Bally's Las Vegas

Casino infobox
casino=Bally's
theme=Cosmopolitan Las Vegas
address=3645 Las Vegas Blvd South
Las Vegas, NV 89109

---

logo=BallysLogo.svg
rooms=2,814
date_opened=December 5 1973
space_gaming=67,000 sq ft (6,225 m²)
attractions=Garden Walkway
shows="Jubilee!"
restaurants="Al Dente"
"Bally's Steakhouse"
"Chang's"
owner=Harrah's Entertainment
casino_type=Land-based
renovations=1981, 1994, 2004
names_pre="Bonanza"
"New Bonanza"
"MGM Grand"
"Bally's Grand"
website= [http://www.harrahs.com/casinos/ballys-las-vegas/hotel-casino/property-home.shtml Bally's Las Vegas]

Bally's Las Vegas is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada which is owned and operated by Harrah's Entertainment. The hotel has 2,814 rooms that are 450 square feet (41.8 m²) or larger and over 175,000 square feet (16,258 m²) of banquet and meeting space. The casino occupies 67,000 square feet (6,225 m²).

One of the signature features of the hotel is the neon lighting wrapped around the covered moving sidewalk that brings guests from Las Vegas Boulevard to the entrance of the casino while old hits from the Rat Pack are pumped out. The resort has a large shopping area a floor below its gaming level, including several restaurants and there is a Las Vegas Monorail station at the rear of the property. Bally's is home for the long-running production show "Jubilee!" which opened in 1981.

History

The 43 acres (17 ha) site was first occupied by the Bonanza Hotel and Casino which opened in July 1963. It was later renamed the New Bonanza Hotel and Casino shortly before construction on the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, owned by Kirk Kerkorian, began. It opened in 1973 with 2,084 rooms and was the largest hotel in the world at that time. Fact|date=March 2008 The hotel had a Los Angeles movie theme when it opened.

On November 21, 1980, it suffered a fire in the casino that spread through the hotel, resulting in a death toll of 85 guests and employees. The fire was, and still remains, the largest disaster in Nevada history in terms of loss of life and a major reform of city fire safety, which are now among the strictest in the United States.Fact|date=September 2008 The facility was rebuilt in eight months.

The hotel was sold in 1985 to Bally Entertainment Corporation and the property's name was changed to Bally's (the MGM Grand name was transferred to the former Marina Hotel, now known as MGM Grand Las Vegas). Bally Entertainment Corporation was purchased in 1995 by Hilton Hotels Corporation whose casino resorts division was subsequently spun off and became Caesars Entertainment in 2003. Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. acquired the property with its purchase of Caesars Entertainment, Inc in June 2005. [cite web |url=http://www.vegastodayandtomorrow.com/harrah's.htm |title=Harrah's Empire News |publisher= vegastodayandtomorrow.com |accessdate=2008-03-31 ] [Harrah's Entertainment was acquired by Hamlet Holdings LLC in 2008.]

Media history

*Featured in the 1993 film "Honeymoon in Vegas", starring Nicolas Cage and Sarah Jessica Parker.
*Featured prominently in the 1995 film "Leaving Las Vegas", also starring Cage and Elisabeth Shue.
*Bally's Las Vegas hosted Spike TV's 2006 poker tournament series "King of Vegas".
*Featured in the video game "" as the "High Roller".

Notes

External links

* [http://www.harrahs.com/casinos/ballys-las-vegas/hotel-casino/property-home.shtml Bally's Las Vegas] official site