Bali Hai, Las Vegas, NV (motel) - Locating Tiki

J JOHN-O Tiki Socialite Dogtown, USA Joined: May 16, 2008 Posts: 2721	J JOHN-O Posted posted on Thu, Jun 30, 2011 7:14 AM It's the Howard Hughes angle which is the most interesting to me. That's the first I've heard of him having a footprint in Las Vegas prior to the late 1960's. In addition to Swanky's identification of the 1957 Chrysler, the Howard Hughes brochure reference is definitely pre-1958. I can tell because notably absent from that map is the Stardust Hotel which opened in 1958. (Update - And actually the Riviera, which was built in 1955 isn't on the map either, but it might have been a tad too far north.) Hughes however was no stranger to Las Vegas as a visitor in the 1950's. Authors Sally Denton and Roger Morris wrote that a half-disguised Howard Hughes would prowl Las Vegas casinos and order his bodyguards or hotel employees to pick up women for him. When they find one he likes, they would require her to sign a legal disclaimer before joining him... That in addition to Hughes' role as one of the country's largest military contractors in the 1950's, you kind of wonder how Hughes might have leveraged the Bali Hai for his own discrete dealings and encounters. And initially I thought that address would have been absorbed by the Desert Inn golf course (now the Wynn Country Club), but it appears it borders it. [ Edited by: JOHN-O 2011-06-30 07:37 ]

It's the Howard Hughes angle which is the most interesting to me. That's the first I've heard of him having a footprint in Las Vegas prior to the late 1960's. In addition to Swanky's identification of the 1957 Chrysler, the Howard Hughes brochure reference is definitely pre-1958. I can tell because notably absent from that map is the Stardust Hotel which opened in 1958. (Update - And actually the Riviera, which was built in 1955 isn't on the map either, but it might have been a tad too far north.)

Hughes however was no stranger to Las Vegas as a visitor in the 1950's. Authors Sally Denton and Roger Morris wrote that a half-disguised Howard Hughes would prowl Las Vegas casinos and order his bodyguards or hotel employees to pick up women for him. When they find one he likes, they would require her to sign a legal disclaimer before joining him...

That in addition to Hughes' role as one of the country's largest military contractors in the 1950's, you kind of wonder how Hughes might have leveraged the Bali Hai for his own discrete dealings and encounters.

And initially I thought that address would have been absorbed by the Desert Inn golf course (now the Wynn Country Club), but it appears it borders it.

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2011-06-30 07:37 ]

Post #595588 by JOHN-O on Thu, Jun 30, 2011 7:14 AM