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Stratosphere Las Vegas

Stratosphere Las Vegas
Stratosphere Las Vegas logo.svg
Stratosphere Las Vegas - November 2003.jpg
Location Las Vegas, Nevada
Address 2000 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Opening date April 30, 1996; 20 years ago (April 30, 1996)
No. of rooms 2,427
Total gaming space 80,000 sq ft (7,400 m2)
Permanent shows Frankie Moreno; Pin Up
Signature attractions
Notable restaurants
  • Top of the World
  • Fellini's Ristorante
  • Roxy's Diner
  • Lucky's
Casino type Land-based
Owner American Casino & Entertainment Properties
Previous names Vegas World
Renovated in 2010
Coordinates 36°08′51″N 115°09′19″W / 36.147386°N 115.155389°W / 36.147386; -115.155389Coordinates: 36°08′51″N 115°09′19″W / 36.147386°N 115.155389°W / 36.147386; -115.155389
Website stratospherehotel.com

Stratosphere Las Vegas (formerly Vegas World) is a hotel, casino, and tower located on Las Vegas Boulevard just north of the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.

The property's signature attraction is the 1,149 ft (350.2 m) Stratosphere Tower, the tallest freestanding observation tower in the United States, and the second-tallest in the Western Hemisphere, surpassed only by the CN Tower in Toronto, Ontario. It is the tallest tower west of the Mississippi River and also the tallest structure in Las Vegas and in the State of Nevada. The hotel is a separate building with 24 stories, 2,427 rooms and an 80,000 sq ft (7,400 m2) casino. The Stratosphere is owned and operated by American Casino & Entertainment Properties.

While the traditional definition of the Strip excludes the Stratosphere, it is often included in travel guides as a Strip attraction. Using this alternate definition, the Stratosphere is the northernmost of the major Strip resorts, and is the only Strip hotel actually located within the City of Las Vegas.

In the late 1980s, the Stratosphere was conceived by Bob Stupak as an addition to his Vegas World casino. He initially wanted to create a tower resembling the Eiffel Tower in Paris, but the narrow footprint of the available property would not permit such a broad base. Searching for options, he contacted an engineering firm in Texas whose expertise was in designing radio transmission towers. They produced a series of possible configurations based on computer 'stretch-outs' of their standard skeletal tower designs. When Stupak showed these to CEO Lou Papais of Ad Art, Inc., Stockton, CA, he and his Executive Art Director, Chuck Barnard, agreed the designs were unsatisfactory and Barnard produced the concept for the 1149 ft. tower. Ad Art design associate, Jack Dubois, then created a giant color rendering of the tower which Stupak used to secure financial backing for construction. Architect Ned Baldwin, creator of the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada, was brought in and assembled a team of local engineers and architects to flesh out the design and move the project to completion. At the conception of the project, one of the planned rides was a giant ape that would carry riders up and down on one of the tower's columns.


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