The Tropicana Hotel is not the oldest hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, but is one filled with history. The hotel was called the “Tiffany of the Strip” when it opened in the 1950s because of the first class accommodations which it offered. One piece of information about the building of the Tropicana Hotel is that it was not built as a casino as the other residents of the Strip, but as a hotel and resort which was odd at the time.
The Original Tropicana Hotel Buildings
The Tropicana Hotel had its initial groundbreaking in 1955, and would open two years later in April 1957. The original hotel had only 300 rooms and was situated on seventeen acres. Within two years the hotel would double the acreage used to 35 and add another 150 rooms in a second tower.
The First Additions to the Tropicana Hotel
In 1961 the Tropicana Hotel added the first of many additions when an 18-hole golf course was built. A year later another 116 rooms were added onto the hotel. The famous Blue Room Lounge was opened in 1965. The first round of additions would continue into the 1970s with the opening of the Superstar Theater, later renamed the Tiffany Theater, which has 1,500 seats. The biggest addition would be the Tiffany Tower which would be renamed the Paradise Tower. It is a 600 room addition started in the 1960s and finished twenty years later in 1998; it would cost $3.5 million to build. During the building construction of the Paradise Tower the final addition to the hotel, the Island Tower, was begun in 1985. The Island Tower of the Tropicana Hotel would add a total of 600 luxury suites.
The Second Additions to the Tropicana Hotel
The second round of additions at the Tropicana Hotel started in 1985. The first addition was a 55,000 square foot sports facility. In 1986 the resort added a water park. In 1991 the outer island was created which brought the resort to bump up against the rest of the Las Vegas Strip. In 1994 all of the Tropicana's towers and attractions were connected with a walkway. Two years later the front entrance was remodeled for the first time in its history as a tropical theme. A Baccarat room was added at this same time.
The Owners of the Tropicana Hotel
The original owner of the Tropicana Hotel would sell the property to the first corporate owner, the Ramada Inns Group in 1979. Because of a restructuring by Ramada Inns in 1989, the Aztar Corporation gets a foothold in the ownership of the Tropicana. Within the next thirteen years Aztar would claim full ownership to the famed Tropicana Hotel. Aztar then goes into bankruptcy and emerges from it by 2007; when Aztar merges with Columbia Entertainment, Columbia gains control of the Tropicana.
The Folies Bergere
The Folies Bergere was one of the first shows of its kind in Las Vegas. The show is made up of showgirls, comedy acts, circus acts and other performances. In 1959 the show came to the Tropicana and as of 2009 would celebrate 50 years on the Strip. The Folies Bergere brought in an audience of 40,000 people each month during the first year. In 1959 it was the biggest show available on the Strip and still ranks as one of the larger shows in Las Vegas.
