Las Vegas was established in 1829 to serve as a trade route between California and Mexico. The city didn’t always look the way it is now. Rare retrospective photos show swim-up gambling tables, the charm of 1950’s showgirls and vintage cars parked outside casinos for a weekend getaway. 

New developments and renovations have significantly altered the face of the famous Las Vegas Strip. Many of the world’s largest resort properties, hotels and casinos are located on the Strip. Many casual gamblers are also playing on the internet in casinos like the bet365 online casino for example. If you are looking to play at the newest online casino, you will definitely find one that suits your needs. Online casinos offer a wide range of games that you can play anytime, anywhere. The Strip is actually not located in the city limits of Las Vegas. It is under Clark County’s jurisdiction.

Hotels

The Strip got its name from a former vice cop and businessman from Los Angeles. It was named after the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. The Strip showed signs of development in the early 1930s, but it saw a boom in growth in the 1940s. The Flamingo Hotel is one of the earliest resorts on the Strip, built by Meyer Lansky and Benjamin Siegel. The hotel opened in 1946.

Riviera and Tropicana are also among the oldest resort hotels on the Strip. The Stardust Resort and Casino presented production show spectacular in 1960. The Tropicana Hotel bought the American rights to Folies Bergere in 1959. The show continued for almost 50 years, closing only in March 2009.

The Las Vegas Convention Center also opened in 1959. It aimed at occupying vacant hotel rooms with convention delegates during the slack tourist months. The convention center now offers 1.5 million sq. ft of exhibit space and over 5.5 million convention delegates visit Las Vegas yearly.

Casinos

Multiple coin slot machines were introduced in the 1960s. Computerized dollar slot machines replaced nickel slot and mechanical penny machines. Payouts also increased. From a few hundred dollars, players can now win several million dollar progressive jackpots.

Caesars Palace, a luxury hotel and casino, opened in 1966. Several hotel-casinos opened in the following years. A lot of older hotels were demolished in the late 1990s to allow for the construction of new mega-resorts. The Sands Hotel and Casino became the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino, while the Dunes Hotel became the Bellagio. The Hacienda Resort Hotel and Casino became the Mandalay Bay, and the Desert Inn became the Wynn Las Vegas.

Steve Wynn is recognized for building some of the most luxurious hotels in Las Vegas. He changed the city’s reputation as a gambling area to be a classy resort destination. Wynn introduced the era of expensive and luxury hotels in 1989. He built the Treasure Island, Bellagio, and Mirage on the Strip. Wynn also brought Cirque du Soleil to Treasure Island and Las Vegas. There are currently 7 Cirque du Soleil shows playing in Vegas. The Bellagio, Mirage, and Treasure Island were purchased by MGM Grand Corp. in 2000. Wynn built the Wynn Las Vegas, one of the most expensive resort-hotels in Vegas, in 2005 on the land previously occupied by the Desert Inn. He opened Wynn Macau in 2006.

Aside from the large resorts, casinos, and hotels, the Strip is also home to other attractions like the Fashion Show Mall, M&M’s World and Adventuredome. The area was a popular celebration destination during New Year’s Eve in the mid-1990s. In 2006, the Strip lost its status as the highest-grossing gambling center in the world to Macau.

Today, Las Vegas hosts almost 38 million visitors every year. The average stay in Vegas is 3.6 nights. Hotel consolidation has become quite common in recent years. The city’s nearly 150,000 hotel rooms are 80% occupied throughout the year. The 10 largest hotels in the US are located in Las Vegas. The largest is the Venetian & Palazzo with 8,107 rooms. The MGM is the second largest hotel in Vegas, with 6,582 rooms. Wynn has 4,750 rooms, Caesars offers 4,000 rooms, Aria and Excalibur have 4,000 rooms, and Bellagio has 3,950 rooms. Other joints like Mirage, Flamingo, and Cosmopolitan have over 3,000 rooms. Las Vegas Sands, MGM, and Caesars control more than half of the rooms on the Strip.

The prices of hotel rooms tend to be higher during the weekend. Tours, attractions, entertainment, and shows operate all week long. Room rates are based on supply and demand. Prices are high when there’s a high demand. Convention sites and hotels in Vegas host a lot of smaller conventions every week.

Renovations and new additions provide Las Vegas and the Strip with a contemporary appeal. Visitors can also frequent nightclubs, specialty retail, high-end dining, and spas. Each property has a unique design, layout and aesthetic. The Strip will continue to grow, so more changes should be expected in the future.