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• Planet Hollywood Casino Map

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Planet Hollywood Las Vegas, previously known asThe Aladdin, is a casino resort on the Las VegasStrip, in the unincorporated locale of Paradise, NV,United Sates. From January 16, 2010, Harrah's Entertainment ismanaging hotel operations^[1]. WestgateResorts operates the condo portion of the property, known as PHTowers by Westgate. Planet Hollywood rebranded andoperates the rest of the property under the Planet Hollywoodbrand.

The property is owned by OpBiz,^[2] whichis a partnership of RobertEarl, Bay Harbour Management and Starwood Hotels & ResortsWorldwide.

History

Tally-Ho and King'sCrown

The first hotel was originally opened in 1963 as theTally-Ho. It was later called King'sCrown in 1964 and failed after six months when it wasdenied a gaming license. In 1966, it was purchased by Milton Prell, and thehotel got a $3 million renovation, including a new 500-seat'Baghdad Theater' showroom. Prell turned the English-themed hotelinto an Arabian Nights theme, butkept the original Tudor style room wings. Aserrated canopy and a $750,000 15-story 'Aladdin's Lamp' sign werealso added.

TheAladdin

The Aladdin opened on April 1, 1966, with flower petals pouringfrom the ceiling and onto guests as they entered the hall. Oneguest was composer-pianist Warren Richards. The openingentertainment included comedian Jackie Mason, the 'Jet Set Revue,' amusical review that showcased The Three Cheers and the PetiteRockette Dancers in the Baghdad Theatre.

Prell introduced an innovative main showroompolicy by offering three completely different shows twice nightlywith no cover or minimum charges.

The Aladdin contained a 9-hole golf course.

A little more than a year after it was opened, the Aladdin washost to Elvisand Priscilla Presley's wedding.

In August 1969, the Aladdin completed a $750,000 makeoverincluding renovations to the Sinbad Lounge, which became enclosedand leveled above the casino floor with Arabic motif.

Also in 1969, Parvin Dohrmann Corporation took over the Aladdin,and in 1972, using the name Recrion Corporation, sold it to SamDiamond, St. Louis politicians Peter Webbe and Sorkis Webbe, andSt. Louis attorney Richard L. Daly for the price of just $5million. Under the new owners, a $60 million face lift wasconducted, including the addition of a 19-story tower and the new7,500-seat Performing Arts Center replacing the golf course, whichwas $4 million over budget.

A $250,000 porte-cochere continued the tower's arabesques. The Aladdinalso added a new $300,000 140-foot (43 m) blockbuster signwith little neon, huge attractionpanels and none of the arabesque of the Aladdin's originalsign.

The Aladdin had a grand re-opening in 1976 with singer Neil Diamond beingpaid $750,000 for two shows.

In 1981 heavy metal band Iron Maiden played at the Aladdin - it wastheir first ever concert in America.

Wayne Newtonwas a part owner from 1980 to 1982.

The Aladdin closed on November 25, 1997. On April 27, 1998, theentire resort was imploded, except for theAladdin Theatre known as the Theatre for the PerformingArts, to make way for the construction of an entirely newcasino.

The newAladdin

The Aladdin was scheduled to reopen on August 17, 2000, at 6:00p.m., with fireworks at 10:00 p.m. The opening was delayed whilethe Clark Countybuildinginspector completed its fire safety testing. Another delay wascaused by last-minute repairs to the casino surveillance system. This left thousandsof Aladdin visitors leaving in disappointment, as well as openingnight hotel guests wondering where they'd spend the night. Many high-rollers waited out on the sidewalks infront of the Aladdin for hours. Most were unable to even get totheir luggage, since the hotel had been locked down for testing.Aladdin employees tried to arrange alternate accommodations for theguests with Paris and Bellagio.

Meanwhile, the Desert Passage mall was opened with I Dream ofJeannie star Barbara Eden opening the doors to let thelarge crowd in.

The Aladdin finally opened the next day at 7:45 a.m. 100 membersof Culinary Workers Union Local226, as well as more than 1,000 other workers were marching onLas Vegas Boulevard to protest the Aladdin opening without a unioncontract. Eden's speech aswell as the other festivities were drowned out by the bullhornsand the rest of the protest.

The casino was in financial trouble from the start

Planet Hollywood Casino Map

PlanetHollywood

Renovations were carried out in stages, allowing the resort toremain open throughout. Planet Hollywood Las Vegas includes anexpanded casino, new restaurants, new nightclub and retail space. A redesign of thefacade and pedestrianplaza was intended to correct defects that made accessing theproperty from the sidewalks on The Strip difficult.

As of October 2007, about a third to half of the retail spaceformerly known as 'The Desert Passage' had been converted into thenew, Hollywood-themed 'Miracle MileShops'.^[3] Thisincludes new, black flooring in place of the old uneven cobblestone typewalkway as well as the abandonment of the Arabian marketplace themefor a more conventional mall look. Despite the renovations, thepopular rain show still exists and the V Theater still appears asit always has.

After the casino was renovated, it was reopened on April 17,2007 as Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino. The official grandopening of was the weekend of November 16, 2007.

The Planet Hollywood restaurant, however, remains at The Forum Shops atCaesars.

The turbulent existence of the resort continues with widespreadspeculation that Harrah’s Entertainment will put it in charge ofhotel operations, ousting Starwood.^[4]Negotiations to form a larger partnership, or an outright takeoverof the resort by Harrah's have been ongoing since Harrah’s andprivate equity firms paid about $30 million for a chunk of theresort’s debt with a face value of $140 million.^[5]

Harrah’s had hoped to purchase the debt and make a move onoutright ownership quietly, but details of the plan were leaked tothe media.^[5]Planet Hollywood's footprint on the strip would give Harrah’s totalcontrol of the 126 acres (0.51 km²) on theeast side of the Las Vegas Strip from Flamingo to Harmon Roads.^[4]

In late December 2009 Westgate opened the PH Towers, a timeshareand hotel linked with the casino and main hotel.

Starwood Hotels& Resorts Worldwide managed hotel operations as a Sheraton Hotel until January 15, 2010.

Planet Hollywood ResortFeatures

Casino

Planet Hollywood has hip and modern architecture fitted to itsHollywood theme. It features a three-acre casino floor full oftraditional gambling machines like slots, table games and the ThePlaying Field Race and Sports Book. This features 33 plasmascreens, two jumbo screens and a section for VIP. Planet Hollywoodis the first Las Vegas resort to offer table games dealt by youngladies in 'chic lingerie'. The Pleasure Pit is a section of thetable games where this happens with go-go dancers entertaining thegamblers at the side.^[6]

The casino allows you to join the The a-List Players Club toreceive exclusive rewards and special deals.

'TheMezzanine'

This can be accessed by taking an escalator in the casino or theelevator. Here, guests can relax on comfy chairs overlooking thecasino. Many come to smoke, relax or think. The area is ratherspaced out with room to walk and includes a place for shootingbasketball hoops. It includes a 'Living Room' with sofas to beaccessed by the guests.

The Planet Hollywood showroom is also located on the mezzanine.It features several different live shows; as of 2009, the mostpopular andlongest-running is titled Peepshow. A live version of thetelevision series America's Got Talent hosted byJerry Springer (who flies to Vegas weekly from his self-titledshow's taping in Stamford, Connecticut) and Tony n' Tina's Wedding arealso offered.

'The Spa by Mandara' is located on this floor. Two finedining restaurants, KOI and Strip House are present here,across from the wedding chapel.

SwimmingPool

The swimmingpool in this resort is can be accessed through the sixth floor.The area overlooks the Strip with a view of the north andsouth. It features two pools and two hot spa one of each in boththe South and North Strip. The one in the North Strip sectionfeatures VIP cabanas for renting. In between is abar/grill/snack-bar with a patch of grass lined with pool chairsfor guests to sit and eat.

The pool usually is open from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and the barfrom 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. On Fridays and Saturdays, DJ's spinpopular music from noon to 4:00 p.m.^[7]

Accommodations

Planet Hollywood Resort features rooms that meet its Hollywoodtheme. The resort has 52 floors (with the final two being VIP) andeach room is dedicated to a certain movie such as Backdraft. Rooms feature actual propsand memorabilia from the film. The rooms range from standard toluxurious 'Panorama' suites with a view of the whole Las VegasStrip.

Rooms include:

• Hollywood Hip:standard room with a Hollywood 'hip-style'. Choice between oneking bed or two queen. It is 450 square feet(42 m²), has two speaker phones, an ironing rack,an oversized bathtub, a shower, and 42-inch (110 cm) plasmatelevision. A purple sitting chair is also available by thewindow.^[8] Thisroom is also available as a 'fountain-view room' which offers aremarkable view of the BellagioResort and Casino and its fountainwater-show. It has the same accommodations as the Hollywood Hip(unless it's a suite) and is usually available at an extracharge.
• Resort room: similar to the Hollywood Hip butlarger and with more accommodations. It is about 560 squarefeet (52 m²) with a choice between a king bed ortwo queens. It has the same ironing board, oversized bathtub, andinternet access (for a fee). What is extra other than extra spaceis that this offers two windows and two chairs. It offers a sofa,double sinks, and ambient bathroom lighting.^[9]
• Resort Vista: not only does this room have agreat view but it is also 570 square feet(53 m²) with a king size bed, marble bathroomfloors, oversized soaking tub, a writing desk, coffee table andsofa. This is an add-on to the other mentioned features.^[10]
• Panorama Suite: about 1,255 square feet(116.6 m²); this is perhaps considered the mostelegant room in the resort. It has a panoramic 180-degree view ofthe Las Vegas Strip from living room. It features luxuriousaccommodations like a double door foyer entrance, two sofas or onesofa and several chairs, one 52-inch (130 cm) flat screen TVin living area, a dining area, wet bar with refrigerator, adjoiningpowder room, large writing desk, separate bedroom area with couchand table, one 36-inch (91 cm) flat screen TV in bedroom,oversized soaking tub with retractable wall, and an iPod station inbedroom.

Dining

FineDining

• KOI: KOI is a Japanese themed restaurant withand fine-dining atmosphere. It features a dimmed garden seatinglighted by candals. Offers sushiand other types of Japanese cooking
• Strip House: The steakhouse at this resort.Offers varieties of steak, meat selections, and other relateditems

Casual

• Spice MarketBuffet:award-winning buffet that featuresfood from around the world with each type having its ownsection.
• Planet Dailies: this place allows you to startyour morning with varieties of sections of coffee and 'coffee-houseitems'. Later on, they have lunch and dinner menus that includewide entrées of salads such as Greek salad or Asian salad, as wellas sandwiches and pastas.
• P. F. Chang's ChinaBistro: this offers Chinese food in a contemporarymanner. P.F. Chang's signature dishes include Chang's ChickenLettuce Wraps, Mongolian Beef and Oolong Marinated Sea Bass.
• Yolos Mexican Grill: offers classical Mexicanitems like fajitas, burritos. chile, and chipsand salsa.

QuickBites

The Miracle Mile Shops also offer manyvarieties of dining not in the hotel but part of the resort.

Filmhistory

Footage of the implosion of the original structure was used inthe closing credits of the film The Cooler.

This casino was used in the filming of Going inStyle.

Seasons One and Two of the A&E Network show CrissAngel Mindfreak were filmed at the resort.

The TLCshow TradingSpaces took place at the Aladdin in a 2004 episode.

The Theatre for the PerformingArts was the site for the 2006 to 2009 Miss America pageants.

The Resident Evil: Extinction (2007) world premieretook place at Planet Hollywood on September 25, 2007.

The Rambo (2008) world premiere tookplace at Planet Hollywood on January 24, 2008.

Scenes from the 2008 movie 21 were shot in PlanetHollywood.

The Planet Hollywood hotel is prominently featured in the movieWhat Happens in Vegas as thehotel were the Fullers stay and get married.

The movie Transporter 3 had its world premiereat PH on November 21, 2008. Jason Statham was present for thepremiere.

The movie Race to Witch Mountain waspartly shot here for the space convention

The movie The Expendables will premiere at PH inAugust, 2010. This has been confirmed by a chopper that isdisplayed on the PH casino floor.

Performing Arts Center

References

1. ^'Harrah's takes over PlanetHollywood's hotel operations'. http://www.lvrj.com/business/Harrahs-takes-over-Planet-Hollywood-hotel-operations-81749017.html.
2. ^SEC Home » Search theNext-Generation EDGAR System » Company Search » CurrentPage
3. ^Miracle Mile
4. ^ ^abKnightly, Arnold M. (2009-09-14). 'Harrah's buying PlanetHollywood debt'. Las Vegas Review-Journal. http://www.lvrj.com/news/breaking_news/Harrahs_buying_Planet_Hollywood_debt.html. Retrieved2009-10-27.
5. ^ ^abHevener, Phil (2009-10-20). 'Harrah's to operate PlanetHollywood?'. Gaming Today. http://www.gamingtoday.com/opinion/story.bv?storyid=23265. Retrieved2009-10-27.
6. ^'http://www.planethollywoodresort.com/gam_index.php'. http://www.planethollywoodresort.com/gam_index.php. Retrieved2009-07-19.
7. ^'http://www.planethollywoodresort.com/amn_pool.php'. http://www.planethollywoodresort.com/amn_pool.php. Retrieved2009-07-20.
8. ^'http://www.planethollywoodresort.com/acc_hip_room.php'. http://www.planethollywoodresort.com/acc_hip_room.php. Retrieved2009-07-20.
9. ^'http://www.planethollywoodresort.com/acc_resort_room.php'. http://www.planethollywoodresort.com/acc_resort_room.php. Retrieved2009-07-20.
10. ^'http://www.planethollywoodresort.com/acc_resort_vista_room.php'. http://www.planethollywoodresort.com/acc_resort_vista_room.php. Retrieved2009-07-20.

Externallinks

• Las Vegas Travelog. Includingtens of photos.
• History of theAladdin
• Implosion pictures and videoof old Aladdin

Coordinates: 36°06′36″N115°10′15.45″W / 36.11°N115.1709583°W