Clarion Hotel and Casino, formerly known as Debbie Reynolds' Hollywood Hotel and Greek Isles Hotel & Casino, was near the

Las Vegas Strip The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city ...

in Paradise, Nevada. The hotel originally opened in 1970 as a Royal Inn, and also operated under the names Royal Americana Hotel and The Paddlewheel Hotel Casino before being purchased by Debbie Reynolds in 1992. After Reynolds sold the property in 1999, it was briefly owned by the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...

, and was then sold and remodeled as the Greek Isles. It was a 202-room hotel and a casino on of land. The hotel closed on September 2, 2014, after Labor Day weekend. The Clarion Hotel and Casino was demolished by implosion shortly before 3 a.m. on February 10, 2015.

History

Royal Inn (1970–80)

Royal Inns of America Royal Inns of America was a chain of hotels in the United States, headquartered in San Diego. The company was founded in 1965 by Earl Gagosian. Company timeline *1965 - "Royal Inns of America" founded *1971 - Operating 56 hotels *1975 - Files fo ...

opened its $3 million, 200-room hotel in 1970. In 1972, Michael Gaughan and Frank Toti bought out the property's casino operations. In 1979, fast food operator (and former

automat An automat is a fast food restaurant where simple foods and drinks are served by vending machines. The world's first automat, Quisisana, opened in Berlin, Germany in 1895. By country Germany The first automat in the world was the Quisisana ...

chain)

Horn & Hardart Horn & Hardart was a food services company in the United States noted for operating the first food service automats in Philadelphia, New York City, and Baltimore. Philadelphia's Joseph Horn (1861–1941) and German-born, New Orleans-raised Fran ...

agreed to buy the Royal Inn for $7.4 million.

Royal Americana Hotel (1980–82)

By late 1980, the sale had been completed, and the property was rebranded as the Royal Americana Hotel, with a New York theme. A $3.5 million renovation increased the room count to 300. By 1982 though, the hotel was experiencing substantial losses, and Horn & Hardart decided to close it. They reportedly agreed that December to sell the property to an investment group for $15.4 million.

The Paddlewheel Hotel Casino (1983–93)

The property later reopened as the Paddlewheel Hotel & Casino. It had a kid-friendly atmosphere, with arcade games and amusement rides, but later shifted to an adult focus, including a male revue. Horn & Hardart put the hotel back up for sale in 1990. It did not sell until 1992, when actress Debbie Reynolds and her husband Richard Hamlett bought the closed Paddlewheel at auction for $2.2 million. Reynolds planned to spend $15 million on renovations, including adding a museum to house her collection of Hollywood memorabilia, and a 500-seat theater where she would perform.

Debbie Reynolds' Hollywood Hotel (1993–99)

The property reopened in 1993, with the casino operated by

Jackpot Enterprises Jackpot Enterprises, Inc. was an American gambling machine route operator and casino operator from 1980 to the late 1990s, and had its common stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) with the one-letter ticker symbol "J" from 1987 to 200 ...

, but Reynolds struggled with the financing to complete the project. She took the company public in 1994 to raise money, and the museum finally opened the following year. The casino closed in 1996 after Jackpot pulled out because it was unprofitable, and Reynolds could not get a gaming license to operate it in-house because of the company's poor finances. After a deal to sell the property to timeshare developer ILX Inc. for $16.8 million fell through, Reynolds and the hotel both filed for bankruptcy protection in 1997, and the property was put up for auction the following year. The winning bidder at $10.65 million was the

, which planned to level the building and construct a 35-story wrestling-themed hotel and casino. They stripped much of the interior in preparation for demolition, but ultimately decided the site was not big enough. The hotel was open for a short time (including October 2000) as "Convention Center Drive Hotel." They sold it to Chicago-based Mark IV Realty Group in 2000 for $11.2 million.

Greek Isles Hotel & Casino (2001–09)

Mark IV hoped to redevelop the site with 1,000 rooms, but instead remodeled the property with a Greek theme and reopened it as the Greek Isles in 2001. The Greek Isles contracted with

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along w ...

to house flight crews during layovers. In July 2007, the hotel was sold to a

real-estate developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to others. R ...

(DI Development Group) for $48.8 million; the developer announced in January 2008 that he was pursuing financing to redevelop the site, replacing it with a mixed-use development, proposed to include 780 hotel rooms, a casino and of convention, retail, and restaurant space. The developer never came through, and the hotel tried expanding operations.

Clarion Hotel and Casino (2009 – September 2014)

The hotel was forced into bankruptcy on April 6, 2009, by its creditors. Canpartners Reality (owned by Canyon Capital Reality Partners and Spectrum Group Management) took over control on August 19, 2009, taking possession of the foreclosed property. As of April 2013, the hotel was branded a Clarion Hotel, the only Clarion with a casino. The 300-seat theater built by Debbie Reynolds was used for a Sunday Gospel Brunch and a nightly show. The hotel closed on September 2, 2014, after the Labor Day weekend. Its contents and inventory were put up for sale. In October 2014, developer Lorenzo Doumani purchased the property for $22.5 Million.

Demolition

The Clarion was demolished by implosion shortly before 3 a.m. on February 10, 2015. Lorenzo Douman's plan is to build a 720 suite five star non-gaming hotel with six restaurants, 270,000 square feet of Corporate Sky Suites, and an all encompassing medical wellness spa and fitness facility on the site to begin construction in September 2020.

References

{{Coord, 36.1318, -115.1591, type:landmark, display=t 1970 establishments in Nevada 2014 disestablishments in Nevada Buildings and structures demolished in 2015 Hotels in Paradise, Nevada Defunct casinos in the Las Vegas Valley Demolished hotels in Clark County, Nevada Buildings and structures demolished by controlled implosion Defunct hotels in the Las Vegas Valley Hotels established in 1970 Hotel buildings completed in 1970 Casino hotels