In July 1998, a $145-million dollar project, the Sundance, was announced. In February 1999, the project's name was changed to Suncoast, due to a copyright issue with the
Sundance Film Festival. The project was owned by
Michael Gaughan's
Coast Resorts (later purchased by
Boyd Gaming in 2004). The 10-story hotel tower was
topped off on March 22, 2000, with an American flag placed atop the building. The $190 million project was half complete up to that point. Suncoast officials began interviewing potential employees in early June 2000. Many applicants had worked at the
Desert Inn, which was preparing to close later that year. In late August 2000, the Suncoast had less than 50 remaining job positions to fill, out of a total of 1,800. An opening date of September 1, 2000, was initially targeted, but was pushed back 11 days due to construction delays and building inspections, thus postponing employee training.
Opening and operation The Suncoast opened on September 12, 2000, with a five-minute, $75,000 fireworks show. At the time, it was expected that as much as 90% of the property's customers would be local Las Vegas residents rather than out of town tourists. The opening attracted an estimated 5,000 people. Johnny Johnson, Gaughan's college friend at the
University of San Francisco, attended the grand opening ceremony and booked the first room in the hotel. The 10-story hotel opened with 203 rooms, The casino also included a large race and
sportsbook; and a 600-seat bingo hall, which was expected to appeal to local residents. The Suncoast and the
Fiesta were the first major resorts in Nevada to utilize the concept of coinless slot machines, with the Suncoast being the largest to test the new technology. That same day, the Suncoast's 460-seat showroom hosted its first concert performance:
Air Supply. The Suncoast also included a 64-lane bowling alley, with an adjacent video game arcade. The expansion was completed at a cost of $11 million, and it brought the hotel room count up to 419. The Las Vegas Planning Commission approved the expansion plans in September 2002. The project would add more than to the resort's ground floor, including of additional casino space. Other new features would include a sportsbook and three new restaurants. The expansion would be built east of the casino entrance and would connect to the existing building, while a three-story parking garage with more than 1,600 spaces would be built next to the addition on an existing parking lot. The project would also focus on the resort's basement, where 100,000 sq ft would be added, including in casino space and a bingo parlor measuring . By November 2002, plans for the expansion had been put on hold. In 2002, the Suncoast won the
Las Vegas Review-Journal's "Best of Las Vegas" award for
video poker, primarily because of its loose machines, which were removed the following year. In the Suncoast parking lot in August 2005, a robber shot a couple in their 60s, injuring a man and killing his wife before fleeing the area. Boyd Gaming offered a $50,000 reward for information about the suspect, and a subsequent $100,000 reward was offered by the Suncoast in 2010. The Suncoast opened a poker room in July 2006. In December 2010, a man robbed under $20,000 from a cashier in the Suncoast's poker room before being apprehended later that month. A remodeling of the hotel rooms was scheduled to begin in December 2014. The poker room closed in April 2018. In June 2018, U.S. president
Donald Trump attended a fundraiser for U.S. senator
Dean Heller and spoke at the
Nevada Republican Party's state convention, events that were both held at the Suncoast, while a group gathered outside the resort to protest against Trump's visit and his immigration policies. One night shortly before Trump's visit, the Suncoast was
locked down for more than two hours while police investigated a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot that ultimately was deemed safe. In October 2019, the 49-acre property was put up for sale for $87 million through an
NNN lease. The sale would only include the land, but not the Suncoast itself. The land had been leased by the Suncoast ever since it was built, and the lease had 35 years remaining on it at the time of the announced sale. ==Restaurants==