Desert Inn Hotel and Casino - Vintage

The Desert Inn is one of the first hotel-casinos built in Las Vegas. . The Howard Hughes story in Las Vegas, by all accounts begins at the Desert Inn. The story goes something like this. Mr. Hughes rented the entire top floor of the Desert Inn. The owners of the property did really not care if these rooms were rented. They wanted gamblers in the casino. In fact, the best rooms in the hotel were usually given to the gamblers. The managers of the Desert Inn decided to evict Mr. Hughes. Play or get out, was the policy. When Hughes was told to get out, he couldn't believe it. 'They give the rooms away! They're throwing me out!'

The gambling was the real game. Food, shows and rooms were just inducements. Howard Hughes thought about it. Took a close, hard look at the situation. Then offered to buy the Desert Inn. The Desert Inn was the first of many properties which Howard Hughes eventually bought in Las Vegas. Howard Hughes also bought huge tracts of land in and around Las Vegas. One of the largest and nicest communities in the Las Vegas Valley, Summerlin, is a project of one of Howard Hughes' companies.