Grace Hayes Lodge, Las Vegas, Triblend Tee

Venue History

Grace Hayes Lodge was a celebrated early nightclub on the Las Vegas Strip, remembered for connecting the corridor’s rough roadside beginnings with the celebrity-driven entertainment culture that followed. It stood on Highway 91, on land later occupied by the Mirage Hotel and Casino, and traced its history to the Red Rooster, which opened on November 26, 1930. The Red Rooster became the first business on the emerging Strip to receive a Nevada gaming license in 1931. After a fire destroyed the club in July 1933, it was rebuilt and reopened that December. By the time actress, singer, and vaudeville performer Grace Hayes purchased the property in 1947, it was already one of the oldest established nightlife destinations south of downtown Las Vegas. Hayes renamed the venue Grace Hayes Lodge, borrowing the name of a nightclub she had previously operated in California’s San Fernando Valley. A seasoned entertainer with Broadway, film, and nightclub experience, she brought a strong personal identity to the business. The Lodge offered cocktails and live entertainment in an intimate setting, providing a smaller, personality-driven alternative to the large hotel-casinos beginning to transform the Strip. Its clientele included figures such as Howard Hughes and Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, reflecting the unusual mix of entertainers, gamblers, business leaders, and underworld personalities who moved through early Las Vegas. The property changed hands and underwent remodeling during the 1950s, but Hayes later regained control. Grace Hayes Lodge closed in 1957. In 1959, Hayes leased the front portion of the land to Standard Oil, which demolished the club and built a service station. Hayes continued living in a ranch-style house behind the former nightclub site for nearly three more decades. Her home became known as the last private residence remaining on the increasingly commercialized Strip. In 1987, Steve Wynn acquired the property while assembling land for his Mirage resort, which opened in 1989. Today, Grace Hayes Lodge is remembered as an important link between the Strip’s earliest roadside clubs and its later resort era, a venue shaped by one of Las Vegas’ most colorful female entrepreneurs. Her story remains inseparable from the land’s remarkable transformation and mythology.