Bourbon Street Hotel and Casino (named after New Orleans' Bourbon Street) was a small hotel and casino near the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. Opening in 1980 as the Shenandoah Hotel, the property was plagued with licensing and financial difficulties from the start. Ownership changed hands several times, with new proprietors often envisioning major renovations or redevelopment, but none of the plans came to fruition. Finally, in 2005, it was bought by Harrah's Entertainment (later Caesars Entertainment), who closed and demolished it.
History
Shenandoah Hotel (1980-1985)
The Shenandoah Hotel began as a $29-million project, named after the Las Vegas estate of singer Wayne Newton, who was a minority investor in the property. The hotel opened in February 1980. The opening of the casino was delayed, however, because of a Gaming Commission investigation into Shenandoah president John Harlow Tucker for a 1975 securities fraud conviction. Tucker's gaming license was ultimately denied, and he was ordered to sell his $1.8-million stake in the property. Carma spent over two years trying unsuccessfully to sell the Shenandoah, before deciding to seek a gaming license to open the casino itself. Nevada passed a law in June 1985 to enable foreign companies to receive gaming licenses, and, weeks later, Carma was the first to take advantage of the new law.
An agreement was announced in July 1995 to sell the property to Crown Casino Corp. for $10 million. However, Crown abandoned the deal in November, losing a $500,000 deposit, citing the possibility of more attractive opportunities, a lack of attractive financing, and declining profits at the property.
In August 1996, Starwood sold the property to Tarsadia Hotels for $7.8 million in cash plus $1 million in assumed debt. Starwood cited a strategic focus on "full-service, high-quality hotels." Tarsadia closed the property's casino and laid off its 400 workers, avoiding the complication of applying for a gaming license for its owner, Tusher Patel, who was not a U.S. citizen. The near-doubling of the hotel's value in the span of a year was attributed to rising property values on the Strip. Florida Gaming planned to spend $6.5 million renovating the site. With the property losing money, the partners immediately began discussions to redevelop or sell it.
Edge sold Bourbon Street and adjacent properties to Harrah's Entertainment in March 2005. Records filed with the county listed the total property value at $60.6 million. Demolition work began the following January, and the tower was imploded by Controlled Demolition, Inc. (CDI) on February 14, 2006.
Between 2005 and 2007, Harrah's had consolidated control of much of the east side of the central Strip, also acquiring the Imperial Palace, Barbary Coast, and much of the residential Flamingo Estates neighborhood north of Bourbon Street. CEO Gary Loveman envisioned a mega-resort called Epicentre for the company's 350 acres. As of 2020, the site is being used as a surface parking lot for employees of The Cromwell Las Vegas.
Facilities
Bourbon Street had 166 hotel rooms, including 16 suites.