Casino Hotel Motor Lodge, Las Vegas, Bella Ladies V-Neck Tee

Venue History

Casino Hotel was a short-lived name in the long history of a small Strip-side motel property at 10 Tropicana Avenue, also listed at various times as 3883 South Las Vegas Boulevard. Standing near the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and the Las Vegas Strip, the property occupied land along the southern edge of what is now the MGM Grand complex. Although the Casino Hotel name lasted only briefly, the site had already served Las Vegas visitors for more than a decade under several earlier identities. The property first appeared around 1963 as the Golf Club Motel, taking advantage of its location near the Tropicana Hotel and the Tropicana Country Club golf course. Its roadside sign prominently advertised the motel’s proximity to the golf course, appealing to the growing number of motorists visiting Las Vegas during the city’s booming 1960s resort era. Period photographs show a classic low-rise motor lodge with rooms surrounding a swimming pool, typical of the smaller accommodations that once lined the Strip between the major casino resorts. One of its poolside suites even appeared in the exploitation film Las Vegas Strangler. By the mid-1970s, the property began changing names rapidly. In 1975, the Golf Club Motel became the Baron Hotel. Two years later, it was renamed the Mariner Hotel under the ownership of Airport Casino, Inc., the company that also operated the neighboring Marina Hotel and Casino. Airport Casino was firmly established in Las Vegas gaming; contemporary federal court records identify the company as doing business as the Marina Casino. Around 1978, the Mariner received its final identity: Casino Hotel. Despite the grand-sounding name, it remained a comparatively modest lodging property beside the much larger casino resorts surrounding the Tropicana intersection. The Casino Hotel name appears to have lasted little more than a year. The hotel closed in late 1979, although the vacant buildings remained standing for several years afterward. The former Casino Hotel was demolished sometime after 1983 and before 1987. Its land was subsequently absorbed into parking for the adjacent Marina Hotel. When the Marina itself was incorporated into the massive MGM Grand, which opened in 1993, nearly every trace of the little motel disappeared beneath the changing Strip landscape. Today, Casino Hotel is a largely forgotten piece of Las Vegas history but a fond reminder of the small motor lodges that once stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Strip’s expanding casino giants.