Desert Inn
| Desert Inn Hotel and Casino | |
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The Desert Inn in 1968
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| Location | Paradise, Nevada |
| Address | 3145 Las Vegas Blvd South Las Vegas, NV 89109 |
| Opening date | April 24, 1950 |
| Closing date | August 28, 2000 |
| Theme | Oasis |
| Number of rooms | 715 |
| Total gaming space | 35,000 sq ft (3,300 m2) |
| Signature attractions | Desert Inn Golf Course |
| Casino type | Land |
| Owner | 1964–1967 Moe Dalitz 1967–1988 Howard Hughes 1988–1993 Kirk Kerkorian 1993–1998 ITT / Sheraton 1998–2000 Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. 2000 Steve Wynn |
| Previous names | Wilbur Clark's Desert Inn, Sheraton Desert Inn |
| Coordinates | 36°07′43″N 115°9′59″W / 36.12861°N 115.16639°WCoordinates: 36°07′43″N 115°9′59″W / 36.12861°N 115.16639°W |
The Desert Inn, also known as the D.I., was a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, which operated from April 24, 1950, to August 28, 2000. Designed by architect Hugh Taylor and interior design by Jac Lessman, it was the fifth resort to open on the Strip. It was situated between Desert Inn Road and Sands Avenue.
The Desert Inn opened with 300 rooms and the Sky Room restaurant, headed by a chef formerly of the Ritz Paris, which once had the highest vantage point on the Las Vegas Strip. The casino, at 2,400 square feet (220 m2), was one of the largest in Nevada at the time. The 9-storey St. Andrews Tower was completed during the first renovation in 1963, and the 14-storey Augusta Tower became the Desert Inn's main tower when it was completed in 1978 along with the seven-story Wimbledon Tower. The Palms Tower was completed in 1997 with the second and final renovation. The Desert Inn was the first hotel in Las Vegas to feature a fountain at the entrance. In 1997, the Desert Inn underwent a $200 million renovation and expansion, but after it was purchased for $270 million by Steve Wynn in 2000, he decided to demolish it and build a new hotel and resort. The remaining towers of the Desert Inn were imploded in 2004. Today, the Wynn and Encore stands where the hotel once stood.
The original performance venue at the Desert Inn was the Painted Desert Room, later the Crystal Room, which opened in 1950 with 450 seats. Frank Sinatra made his Las Vegas debut there on September 13, 1951 and became a regular performer. The property included an 18-hole golf course which hosted the PGA Tour Tournament of Champions from 1953 to 1966. The golf course is now a part of the Wynn resort.
The hotel was situated at 3145 Las Vegas Boulevard South, between Desert Inn Road and Sands Avenue. The original name for many years was Wilbur Clark's Desert Inn. Wilbur Clark, described by Frank Sinatra biographer James Kaplan as a "onetime San Diego bellhop and Reno craps dealer", originally began building the resort with his brother in 1947 with $250,000, but he ran out of money. Author Hal Rothman notes that "for nearly two years the framed structure sat in the hot desert sun, looking more like an ancient relic than a nascent casino". Clark approached the Reconstruction Finance Corporation for investment, but they were struggling financially. In 1949, he met with Moe Dalitz, the head of the notorious Cleveland gang, the Mayfield Road Mob, and Dalitz agreed to fund 75% of the project with $1.3 million, and construction resumed. Much of the financing came from the American National Insurance Company (ANICO), though Clark became the public frontman of the resort while Dalitz remained quietly in the background as the principal owner. The resort would eventually be renamed Desert Inn and was called the "D.I." by Las Vegas locals and regular guests.
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