Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall and Saloon, Las Vegas, Triblend Tee

Venue History

Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall & Saloon was a compact casino hotel at 3595 South Las Vegas Boulevard, occupying the coveted northeast corner of the Strip and Flamingo Road. The property originally opened in 1979 as the Barbary Coast, one of casino operator Michael Gaughan’s best-known properties. After ownership changes eventually brought it under Harrah’s Entertainment, the Barbary Coast closed on February 27, 2007, and reopened two days later as Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall & Saloon, named for Harrah’s founder William F. “Bill” Harrah. Rather than dramatically reinventing the resort, Harrah’s preserved much of its intimate, old-school personality. With only 188 hotel rooms and a relatively compact casino floor, Bill’s offered an experience increasingly uncommon among the enormous megaresorts surrounding it. Slots, video poker, table games, a race and sportsbook, inexpensive dining, and a highly walkable center-Strip location made the property especially attractive to budget-conscious visitors. One of Bill’s most enduring attractions was Drai’s After Hours, Victor Drai’s legendary basement nightclub. The club became a favorite destination for guests wanting to continue partying long after other venues closed and survived through the property’s later transformations. Bill’s closed on February 4, 2013, when Caesars Entertainment began an extensive renovation of the entire property. In 2014, the building reopened as The Cromwell, an upscale boutique casino hotel featuring celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis’s restaurant and Drai’s expanded rooftop nightclub and beach-club complex. The Cromwell retained the property’s unusual advantage: a small hotel footprint positioned at one of the busiest intersections on the Las Vegas Strip. The building entered yet another chapter when Caesars partnered with restaurateur and television personality Lisa Vanderpump to transform The Cromwell into The Vanderpump Hotel. Caesars announced the project in 2025, describing a complete redesign of the 188-room boutique property around Vanderpump’s distinctive “romantic industrial” aesthetic. The Vanderpump Hotel officially debuted on June 11, 2026. The transformation introduced redesigned guestrooms and suites, a refreshed 40,000-square-foot casino, the dramatic Gigolo cocktail bar, and the adults-oriented Soleia rooftop pool experience. Giada remained as the hotel’s principal restaurant, while Drai’s After Hours continued operating downstairs. From Barbary Coast to Bill’s, The Cromwell, and now The Vanderpump Hotel, the property has survived by repeatedly reinventing itself without surrendering its greatest asset: an intimate boutique scale in the very heart of the Las Vegas Strip.