Somerset House, Las Vegas, Bella Ladies V-Neck Tee

Venue History

The Somerset House Motel was a classic off-Strip motor inn that served generations of Las Vegas visitors during the city’s boom years. Located at 294 Convention Center Drive, just east of the Strip and between the Stardust and the Las Vegas Convention Center, it opened in 1963. Designed as a three-story, 104-room motor inn, Somerset House bridged the gap between mom-and-pop motels and full-scale resorts. A vintage postcard proudly describes it as “spacious, luxuriously furnished,” highlighting its 80 kitchenettes, direct-dial phones, TV and radio in every room, and central air-conditioning and heating—all premium comforts for its era. Somerset House also leaned into full-service hospitality. On-site, guests found a restaurant, cocktail lounge, and coffee shop, making the property a convenient base for both leisure and convention travelers. An Olympic-size heated swimming pool, an electric elevator, and complimentary coffee rounded out the amenity list, positioning the motel as a step above a basic roadside stop. Its location just off the Strip and a short walk from the convention center made it especially attractive to trade-show attendees and budget-minded visitors who wanted proximity to the action without Strip prices. For decades, Somerset House sat within a cluster of low-rise motels and small commercial centers developed by Irwin Kishner in the Convention Center Drive/Kishner Drive corridor. By the 2000s, however, the property had aged and the economics no longer penciled out. Somerset House closed around 2010 and was demolished in 2011, leaving what Kishner later described as a vacant lot where the motel once stood. Though it never became a headline resort, the Somerset House Motel represents a key layer in Las Vegas history: the era when comfortable, mid-priced motor inns quietly supported the city’s growth, hosting conventioneers, families, and road-trippers just beyond the neon glare of the Strip. Its story reflects how many such properties ultimately disappeared, making way—someday—for the next wave of redevelopment. As of November 2025, the property is vacant and undeveloped.