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"Hilton Hotel" redirects here.
For the parent company, see . For other uses, see .
Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is an international chain of full service
and resorts and the flagship brand of .
The original company was founded by . Hilton Hotels became the first coast-to-coast hotel chain of the United States in 1943. As of 2010, there were over 530 Hilton branded hotels across the world in 78 countries across six continents. Hilton hotels are either owned by, managed by, or franchised to independent operators by Hilton Worldwide.
Hilton Hotel in
The Hilton in
The Hilton Hotels brand remains one of the company's flagship brands and one of the largest hotel brands in the world. The company places marketing emphasis on both
with locations in major city centers, near airports, convention centers, and a number of vacation resorts and leisure-oriented hotels in popular vacation destinations around the world.
The company's
guest loyalty program is one of the largest of its kind and has numerous partnerships with
companies. Some Hilton Hotels feature an Executive Level lounge for HHonors Gold and Diamond members and those willing to pay for Executive Rooms. The lounge is normally located on the highest floor of the hotel building. In addition to Hilton Hotels, the
membership can also be used at all other
The U.S. branch of Hilton hotels was reunited with the international properties after more than 40 years in February 2006, when -based Hilton Hotels Corporation purchased the hotels division of -based Hilton Group plc, which had acquired Hilton's International operations in 1987 (the companies had been separated originally in 1964).
Hilton Garden Inn in ,
Founded in 1919 by . Hilton bought his first property, the Mobley Hotel, in 1919 in .
The first hotel to bear the Hilton name was the , a high-rise that opened in
In 1949, at the 's Beachcomber Bar in , Ramon "Monchito" Marrero created the .
In 1954, Hilton hotels bought the
chain, making it the largest hospitality company in the world.
The Conrad Hilton Hotel in
figured prominently in the
riots that occurred across the street in . The hotel's doors were locked for the first time in its history. The hotel still suffered minor damage as a result of the violence outside as the street level windows gave way under the weight of hundreds of protesters on the street during the ensuing riot.
held their first
between March 25 and March 31, 1969 at the
in Room 902. This room became a popular tourist destination.
On April 3, 1973,
made the world's first handheld
call in public when he called
with a 2 pound
The Beirut Hilton finished construction and was supposed to open on April 14, 1975. However, the
erupted exactly one day before the Grand Opening date on April 13. The hotel was never opened and was severely damaged during the war. The building was demolished in the late 1990s. In the 2000s, work on a completely separate Hilton Beirut Hotel was begun nearby, but it was never completed.
On 13 February, 1978, the Sydney Hilton Hotel was the site of one of the few terrorist incidents on Australian soil, when
(2 council workers and a policeman).
The Hilton Nicosia in Nicosia, , was the scene of the assassination of Youssef Sebai, an Egyptian newspaper editor and friend of Egyptian President , on February 19, 1978. The assassination and the hijacking of a
led to the
by Egyptian forces. The intervention by the Egyptians led to the deterioration of relations between Cyprus and .
Hilton hotel has had two more notable incidents. On June 27, 1991,
drug kingpin , once a major drug dealer of Europe, was assassinated in front of the building. On July 11, 2001, Dutch artist
by jumping from the roof.
In 2009, the company relocated its global headquarters from
In 2009 Hilton opened Canada's tallest hotel at 58 stories in .
In late 2010, Hilton Worldwide announced a name change of the Hilton Hotels brand to Hilton Hotels & Resorts along with a new logo design as part of a rebranding effort for the flagship brand.
On February 11, 2012, multi- winning singer
drowned in the bathtub of room 434 at the .
In July 2012, tightrope walker Jay Cochrane walked from the
to the top of the Hilton in .
In March 2013, Hilton announced that it would be entering Myanmar for the first time with the construction a 300-room hotel in Yangon.
. Hilton Worldwide. 2012.
. Marketing Week. 16 February 2011.
(Press release).
s.com/history/history.html
Newell, Martin (March 19, 1999). . The Independent (London).
. Cellular.co.za. .
Nichols, Natalie (October 11, 2007). .
Hospitality Net. . Hospitalitynet.org.
. Hospitality World Network.
Maierbrugger, Arno (2 April 2013). . Inside Investor.
Media related to
at Wikimedia Commons
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The Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino is a , , and
in , owned by . It has 2,956 hotel rooms and 305 suites. 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. It was renamed the Westgate Las Vegas on July 1, 2014. The hotel is 30 stories tall with a height of 114.30 meter / 375.00 feet.
Located on 64 acres (26 ha), it has a 74,000 square feet (6,900 m2) casino and is also home to the largest
in Las Vegas. The hotel is located next to the
and has its own 200,000 sq ft (19,000 m2) convention center, and a
LVH with former Hilton logo and branding.
The hotel, designed by architect , was built in 1969 by
and opened originally as the International Hotel. When it opened, the International was the largest hotel in the world.
was the opening-night performer, along with
performing afterwards in the hotel's lounge.
On July 31, 1969, immediately following Streisand's engagement,
performed for 58 consecutive sold out shows, breaking all Vegas attendance records, (130,157 paying, and ostensibly gambling customers in the period of one month), with stellar reviews coming from both critics and the public. He broke his own attendance record in February 1970, and again in August 1970, and August 1972. When playing Las Vegas, he lived in the
suite (room 3000), located on the 30th floor, until his last performance there in December 1976. Elvis was due to perform there again in 1978, to celebrate the opening of the North tower, but the singer died in August 1977. His manager, , lived in the hotel on the 4th floor from the 1970s to mid-1980s.
The International Hotel was sold to
in 1970 and renamed the Las Vegas Hilton in 1971.
headlined in the showroom during the 1970s, drawing sold-out crowds twice per night. When he signed his contract at the Hilton in 1972 he earned $300,000 per week, a record amount for individual entertainers in Las Vegas.
The Las Vegas Hilton was the site in 1978 where
for the World Heavyweight Championship. It was also the site in which
to unify and become the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion in 1986. Also,
at the Las Vegas Hilton to unify and become the Undisputed Welterweight Champion in December 1985.
In 1998, Hilton Hotels Corporation split their properties and stock into two different companies (Hilton gaming, and Hilton Hotels). Shortly after the split, Hilton Gaming Company merged with Bally Entertainment Corporation (owners of Bally's Hotel). The company was renamed . In 2000, Park Place Entertainment purchased Caesars World (All Caesars Casinos). In 2003 Park Place Entertainment changed their name to Caesars Entertainment. In 2004, Caesars Entertainment sold the Las Vegas Hilton to Colony Capital LLC for $280 million. Colony Capital transferred the property to its subsidiary, . The Las Vegas Hilton became Resorts International's anchor property, with their corporate office located on the second floor of the east tower. It changed its name to LVH - Las Vegas Hotel & Casino in 2012.
The east tower was added in 1975 and the north tower was added in 1978.
On the night of February 10, 1981, just 90 days after the devastating , an arson fire started at the Las Vegas Hilton, which at the time was being retrofitted with modern fire safety equipment. Firefighters, using the knowledge they had learned from the MGM Grand fire, used local television networks to notify people to stay in their rooms and not go out to the halls and stairwells. Because of the lessons learned, only eight people died in this fire compared with the 85 people who died in the MGM Grand fire. In 1982, Philip Cline was sentenced to eight life sentences for his role in starting the fire.
was added in 1986 and is the largest in Las Vegas.
In September 1991, the casino hosted the 's
annual meeting. During this gathering,
by Naval and Marine Corps officers took place in the hotel. The Navy in however, the initial accusations stood up and fueled a large scandal receiving wide media attention. Responsibility included the entire chain of command, ultimately affecting the careers of over 300 pilots and 14 admirals, including
The Las Vegas Hilton sign, at 279 ft 0 in (85.0 m), largest freestanding sign in the world
The hotel had what was the largest freestanding sign made mostly of steel in front of the hotel on Paradise Road. The old sign was semicircular in shape, and had three large steel posts close to each other forming a small circle, while three more posts on each side of the three main ones, this time more spaced out, formed the semicircle, also holding up a concrete sign. The old sign, which had been built at a cost of $5 million, was blown down during a major thunderstorm on July 18, 1994. A new, $9 million, freestanding concrete Hilton sign was built in 1997 at the same location and is the largest freestanding sign in the world. The sign is narrow, and gets wider as it gets higher, forming a fan-type design at the top.
timeshare opened on the 59 acres (24 ha) site in 1999.
On June 18, 2004, the property was sold by Caesars Entertainment to Colony Capital for $280 million.
In October 2006, it was reported that the Las Vegas Hilton might be demolished in the subsequent 12–18 months. The claim was immediately refuted by president and CEO Rudy Prieto.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Hilton Worldwide confirmed on June 29, 2011, that it has terminated its franchise license agreement with the Las Vegas Hilton, effective January 1, 2012. Its now-former sister property, the Atlantic City Hilton, already has lost its agreement with Hilton and become .
After suffering from the recession, the Hilton began defaulting on payments to
on a $252 million loan. Goldman filed for foreclosure in September 2011. Colony responded in October, claiming that Goldman, which owns 40% of the Hilton through its subsidiary, Whitehall, and owns competing resorts including the , was acting in conflict of interest.
In November 2011, it was reported the Las Vegas Hilton would be renamed as the LVH-Las Vegas Hotel and Casino on January 3, 2012, as the contract to use the Hilton brand ended. Like its now-former sister property, , it took on its initials as its new name.
The LVH was sold at a foreclosure auction in October 2012 to the only bidder, a partnership of Goldman Sachs and . The
was brought in to manage the property. On February 4, 2013 it was announced that LVH would be affiliating with .
Goldman Sachs and Colony sold the resort to
on June 30, 2014 for between $150 and $170 million. Westgate renamed the resort the Westgate Las Vegas on July 1, 2014. The letters LVH were removed from the huge sign in front of the hotel that day.
On September 14, 1993, the Vegas version of 's
show opened. This involved a massive conversion of the theater, including pouring
ramps into the seating area. When the show closed, the theater was used to film
series for
before it was gutted and renovated.
Las Vegas Hilton marquee in 1993
During the summer of 2006,
signed an exclusive engagement performing at the Las Vegas Hilton titled . Over five non-consecutive weeks, she performed for the fans traveling to see her for the first time in her career.
performed his “Ultimate Manilow: the Hits" show at the Las Vegas Hilton. As part of the contract, Manilow occupied one of the three "sky villas" which are three very large penthouse suites that were built in 1994 replacing the original penthouse (room 3000), Elvis's home for 8 years. In February 2007, the Hilton painted Las Vegas' largest mural on the side of the hotel of Barry Manilow.
Impressions That Rock, playing indefinitely, opened in March 2010.
On July 22, 2011, and July 23, 2011,
became the youngest Headline performer in Las Vegas. At 10 years old, Ethan made history at the Las Vegas Hilton as the youngest headliner in Las Vegas.
The King Starring Trent Carlini, playing indefinitely. Winner of ABC's The Next Best Thing,
has been the longest running show at the LVH. Trent Carlini opened his show at the LVH(former Hilton) performing from . He returned to the hotel in 2010 for a limited engagement and has performed six nights a week since 2011.
The Las Vegas Hilton is one of few western hotels to not suffer from
(fear of the number 13) by having a 13th floor.
In 2013, the classic rock tribute show Raiding the Rock Vault began playing at the LVH. The cast consists of several actors and musicians, including , , , and .
was a part of the show for its 2013 run, but was replaced in 2014 by .
In January 1998,
opened. The casino added a space-themed casino, Space Quest, complete with high-tech table games. It served as the gateway to The Experience. Sometime prior to the summer of 2007 the casino was redone to largely remove the space theme.[]
On March 18, 2004, a new Borg Invasion 4-D ride was added.
In September 2008,
closed and was completely dismantled the following January. It was planned to be moved to the
mall, but as of 2011 it has not opened, and most props and costumes that were displayed have since been sold. Plans for the relocation have since been abandoned. Despite the closure, several of the "spaceship-style" wall panels in the Hilton installed for the experience are still there.
produced its final syndicated season here in 1976–77.
The television series
was taped in the Starlight Theater.
Two episodes of Roseanne were taped here in 1991.
In , and 2005
was taped on location at the Las Vegas Hilton Theater.
Two weeks of episodes of
were taped on location at the Las Vegas Hilton Theater: a week of Celebrity Jeopardy! and the 2001 International Championship, which was won by then-reigning
winner Robin Carroll.
's BBC documentary 'weird weekends' was filmed here, discussing the lifestyle and merits of gambling and following several gamblers around the casino.
On May 2, 1982 the National Cable Television Association held its annual convention in the ballroom of the then Hilton Hotel for the inaugural telecast of the start of The Weather Channel.
In August 1970, it was the setting for the stage segment of Elvis Presley's concert documentary Elvis - That's The Way It Is.
The hotel was used as the infamous "Whyte House" casino in the 1971 James Bond film .
The hotel was also featured extensively toward the end of the movie .
Other notable appearances include the movie .
The Hilton is the setting of the song "Home on Monday" by the
on their album , starting with the lyrics, "Can you guess where I'm calling from? The Las Vegas Hilton."
The Hilton becomes the target of a terrorist bombing in .[]
The LVH has been deemed the location for the 2014 Evolution Fighting Game Tournament series, a.k.a. Evo. See
Another angle of the Las Vegas Hilton in
taken in October 2006
. The New York Times. March 26, 1982.
October 29, 2006
Green, Steve (6 October 2011). . Vegas Inc.
Green, Steve (October 31, 2012). . Vegas Inc.
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