| Tropicana Las Vegas | |
|---|---|
 Final logo (2009–2024)[1] | |
 The Tropicana in 2022 | |
   | |
| Location | Paradise, Nevada, U.S. |
| Address | 3801 South Las Vegas Boulevard |
| Opening date | April 4, 1957 |
| Closing date | April 2, 2024 |
| Theme | Tropical / South Beach |
| No. of rooms | 1,467 |
| Total gaming space | 44,570 sq ft (4,141 m2) |
| Permanent shows | Folies Bergere (1959–2009) Laugh Factory Purple Reign MJ Live |
| Casino type | Land-based |
| Owner | Bally's Corporation (final owner, 2022–2024) |
| Architect | M. Tony Sherman (1957) |
| Renovated in | 1959, 1962, 1964, 1979, 1986, 2009–2011 |
| Coordinates | 36°05′59″N 115°10′17″W / 36.09972°N 115.17139°W |
| Website | casinos |
The Tropicana Las Vegas was a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It operated from 1957 to 2024. In its final years, the property included a 44,570 sq ft (4,141 m2) casino and 1,467 rooms. The complex occupied 35 acres (14 ha) at the southeast corner of the Tropicana - Las Vegas Boulevard intersection.
The resort was conceived by Ben Jaffe, part owner of the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach. The $15 million Tropicana opened on April 4, 1957, as the most expensive Las Vegas resort developed up to that point. The hotel originally opened with low-rise structures containing 300 rooms, and the property would later launch several expansions, including two hotel towers added in 1979 and 1986 respectively. The latter tower was accompanied by the introduction of an island theme for the property. The Tropicana was host to various live entertainment, including the topless showgirl revue known as Folies Bergere. It ended in 2009, after nearly 50 years, and remains the longest-running show in Las Vegas history.
The Tropicana underwent numerous ownership changes throughout its history. Mob connections were present at the time of its opening, and an FBI investigation in 1979 uncovered a skimming operation at the resort. It was sold that year to Ramada Inns, which later transferred ownership to its spin-off company, Aztar Corporation, in 1989. During the 2000s, Aztar considered demolishing the Tropicana for development of a new resort, although this did not come to fruition. Columbia Sussex bought the resort in 2007, but lost it to bankruptcy two years later, with Onex Corporation emerging as the new owner. Onex launched a $180 million renovation, the property's first since 1986. The project was completed in 2011 and added a South Beach theme.
Penn National Gaming bought the Tropicana in 2015, then sold the property to its spin-off company, Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (GLPI), in 2020. Bally's Corporation purchased the Tropicana two years later and leased the land from GLPI. In 2023, Bally's and GLPI reached a redevelopment agreement with the Oakland Athletics, a Major League Baseball team. The Tropicana would be demolished to make way for two new projects: a baseball stadium (tentatively the New Las Vegas Stadium) on nine acres of the site, and a new Bally's Las Vegas resort on the remaining land. The Tropicana closed on April 2, 2024, and demolition began within a month. The last remaining structures, the two hotel towers, were imploded on October 9, 2024.
- ^ Finnegan, Amanda (August 6, 2009). "Tropicana shows off new logo tied to redesign". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved December 27, 2023.