Ann Meyers' Queen of Hearts Hotel and Casino, formerly the Casbah Hotel and Casino was a 100-room hotel and casino formerly located at 19 East Lewis Avenue in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ann Meyers' Queen of Hearts Hotel | |
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![]() The original signage of the Queen of Hearts Hotel on display at the Neon Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada. | |
General information | |
Address | 19 E. Lewis Ave. (formerly) |
Town or city | Las Vegas, Nevada |
Country | United States |
Estimated completion | 1963 |
Opened | 1963 |
Demolished | February 2, 2010 |
Owner |
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Landlord | Ann Meyers |
Other information | |
Number of rooms | 100 |
Description and history
editOriginally named the Casbah Hotel and Casino, the hotel property was built by Danny Jackson in 1963 and was owned and operated by his family after Jackson died shortly after opening. In 1976, the hotel was purchased by Ann Meyers, the first woman to own and operate a hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Meyers, unaware of the hotel's seedy reputation, purchased it from the Jackson family on August 20, 1976, 48 hours after her first viewing. In 1990, in order to improve the hotel's image, Meyers changed the name from the Casbah Hotel and Casino to Ann Meyer's Queen of Hearts Hotel and introduced "four-star service" to budget lodgings and even saw increased business as a result. In 1992, Meyers was eventually able to move out of living in the hotel full-time and was able to purchase another nearby hotel, the Nevada Hotel, from casino operator Jackie Gaughan. Despite this, however, the hotel was still encountering problems such as prostitution, gang violence, and even a drive-by killing, with 680 calls made to police between 1994 and 1995 alone. On January 29, 2010, it was reported that the Queen of Hearts Hotel would be demolished to make way for the new Las Vegas City Hall building and business complex. As of January 2017, the hotel's sign can be seen at the Neon Museum in Las Vegas.[1][2][3]
References
edit- ^ Toplikar, Dave. "Queen of Hearts demolition marks new era for downtown". LasVegasSun.com. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
- ^ Toplikar, Dave. "Queen of Hearts hotel-casino to be demolished Tuesday". LasVegasSun.com. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
- ^ Reilly, Claire. "Inside The Neon Museum: The boneyard for the oldest tech in Vegas". CNET.com. Retrieved 21 July 2021.