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Well, it obviously just wasn't meant to be. When the all new Aladdin opened on August 18th 2000 it was the first time (as far as I am aware) that an existing resort had been completely replaced by a brand new mega-resort - and yet kept the same name and theme. Aladdin was built on the site of the existing 50's resort, but obviously to 21st century scale! It would seem however that finding a theme that's a winner in Las Vegas these days is more of a gamble than playing roulette! They took a risk and won by replacing the famous Sands resort with Venetian or demolishing the rather sad old Hacienda and building the wonderful Mandalay Bay in it's place. But the new Aladdin just didn't hold enough appeal for the modern visitor, and went into Bankruptcy in September 2001.
Well, now there's a new owner in town, and a brand new resort is just around the corner. The owners of the Planet Hollywood restaurant chain have teamed up with Starwood Resorts (the Sheraton people) and paid $635 million to buy the Aladdin - with Starwood set to run the Hotel operation. What a bargain - the resort cost $1.2 billion to build! During the first half of 2004 the resort will gradually become the new Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino and will of course feature a theme rich in the sort of movie memorabilia that the restaurants are full of!
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Anyway, while the re-modelling is underway Aladdin is still open and you can probably source some great deals. The resort provides 2,567 'oversized' (to quote the company website) rooms, a 100,000 square foot casino (that's about half way between the somewhat small casino at Paris and the quite huge casino at Mandalay Bay) which should cater for most people's needs. The big news though is the scale of the shopping area. Whilst all new casinos routinely provide shopping areas to compete with the malls Aladdin comes complete with the 500,000 square foot, 130-store (and numerous restaurants) 'Desert Passage' which is a new 'must see' for the already top-heavy with must-sees strip - and it really is fantastic featuring browsing shops and real shops, and is really proving a competitor to its closest rival - Forum Shops at Caesars Palace.
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Aladdin opened on August 18th 2000 - about 1 day later than originally planned (which after the chaos of the Venetian opening was a bit of a coup!) From the outside it looks fantastic, as does the Desert Passage (where quite clearly a lot of money has been spent). The Casino (and rooms) are a bit of a mixed bag though. The Aladdin has gone for high-class (as it has to to compete with it's direct neighbours - Paris and Bellagio to name but two. But I kind of think that the whole Arabian Knights thing relies on gaudy red gold and blue gems, and this doesn't really fit as well here as it does at the Sahara - the other resort with a similar theme. Let's just hope that the Aladdin's new owners can create a theme that is more popular with the visiting public - and create a profitable enterprise with this hugely impressive building!
An interesting footnote - part of the original Aladdin hotel still exists - the Theatre of the Performing Arts has been retained - but extensively re-modelled and sits at the centre of the new Dessert Passage shopping mall!
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Other Images of Aladdin....
(Just click on the image for a full-size version) |
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Vital Statistics:
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| Original Imploded |
April 27 1998 |
| New Resort Opened |
August 18 2000 |
| Number of Rooms |
2,567 |
| Web Address |
http://www.aladdincasino.com |
| Phone Numbers |
702 785 5555 or 877 333 9474 |
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