las vegas sands casino hotel is where the rat pack got started - by Kiki

Las Vegas Sands Casino Hotel

Las Vegas Sands Casino Hotel was imploded on November 26, 1996 to make way for the Venetian. Sands opened in 1952 and was the 7th casino hotel on the Strip. It was located next to the Desert Inn which is now the Wynn Casino. In the 1960's Howard Hughes owned both the Sands and the Desert Inn. Many U.S. presidents have stayed at the Sands including Kennedy and Truman.

A picture of Sands Casino Hotel and its marquee sign on the Las Vegas Strip before its implosion in 1996. On the left of this picture you can see the old Treasure Island sign with its pirate skull.

Today, Sheldon Adelson, one of the richest men in the world owns the Venetian through his company Las Vegas Sands Corporation. Las Vegas Sands Corporation also owns other properties in Vegas, including the "Palazzo" Hotel and Casino, the Sands Expo and Convention Center as well as properties in Singapore and Macau, China. Mr. Adelson is interested in making Las Vegas the 'American Macau,' catering to Chinese and other Asian gamblers.

Las Vegas Sands Casino Hotel's claim to fame came in the 1960's when Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop performed together in the Copa Room for the first time. They became known as the Rat Pack after this performance. It was part of an event called Summit at the Sands, during the filming of the movie Ocean's Eleven. Sinatra even had a stake in the Sands for some time.

The Sands was legendary with a musical legacy in the 1940's through the 1990's with some of the world's most famous entertainers at the time. In the showroom, called the Copa Room Stage, you could find entertainers like Judy Garland, Jimmy Durante, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Louis Armstrong, Patti Page, Marlene Dietrich, Lena Horne, Tallulah Bankhead, Bobby Darin and the famous Copa Girls. Danny Thomas opened the showroom on opening day. Diana Ross, Shirley Maclaine and Liza Minelli frequented the stage in the early 1990's before the Sands was shut down.

When it was first built, the Sands was just a small casino with a 100 rooms. In 1967 the famous circular tower was built. When billionaire Howard Hughes bought it, he added 500 rooms making it a landmark hotel in Vegas. In 1988, Kirk Kerkorian bought the Sands and resold it in 1989 to the Interface Group of which Sheldon Adelson was part of. Kirk Kerkorian is owner of "MGM Mirage properties" which includes the MGM Grand, Bellagio, Circus Circus, Excalibur, Mandalay Bay, the Mirage, Monte Carlo, New York, New York, Treasure Island and "Project City Center" in Las Vegas as well as other properties around the globe.

The Las Vegas Sands Casino Hotel was featured in movies like Ocean's Eleven, the Cooler with demolition footage showing in the credits and Con Air where an airplane is shown crashing into the lobby of the Sands. During its final days, you could purchase any of 1,100 slot machines or furniture from 715 rooms from the Las Vegas Sands Casino Hotel.