In 1955, an executive of the Fontainebleau in Miami purchased a 40-acre plot of land on the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Bond Road with the intent on building a resort with a sheik Cuban ambience. While it never competed with the higher end properties it intended to, its success can be measure simply by the fact that the Bond road was later renamed Tropicana Avenue
While they weren’t high end, Tropicana
received their share of visitor’s disposable income. In 1977 they added the 22-floor Tiffany Tower
and in 86 the Island tower, both still there today. However time and constant changes in
ownership allowed this property to fall to levels comparable to the lowest and
most run down on the strip.
Enter Alex Yemenidjian, the man who helped
Kirk Kerkorian grow his MGM Empire. In
2009 Alex took over as CEO and invested $165 million into renovations. The result is impressive to say the least,
perhaps the greatest renovation to a Vegas property in history. The renovations, subtle in many cases, took
this property from being the Vegas equivalent of a run down abandon shopping
mall into a property that now competes as a mid-tier property and again, offers
a sheik Cuban ambience.
Vegas Mate - 3/5 chips
Mark & Keren - 5/5 chips
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