Construction and opening The Hacienda initially began as a hotel-casino project called Lady Luck, which was being planned by Carlton Adair in 1954. Adair had several partners in the project, including Stanley Burke, a Sacramento man who owned the land. Adair also brought in Warren "Doc" Bayley, a travel columnist and owner of several Hacienda motels in
Fresno,
Bakersfield, and
Indio, California. and construction was underway later that year. The project struggled to get investors, Bayley took over the project, renamed it the Hacienda, and removed Adair, The Hacienda was designed by Homer A. Rissman, and was built like other Las Vegas properties at the time, with a central building for the casino and restaurants, and motel structures to provide lodging. Rissman designed the project so that each motel building would connect to the casino via glass-walled corridors. The hotel portion opened in June 1956. Because Bayley and Burke lacked casino experience, they chose
Jake Kozloff, a Las Vegas casino investor, to manage the gaming operations. A gaming license was issued after Kozloff was removed from the project, and the casino eventually opened on October 17, 1956. Like the other Hacienda hotels, the Las Vegas property featured a roadsign neon sign that depicted a cowboy riding a
palomino horse. It was designed by
YESCO and was among the company's most popular signs. The Hacienda was built on the south end of the Las Vegas Strip, making it the first resort to be seen by motor tourists arriving from California. The Hacienda was also popular because of its location near the
McCarran International Airport, although the resort never had the same success as other Strip properties such as the
Dunes and the
Sands. Because it lacked the same elegance as other resorts on the Strip, the Hacienda received the negative nickname "Hayseed Heaven". It also offered the Palomino room, which was used for shows and small parties. In 1957, a few months after the opening, Kozloff filed a
writ of attachment against the Hacienda, alleging that he was owed $71,000 from a loan he made to the property. The hotel posted a bond which nullified the writ. Three months later, Burke made various allegations against Bayley and requested that the Hacienda be placed into
receivership. Bayley denied the allegations, which included a claim that he had mishandled finances. Later that year, plans were being made to add additional hotel rooms.
Promotion Bayley devised numerous ideas to promote the resort. he formed Hacienda Airlines, offering packages that included transportation from
Los Angeles to the Hacienda as well as a room and some
casino chips. The airline service proved to be successful, prompting Bayley to increase the number of planes. Its success was attributed to low fares, frequent advertising in California, and its catering to working-class tourists. The service would later extend to other U.S. cities. The airline included
DC-3s,
DC-4s and
Lockheed Constellations, eventually numbering as many as 30 aircraft. The flights also offered champagne, and featured young women modeling lingerie for the passengers, who were mostly men. The flights eventually stopped in 1962, following an order from the
Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB). The agency alleged that the Hacienda was operating as an airline, and the resort was not licensed to provide such service. The Hacienda denied this and stated that its guests were flown in for free, saying that they paid only for food and a hotel room. However, because guests paid before boarding the plane, CAB determined that they were essentially paying for a plane fare. . The promotion would be offered for at least the next 20 years, eventually becoming the Hacienda Champagne Holiday. However, the promotion did not turn out as planned. Newspapers did not report on the story until 30 days after the plane took off, and they declined to mention the Hacienda. and his widow, Judith Bayley, took over the Hacienda. At the time, Bayley was the only female casino owner in Las Vegas, and found the casino operation to be more complicated than initially expected. She lost hundreds of dollars in her first few months. Under her management, the Hacienda offered
shuffleboard and babysitting services for guests, maintaining its appeal as a family resort. A lounge, known as the Jewel Box, was remodeled and reopened in 1965, followed by the opening of a keno room. Las Vegas mayor
Oran Gragson attended both openings. One county commissioner had opposed the keno addition, stating that it would add a "honky tonk" atmosphere that was common in the city's
Fremont Street area. In 1966, the
Clark County Commission threatened to shut down the Hacienda unless Bayley made improvements to a resort that her company was building at
Mount Charleston. To focus on the Las Vegas Hacienda, Bayley sold off the California hotels in 1970, with the exception of one located in
El Segundo. Bayley's estate left the Hacienda to her assistant Joan Rashbrook and lawyer Calvin Magleby. Several weeks after Bayley's death, Magleby announced that American Mining and Smelting Inc. would purchase the Hacienda, with plans for expansion and remodeling of the resort. However, the sale was never completed. Later in 1972, the Hacienda was sold for $5 million to a group of buyers, In 1974, the Hacienda became part of Glick's company,
Argent Corporation, It was part of a $7 million renovation of the resort. In 1976, Argent announced that it would sell the Hacienda for $21 million to Hawaiian businessman Joseph Gennitti, who would also take over $11 million in debt. The deal ended after Gennitti failed to provide Glick with details about financing the purchase. Subsequently, two opposing investment groups began negotiations to purchase the Hacienda. Later that year, state investigators found that money had been
skimmed from slot machines at Glick's casinos, including the Hacienda. Lowden denied this, stating that he would be the sole buyer. The board recommended against his purchase, but was overridden by the
Nevada Gaming Commission. According to commission chairman
Harry Reid, there was no evidence of hidden interests. He said that audit agents in the case "didn't do a very good job in their investigation." The sale was completed in July 1977. In 1978, the Hacienda began offering deluxe rooms and suites as
timeshares. Within two years, the hotel had 3,000 timeshare members. The Hacienda was associated with
Resort Condominiums International, an exchange network that allowed timeshare owners to trade their units. By 1980, the Hacienda included a popular steakhouse known as the Charcoal Room. A $30 million expansion of the Hacienda was underway in 1980, scheduled for completion later that year. It included an 11-story tower with 300 rooms, adding on to the hotel's 538-room count. Also added was a convention center, known as the Matador Arena. In addition to small conventions, it also hosted monthly, televised matches between professional boxers. At the end of 1982,
Wayne Newton was in discussions to become a co-owner in the Hacienda, as well as Lowden's other Strip resort, the
Sahara. After two months of negotiations, Newton decided against the idea, as he was considering other resorts for purchase. In the mid-1980s, the RV park operated as the Hacienda Adventure Camperland. It occupied 16 acres, and included 451 hook-ups, a pool, and a playground. In 1989, Lowden announced a $30 million plan to add a 400-room tower and to expand the casino. The tower was completed in 1991, bringing the room count to 1,137. In September 1994, Sahara Gaming stated that it was receiving offers to purchase the Hacienda, and that such offers would be considered for the right price. In January 1995,
Bill Bennett announced that he would buy the Hacienda and adjacent acreage. Bennett was a director for Circus Circus Enterprises and had previously served as the company chairman. However, his impending purchase was complicated by a corporate clause which would give Circus Circus Enterprises the right to purchase the resort instead of him. Bennett and Circus Circus agreed to a settlement in March 1995, allowing the company to buy the Hacienda for $80 million and the 74 acres for another $73 million. Lowden said that an inability to reach an agreement with the
Culinary Workers Union was a major factor in choosing to sell the Hacienda. The Hacienda's impending closure was announced in September 1996, as Circus Circus proceeded with plans to replace it. The closure would affect 900 employees. After 40 years, the Hacienda closed at 4:00 p.m. on December 1, 1996. The resort's fixtures and hotel furnishings were donated to local charities. The resort's horse and rider neon sign was also saved, being put on display in
downtown Las Vegas. The
Neon Museum had the sign refurbished at a cost of $60,000, and it was then installed in its new location a couple weeks prior to the Hacienda's closure. Before the Hacienda was demolished, the stairwells and stripped interiors of the hotel were used in a firefighter training mission to aid them in the event of a real high-rise fire. More than 30 local firefighters rushed through the hotel in reaction to an imaginary fire, situated on the fifth floor.
Controlled Demolition, Inc. (CDI) was hired to demolish the 11-story hotel through implosion. CDI was usually given six months' notice, although Circus Circus Enterprises wanted the Hacienda demolished in 30 days for
New Year's Eve, as part of a televised event that would compete with the annual
Times Square Ball celebration in New York City. After the Hacienda's closure, salvage crews removed equipment such as air conditioners, and they had to knock out walls in the hotel's southern end stairwell. This presented a potential problem for CDI, as wall strength is an important factor in properly controlling an implosion. CDI expected that the south end would not fall with the rest of the hotel. All of the walls in the hotel were built to be reinforced. The implosion took place on the night of December 31, 1996, and was televised as the culmination of
Fox's New Year's special ''
Sinbad's Dynamite New Year's Eve'', where it aired approaching midnight
ET. A six-minute fireworks show led up to the implosion at 9:00 p.m. Thousands of spectators gathered to watch the final demolition. Circus Circus Enterprises opened the
Mandalay Bay resort on March 2, 1999, replacing the Hacienda. The company also licensed the Hacienda name to the
Hacienda Hotel and Casino near
Boulder City, Nevada. The name also continues to live on through Hacienda Avenue, a road that runs along the Mandalay Bay property, although a small portion was renamed Mandalay Bay Road. ==Entertainers and shows==