Treasure Island Hotel and Casino

Treasure Island Hotel and Casino
Location Paradise, Nevada
Address 3300 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Opening date October 27, 1993 (October 27, 1993)
Theme Pirate
Caribbean
Number of rooms 2,884
Total gaming space 95,000 sq ft (8,800 m2)
Permanent shows Mystère
Signature attractions Gilley's Saloon, Dance Hall and Bar-B-Qu
Notable restaurants Khotan Asian Bistro
Phil's Italian Steak House
Isla Mexican Kitchen and Tequila Bar
Casino type Land-based
Owner Phil Ruffin
Renovated in 2003, 2010
Coordinates 36°07′29″N 115°10′19″W / 36.12472°N 115.17194°W / 36.12472; -115.17194Coordinates: 36°07′29″N 115°10′19″W / 36.12472°N 115.17194°W / 36.12472; -115.17194
Website treasureisland.com

Treasure Island Hotel & Casino (also known as "TI") is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, USA with 2,664 rooms and 220 suites, and is connected by tram to The Mirage as well as pedestrian bridge to the Fashion Show Mall shopping center. Since March 2009, TI is owned and operated by real estate investor Phil Ruffin.

The hotel received the AAA Four Diamond rating each year from 1999 through 2013.[1]

History

Original pirate-themed sign

Treasure Island was opened by Mirage Resorts in 1993[2] under the direction of Steve Wynn at a cost of US$450 million. The initial plans called for a tower addition to The Mirage, but later evolved into a full-fledged separate hotel casino resort. Treasure Island originally intended to attract families with whimsical pirate features and icons such as the skull-and-crossbones strip marquee, a large video arcade, and staged pirate battles nightly in "Buccaneer Bay" in front of the casino entrance on the Strip.

The resort was originally designed by architect Jon Jerde in collaboration with Steve Wynn along with Roger Thomas who designed the interior of Treasure Island Hotel and Casino.

In 2003, the hotel largely abandoned its pirate theme for a more contemporary resort choosing to provide primarily adult amenities and services. The original video arcade and kid-friendly pool areas were replaced with a party bar, hot tub, and nightclub. The famous skull-and-crossbones sign at the Strip entrance was replaced by a dual-purpose "TI" marquee displaying the hotel logo and serving as a large LCD video screen. The exterior color of the hotel was also changed from a light orange to a darker maroon color.

On December 15, 2008, MGM Mirage announced the resort would be sold for US$775 million to Phil Ruffin, former owner of the New Frontier Hotel and Casino. Ruffin took full ownership of the hotel and casino resort on Friday, March 20, 2009.

On October 21, 2013, the Sirens of TI pirate battle show closed in order to add a new multi-level shopping and entertainment center which opened in April 2015 with a 24-hour CVS as the anchor tenant.

Film and television history

Entertainment

The resort is home to Cirque du Soleil's Mystère, which introduced the entertainment style of Franco Dragone. The show opened in 1993 as the original Cirque du Soleil production in Las Vegas. Mystère has been voted nine times as the best production show in the city by the Las Vegas Review Journal reader's poll.[5] With the sale of TI, it is the only hotel on the strip to host a Cirque du Soleil show that is not affiliated with MGM Resorts International.

Treasure Island opened with the free "Buccaneer Bay" show in a large man-made lake fronting the resort along the Las Vegas Strip. Presented several times nightly with a large cast of stunt performers, the show depicted the landing and subsequent sacking of a Caribbean village by pirates, serving to attract gamblers from the strip and into the casino after each show in the same fashion as its predecessor, the Wynn-conceived volcano fronting The Mirage casino. Notable special effects included a full-scale, manned British Royal Navy sailing ship that sailed nearly the full width of the property, a gas-fired "powder magazine" explosion, pyrotechnics, and the sinking to the bottom of the sailing ship "Brittania" along with its captain.

A performance of The Sirens of TI

In 2003, "Buccaneer Bay" was replaced with "Sirens' Cove" and the new show, "The Sirens of TI" utilizing many of the technical elements of its predecessor. The live, free show was intended to appeal more to adults by including singing, dancing, audio-visual effects, bare-chested pirates and attractive women in the large outdoor show produced by Kenny Ortega.[6]

The Sirens of TI was closed on October 21, 2013. The closure was initially intended to be temporary, but in November, it was made permanent, to the dismay of the show's actors. The reason cited by Treasure Island was the construction of new retail space nearby.[7]

References

  1. ↑ AAA 4 Diamond Hotels 2013
  2. ↑ "Steve Wynn opens his latest Treasure". 27 October 1993.
  3. ↑ VegasTripping.com. "The Steve Wynn Show: Treasure Island The Adventure Begins : VegasTripping.com".
  4. ↑ Bierbaum, Tom (26 January 1994). "Tremors, TDs propel CBS".
  5. ↑ LVRJ Readers' Poll
  6. ↑ Sirens of TI Press Release
  7. ↑ Clarke, Norme (November 22, 2013). "Treasure Island closes Strip-side 'Sirens of TI' show". Las Vegas Review Journal.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Treasure Island hotel (Las Vegas).
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/10/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.