The King is Still Very Much Alive in Las Vegas

August 15, 2007 at 11:00 AM | by barbarab | 0 Comments

As evidenced by our earlier post today on getting married Elvis-style, we think it's safe to assume that most self-respecting hotel geeks have a soft spot for Elvis Presley in their hearts.

Few cultural icons have had hotels figure so prominently in their careers. Even The King's first hit, in 1956, had a hotel theme: Heartbreak Hotel, a blues-influenced number that catapulted Elvis to top-of-the-charts stardom.

After Memphis, where, by the way, the Elvis Presley Estate runs a Heartbreak Hotel, Las Vegas is the city most often associated with Elvis. He started performing in hotels there at the (love me) tender age of 21, mainly in what is now Hilton Las Vegas. He lived in the Imperial Suite during his Las Vegas heyday. It is now The Elvis Suite.

All told, he performed over 800 Las Vegas shows, selling $43.7 million in tickets. That's about $250 million in 2007 dollars.

To commemorate the Elvis years, VEGAS.com has launched a a new Elvis page, with a time line and pointers that include hotel pointers.

Elvis' Hilton highlights: Elvis broke existing Las Vegas records when he played a four-week headliner at the newly built International Hotel in 1969. Two years later, he returns to Las Vegas, to what is now the Vegas Hilton, and remains until 1975. He returns for a two-week engagement the following year. His last Las Vegas performance, at the Hilton, was on August 12, 1976.

No Elvis fan's trip to Las Vegas would be complete without first stopping at the Las Vegas Hilton. Though remodeled several times over the last 30 years, the Hilton was the epicenter of Elvis' 1969-1976 Vegas performances. A statue located just outside the lobby entrance marks Elvis' time at the hotel and there are employees at the hotel who fondly remember the King's concerts.

Shoppers, take note: The Las Vegas Hilton gift shop has one of the largest inventories of Elvis memorabilia.

Another tip:

If you are looking for evidence of Elvis' early years in Vegas, take a drive down the Strip. Just down the street from Wynn Las Vegas is the New Frontier Hotel. The hotel is closed and awaiting implosion, but in 1956 it was the site of Elvis' first performance in Sin City.

Per the timeline, the date of Elvis' first Las Vegas performance was April 23, 1956. He was booked in the Venus Room. The hotel billed him as "The Atomic Powered Singer." So catch it before it implodes!

[Photo: MetropolisMag]

Related Stories:
· The Riviera Hotel and Casino May Turn into Elvis-Themed Casino [HotelChatter]
· Get Hitched like Elvis at Planet Hollywood [HotelChatter]

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