Hilton Hotels Returns To Las Vegas In A Big Way

Did Hilton return to Las Vegas, or did it never go away?

The company’s first glory days in the desert were in the 1970’s, when Elvis Presley sold out the Las Vegas Hilton more than 600 times. Hilton was the first publicly traded hospitality company to come to Las Vegas, a pioneer (along with Howard Hughes) in replacing often Mob-affiliated casinos with corporations.

But as the company sold off its casino business and focused on franchising (Hilton now has 22 brands), it sold off its flagship Las Vegas properties, first the Flamingo Hilton in 1998, then the Las Vegas Hilton in 2012.

For a number of years, it seemed that Hilton had a low profile in the city.

In 2021 a new Las Vegas Hilton arrived, one of three Hilton properties at Resorts World. Adding the Las Vegas Hilton, Conrad and LXR at Resorts World were part of Hilton’s aggressive additions to its Vegas portfolio. The company has added more than 6,000 new rooms and 17 new properties in Las Vegas in the last five years.

As of October 2023, Hilton has 44 properties in Las Vegas (including Hilton Grand Vacations) representing nearly 15,000 rooms. With the total number of Las Vegas hotel rooms hovering around 150,000, that means Hilton has a 10% share of the market.

Hilton became a major presence in Las Vegas starting in 1970, when it purchased the International Leisure Company, owner of the International Hotel and the Flamingo Hotel and Casino. In fact, Hilton was the first New York Stock Exchange-listed company to enter the domestic ‘gaming’ business.

Until that point, the development of Las Vegas casino hotels had been in the hands of colorful ‘entrepreneurial’ types. These included the first of the great Strip casinos, the Flamingo, built by the late Bugsy Siegel.

As Hilton puts it, the company’s arrival “helped to legitimize Las Vegas as a prime destination for leisure and business travel.” Ironically, when Hilton eventually ran the Flamingo, it issued $5 casino chips memorializing Siegel.

The Las Vegas Hilton, the company’s signature property in Las Vegas, was even more iconic. From July 31, 1969, to Dec. 12, 1976, Elvis Presley sold out more than 600 shows at the Las Vegas International Hotel, which became the Hilton in 1970. He turned what was supposed to be a four-week engagement into one that lasted seven years. The “King” always stayed in the penthouse on the 30 floor.

On Sept. 8, 1978, the Las Vegas Hilton honored the late Presley and his record-breaking streak with the installation of a bronze statue. But after 40 years, Hilton sold the property, and on January 3, 2012, it changed its name to the Las Vegas Hotel & Casino. Hilton may have left the building—it’s the Westgate now—but Elvis remains.

Hilton had dropped Flamingo, which it also acquired in 1970, even earlier. Hilton spun off its gaming division, including the Flamingo, in 1998.

So from 2012 through 2021, Hilton lacked a flagship property in Las Vegas. The company’s strategy also changed, with the expansion of Hilton to 22 brands, driven by franchising, and the company’s exit from the gaming business.

In 2021, the company finally opened a new flagship Las Vegas Hilton with the opening of $4.3 billion Resorts World. The casino resort developed by Malaysia-based Genting Group, has three Hilton properties (Hilton, Conrad and LRX) with a total of 3500 rooms. The spectacular resort opened in 2021 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, but has reached an upscale audience, offering luxury accommodations like the Resorts World Lucky 888 ($888,000) package for the recent Las Vegas Formula One.

We spoke with Danny Hughes, Executive Vice President and President, Americas, Hilton. Originally from Wales, Hughes has worked with Hilton more than 35 years.

Did Hilton withdraw from Las Vegas after it sold the LV Hilton? “During that apparent absence we were assiduously building our other brands,” says Hughes. “We have a big portfolio of hotels there, and we continue to look for opportunities.”

A search of the Hilton site revealed 41 of its 44 hotels in the Las Vegas area, including Hilton, Conrad, LXR, Hilton Grand Vacation Clubs, Virgin Hotels Las Vegas Curio Collection by Hilton, and the soon-to-depart Tropicana Las Vegas.

Those hotels have a built-in market for leisure or business travelers; the 173 million HHonors members. The number of HHonors members has quadrupled in 10 years, making it the fastest growing loyalty program in the industry. “So much of it is creating an environment for our loyal guests who want points,” says Hughes.

When the Mandarin Oriental changed hands in 2018, Hilton assumed management of the 47-story luxury hotel and condominium property, rebranded the Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas. Hughes says, “the Waldorf getting a renovation—lobby, rooms, starting on top floor.” He calls the non-casino property,“An oasis in the middle of all the action.”

As for Resorts World, Hughes says, “No one anticipated what COVID would do. It was a challenging time to open. But we love our partnership.”

Hilton was a major marketing partner at Formula One race, sponsoring the McLaren team, hosting guests at Elara, the Grand Vacations, and the Virgin Hotel, even having Paris Hilton DJ a late-night party.

Despite some growing pains involving traffic in the city and track problems, Hughes says, “There’s never been a Formula 1 Street race like this. Occupancy was a little elevated from normal, the rates were way up.”

And he confirmed that Resorts World with its Hilton properties did very well. “We’ll do even better next year. Monte Carlo has been doing this for 75 years. They’ve worked this stuff out. Formula One and Las Vegas are a match made in Heaven.“

Entertainment had lured gamblers to the desert since the Flamingo arrived in 1946, but Hilton got a turbo boost with its Elvis shows, just as it did with Formula One. Hughes says, “It wasn’t just music—we had boxing matches that shocked the world. There was food, beverage, and entertainment as well as gambling, with 1970 the start of the transformation.”

Hilton also benefits from the return of tourists to Las Vegas tourism after the catastrophic COVID shutdown in 2020.

“I hesitate to say Las Vegas is a family destination but now you have the Carrie Underwoods (whose residency at Resorts World continues into 2024), the Adeles and the Katie Perrys, as well as sports like the Golden Knights, Raiders, and the champion WNBA Aces. You can’t be a great celebrity chef unless you have a place in Vegas.”

He adds, “In the 1970’s and 1980’s we were a one brand company. Then we started franchising in the 1980’s. An entrepreneurial family can own a hotel—there are hundreds of families who operate hotels and put a Hilton brand ‘flag’ on them.”

As to Hilton’s Las Vegas flagships, Hughes said, “It was never that we had a lull in the city. It is an important destination. We never said Las Vegas isn’t important anymore. We were very selective about putting our name on a big, branded hotel. When Genting took over the site [for Resort Worlds] it was a way to partner with them.”

Hughes says of the $4.3 billion Resorts World complex, “Only two or three of these things get built every decade. We had our opportunity to put our brands on other hotels, but we held out for the right place.”