It was a sad sight as I watched them taking down – letter by letter – the Hilton sign in Las Vegas.
The rumors of last September are now coming to fruition as the Las Vegas Iconic Hotel – The Las Vegas Hilton – dismantles its sign and starts to remove logos and proof that this was once a Hilton property. I held 2 shows here at the Las Vegas Hilton in September, and the property was buzzing with uncertainty.
The Las Vegas Hilton is the former home of Elvis Presley, he performed for 58 consecutive sold out shows, breaking all Vegas attendance records, (130,157 customers in the period of one month), with stellar reviews coming from both critics and the public. He broke his own attendance record in February 1970, and again in August 1970, and August 1972. Elvis lived in the penthouse suite (room 3000), located on the 30th floor, until his last performance there in December 1976. Elvis was due to perform there again in 1978, to celebrate the opening of the North tower, but the singer died in August 1977.
The Las Vegas Hilton has 2,956 hotel rooms and 305 suites, was the largest Hilton Hotel in the world. It was located on 64 acres, has a 74,000 square feet casino and is also home to the largest sports book in Las Vegas.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Hilton Worldwide confirmed on June 29, 2011 that it has terminated its franchise license agreement with the Las Vegas Hilton, effective January 1, 2012.
After suffering from the recession, the Hilton began defaulting on payments to Goldman Sachs on a $252 million loan. Goldman filed for foreclosure in September 2011.
As of January 3rd – the Hilton Las Vegas property will be a historical footnote in wikipedia and will be renamed LVH – Las Vegas Hotel & Casino.
I spend my final New Year’s Eve here at the Las Vegas Hilton – and it’s a bittersweet time of celebration, and the end of an era.
I’ll see you on the other side of 2012 – here’s to a fruitful year of success, wealth, health and happiness.
Tracy Repchuk
Your Power Business Mentor
PS – We are doing a 3 day training for internet marketing, social media, mobile marketing and branding and business building. You are cordially invited. The last one was held in Las Vegas at the Hilton, this one is Burbank, California.
Check out the details:
Entrepreneur Business Bootcamp