Published Monday, June 30, 2014 | 11:20 a.m.
Updated Monday, June 30, 2014 | 5:23 p.m.
For the second time in 2 1/2 years, the marquee at what was once the International and then Las Vegas Hilton is in for a major change.
Announced this morning is the sale of Las Vegas Hotel (LVH) from Goldman Sachs to David Siegel’s Westgate Resorts. No terms of the deal were disclosed, but it is believed that the purchase price is $150 million to $170 million.
On Tuesday morning at 8:30, the famous marquee along Paradise Road will be stripped of the LVH letters, and a Westgate Resorts logo will replace that brand.
Reports of Westgate officials winning the bid on what is now the Westgate Las Vegas and spending time coordinating its takeover have been seeping out of the hotel for several weeks. It is expected that Westgate will maintain the casino and SuperBook operations.
Having opened as the International in 1969 under the ownership of Kirk Kerkorian, the hotel took on the name Las Vegas Hilton in 1971. The resort was previously owned by Colony Capital, which took over operations in 2004, but lost its licensing agreement with Hilton Worldwide in the summer of 2011. The formal changing of the hotel’s name and lettering on that marquee occurred in January 2012.
Westgate Resorts is a timeshare company rather than a casino operator. Siegel’s company once owned Westgate at Planet Hollywood but in 2012 was forced to sell that property to Hilton as the recession cut into timeshare business.
Hilton has renamed that property Elara, and Siegel has wound up renaming a property that was once itself called the Hilton.
Catering to the young and modern crowd, Planet Hollywood is a one-stop shop for entertainment with its massive shopping mall, slew of restaurants, spacious casino and clubs.
The ambiance of the casino is retro-chic meets high-tech with black granite floors throughout and colorful LED lights throughout the space. The theme carries into the 100,000 square-foot casino with 250 flat screens topping off slot machines. The casino is also home to 87 tables, a sports book and a poker room.
There's also the Miracle Mile Shops, one Vegas' largest malls, with 140 stores including BCBG Max Azaria, bebe, Urban Outfitters and The Discovery Channel Store.
Following an afternoon of shopping, guests can satisfy their appetites at one of the gourmet restaurants in Planet Hollywood, like the non-traditional approach to steakhouses at Strip House or check out the exotic Far East motif at KOI restaurant and lounge. And if guests are still looking for more, they can spend the after hours at Privé, Triq or Krave nightclubs.
Perhaps one of the resorts biggest attractions came in March with the addition of "Peepshow." The naughty twist on the story of Little Bo Peep is modern-day spin on the run-of-the-mill Vegas topless review. The "Peepshow" stage has seen visiting celebs like Scary Spice Mel B, "Dancing with the Stars" Kelly Monaco and Playboy's Holly Madison.
Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.
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