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Don Westgate Biography & Facts

The Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino is a hotel, casino, and timeshare resort in Winchester, Nevada. Located near the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip, it is owned by Westgate Resorts. It opened in 1969 as the International Hotel, and was known for many years as the Las Vegas Hilton, then briefly as the LVH – Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. From 1981 to 1990, it was the largest hotel in the world. Facilities The Westgate is located on a 64-acre (26 ha) site on the east side of Paradise Road, approximately 0.4 miles (0.64 km) east of Las Vegas Boulevard. It is adjacent to the Las Vegas Convention Center to the south and Las Vegas Country Club to the east. The hotel has 2,956 rooms. The hotel tower is 375 feet (114 m) tall, with 30 floors. The top floor consists of three "Sky Villas" geared towards "high roller" customers, each with a private swimming pool and at least 12,000 square feet (1,100 m2) of space. The casino has 54,923 square feet (5,102.5 m2) of gaming space as of 2017, with 576 slot machines, 38 table games, 10 poker tables, and a race and sports book. The casino's sportsbook, the SuperBook, is billed as the largest in the world. The Westgate has various eateries, including fine dining restaurants, a buffet, and a food court. Benihana Village, opened in 1974, is a Japanese-themed area with streams and gardens, with several restaurants centered around its namesake teppanyaki grill. The Westgate's convention center has 225,000 square feet (20,900 m2) of event space, including the 70,000 sq ft (6,500 m2) Paradise Event Center (formerly the Hilton Center) and the 43,000 sq ft (4,000 m2) Pavilion (formerly the Hilton Pavilion). Recreation amenities at the Westgate include a 5-acre (2.0 ha) pool deck, a fitness center, a 10,000-square-foot (930 m2) spa, and six tennis courts. The hotel also has several retail shops, a wedding chapel, and a business center. The Westgate station of the Las Vegas Monorail is located at the front of the property. History International Hotel (1969–1971) The hotel site was previously part of the grounds of Las Vegas Park, a defunct racetrack. In 1965, the 400-acre (160 ha) track site was purchased by National Equities, a real estate development firm chaired by Marvin Kratter. Kratter announced development plans for the site to include a 40-floor, 1,500-room hotel, as well as a golf course and private homes. Meanwhile, Kirk Kerkorian, the chairman of Trans International Airlines and landlord of Caesars Palace, began formulating plans to build a 1,000-room casino hotel in Las Vegas. After considering several potential locations, he selected the racetrack site, reasoning that it was natural to put a hotel next to the Convention Center. Kratter had decided not to build a hotel himself, and in 1967, National Equities sold a 65.5-acre (26.5 ha) portion of the site to Kerkorian for $5 million. Kerkorian announced that he would build a 30-story hotel with 1,510 rooms, at a cost of $50 million. Some believed it was very risky to build such a property away from the Strip, but Kerkorian believed that it would spark the development of a "second Strip" along Paradise Road. Kerkorian's hotel would be named the International Hotel, matching the name of Kratter's International Country Club (now the Las Vegas Country Club). He hired airline executive Fred Benninger to oversee the development, and Martin Stern Jr., who had designed several noted Las Vegas high-rises, as the hotel's architect. The general contractor selected to build the hotel was Taylor Construction Co. Construction began with an elaborate groundbreaking ceremony in February 1968. With planning for the hotel underway, Kerkorian purchased the Flamingo casino, to serve as a training ground for the International's staff. Later, during the International's construction, Kerkorian formed the publicly traded company International Leisure to own the two casinos. Howard Hughes, the eccentric billionaire who had purchased several Las Vegas casinos, saw Kerkorian as a rival and the International as unwelcome competition. He attempted to deter Kerkorian from building the project, first by making a sham announcement of a major planned expansion of his Sands Hotel, and then by conveying false claims to Kerkorian about damage to buildings from nearby nuclear tests. When these ruses failed, Hughes schemed to buy the project from Kerkorian and halt its construction, but this plan came to nothing. Ultimately, Hughes decided to compete head-on with the International by purchasing the unfinished Landmark Hotel and Casino, located across the street. Hughes completed construction of the Landmark and opened it one day before Kerkorian's hotel. The International Hotel opened on July 2, 1969. At the time, it was Nevada's tallest building and largest hotel. Entertainment director Bill Miller signed Barbra Streisand to open in the showroom, along with Peggy Lee performing in the hotel's lounge. In keeping with the hotel's name, rooms were furnished with different international decors, with each floor featuring either a Spanish, Italian, or French theme. There was also a complex of international restaurants, offering Bavarian, Italian, Japanese and Mexican cuisines. Employees were outfitted in costumes from different cultures, such as Scottish kilts, Slavic shirts, and French gendarme uniforms. On July 31, 1969, immediately following Streisand's engagement, Elvis Presley performed the first show of what would become a seven-year run at the hotel, encompassing 636 consecutive sold-out shows. Many of the performers who worked the International before Presley were upset at their disrupted prospects. Late in 1969, Kerkorian made plans to raise $29 million through a secondary offering of International Leisure stock. He needed the money to help pay off loans that he had taken out to purchase major stakes in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Western Airlines. The offering was rejected, however, by the Securities and Exchange Commission, because the company was unable to provide five years of financial history for the Flamingo. Short on cash, Kerkorian was forced to put International Leisure up for sale. Las Vegas Hilton (1971–2012) In 1970 and 1971, Kerkorian sold his shares of International Leisure to Hilton Hotels. The International was renamed the Las Vegas Hilton in July 1971. Hilton took complete ownership in 1972, acquiring all outstanding shares of International Leisure. The hotel had performed unevenly in its early years as the International, but as the Hilton, it soon came to be regarded as the most successful hotel in Las Vegas. An east tower extension with 620 rooms was completed in 1975 at a cost of $20 million. In 1977, the hotel opened the Hilton Pavilion, a $7.5-million venue for sports and entertainment events, with a seating capacity of up to 5,000 people. A $23-million expansion added another 644 rooms to the north tower. The general contractor selected to build the expansion was Del E. Webb Cor.... Discover the Don Westgate popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Don Westgate books.