The Dunes
| Dunes Hotel and Casino | |
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The Dunes Hotel and Oasis Casino in 1983, seen from Flamingo Road
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| Location | Paradise, Nevada |
| Address | 3600 Las Vegas Boulevard South |
| Opening date | May 23, 1955 |
| Closing date | January 26, 1993 |
| Theme | Desert |
| No. of rooms | 1,300 |
| Signature attractions | Dunes Golf Course |
| Casino type | Land-based |
| Owner | Masao Nangaku (1987–1992) Mirage Resorts (1992–1993) |
| Architect | Maxwell Starkman |
| Renovated in | 1961 (tower) 1964 1971 1979 (tower) |
| Coordinates | 36°06′47″N 115°10′35″W / 36.11306°N 115.17639°WCoordinates: 36°06′47″N 115°10′35″W / 36.11306°N 115.17639°W |
The Dunes Hotel was a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, that operated from May 23, 1955 to January 26, 1993. Designed by architect Maxwell Starkman, it was the tenth resort to open on the Strip. Bellagio now stands on the former grounds. The Dunes golf course is now occupied by parts of Monte Carlo, New York-New York, CityCenter, and Cosmopolitan, and T-Mobile Arena.
In the early 1950s, Al Gottesman, the retired owner of a movie theater chain who was living in Miami, received a request from two developers for a $58,000 loan that would be used to purchase desert property for a Las Vegas hotel. Gottesman agreed to provide funding in exchange for a small portion of the hotel's profits. Gottesman provided an additional $16,000 to hire an architect for the new project.
Gottesman later discovered that other partners, who were from Rhode Island and were led by Joe Sullivan, had also invested in the project. Sullivan's group had secretly included mobster Raymond Patriarca, a fact that was not discovered until years later. The initial developers later dropped out of the project, and the property was subsequently taken over by Gottesman and by Sullivan's group, both of whom had plans for a large gambling resort. An additional $1.5 million was raised, with Beverly Hills jewelry seller Bob Rice as an additional partner. A pension fund from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which had connections to the mafia, helped to complete the new resort, which cost $3.5 million to build.
The Dunes, themed after the Arabian Nights stories, opened on May 23, 1955. It was designed by architect Maxwell Starkman. The new resort included 200 hotel rooms, located in several two-story buildings. Also featured was a 90-foot V-shaped swimming pool and a 150-foot lagoon. The resort also featured the Arabian Room, which had the capabilities and size of a Broadway theatre. Hollywood star Vera-Ellen headlined on opening night. The resort was located on an 85-acre (34 ha) property, some of which remained vacant at the time of opening. The hotel's slogan was "The Miracle in the Desert". From the time of its opening, the Dunes was known for the 35 ft (11 m) tall fiberglass sultan statue that stood above its main entrance.
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