How California Hotel helped shape Las Vegas to become Ninth Island
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Eric and Lisa Laride have been coming to the California Hotel and Casino in Downtown Las Vegas for more than 30 years.
“My parents came here when they opened the California hotel many years ago and they’ve been coming here every year and they brought me one year and that was the beginning of that,” Eric Laride explained.
It was the beginning of a tradition for the Larides, who are part of the group that makes up more than half of the guest population who travel to the California Hotel regularly from Hawaii.
The experience starts right when you walk through the doors, with a warm hello from hotel and casino staff and Hawaiian touches from the décor to delicacies you can taste.
Cindy Fune has been a loyal guest since the 1980s.
“My favorite part? Naturally, it’s the food,” Fune said. “Oh, the perks are awesome. The airlines at times you can merge it with your card play at things like that and when you come to the host, the host will help you with your room and your food and things like that, it makes it easier for you.”
Its historical roots helped shape the California Hotel into what it is today.
David Strow, Vice President of Corporate Communications for Boyd Gaming said it all started with the casino’s founder, Sam Boyd, 50 years ago.
“If Las Vegas is the Ninth Island, this is the heart of the Ninth Island, the California,” Strow said. “In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Sam Boyd lived in Hawaii. He worked at some of the underground casinos that were in Honolulu, Hilo, and cities like that, and he left for Las Vegas in 1941.”
It was those connections and the authentic relationships Boyd made in Hawaii that brought over a welcoming atmosphere and victorious business.
“Las Vegas is tourism driven, Hawaii is a tourism-driven economy so a lot of our customers when they’re in Hawaii, they’re accustomed to the tourism industry, trying to create an experience for the customers coming from the mainland,” Strow said.
Strow told 8 News Now that is why they’ve been so successful, creating a home away from home.
“The fact that we’re able to create this experience for them here in Las Vegas is quite an honor to create that Aloha spirit for our Hawaiian friends,” Strow added.
It’s one of the reasons why the Larides keep coming back.
“They are friendly, most of them the restaurants, the casino host, you know the receptionist,” Lisa Laride said.
“It’s a good place to relax and break out of a routine, that’s for me, and the 24-hour option to do it when you want to do it, I think that’s part of the reason,” Eric added.
