

Jackie Gaughan in front of his El Cortez Hotel/Casino 1965

John D. “Jackie” Gaughan Sr.(October 24, 1920 – March 12, 2014) was a casino owner and operator from the early 1950s in Las Vegas, Nevada. Gaughan had an ownership stake in many casinos throughout his career, but he is best known for his ownership of the El Cortez, where he resided until his death on March 12, 2014.  Gaughan at one time owned more than 25 percent of available real estate in Downtown Las Vegas.

Photo By: The Las Vegas News Bureau
Date Taken : March 22, 1965

Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas With its Signature Guitar over the Main Entrance

On March 10, 1995, the The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino opened in Las Vegas. It was the first Hard Rock Hotel to open and was built by Peter Morton, co-founder of the Hard Rock Cafe. It was expanded in 1999, and began another expansion in 2007. Features of the property include the hotel tower, a 30,000-square-foot casino, Tahitian-style beach and swimming pool, a nightclub, six restaurants, three cocktail lounges, several retail stores, a spa, a poker room, and “The Joint”, a music venue. In June 2002 influential rock bassist John Entwistle of The Who died in one of the hotel’s rooms.

Photo by: Wikipedia.org

Mandalay-Bay

On March 2, 1999, Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino opened on the Las Vegas Strip. The 43-story luxury hotel and casino has 3,309 hotel rooms, 24 elevators and a 135,000 sq foot casino.  Adjacent to the hotel is the 1,000,000 sq foot Mandalay Bay Convention Center and the 12,000-seat Mandalay Bay Events Center. One of the property’s towers operates as THE hotel, while the top five floors of the other tower are occupied by a Four Seasons Hotel.

Photo by: Wikipedia.org