Another classic bites the dust -- Bill's Gamblin' Hall closed for good yesterday. I know it wouldn't be Vegas if it wasn't always changing, but geez if the past couple years haven't been rough for the old standbys.
The Sahara, the first hotel I ever stayed at on the strip, with its tiny Casbah Lounge, metalhead lifeguards, $1 blackjack and let-your-freak-flag-fly vibe: Gone.
Imperial Palace (though I would never actually sleep there) with the most ghetto-fabulous casino on the strip, all chintzy Chinee themed with dealers dressed as dead celebrities: Gone.
And now, Bill's Gamblin' Hall and Saloon, a monument to '70s tastelessness, with it's faux Old West chandeliers, $6 steaks and enough smoke to drive away George Burns: Gone. I understand that stuff needs updates and we can't freeze the past in amber, but c'mon -- do we really need another boutique hotel with $200 rooms and a nightclub called Za or Xe or Qi? What's next? Tearing down the Flamingo and replacing it with an Embassy Suites? Turn the Luxor into a W?
I'm gonna make a great grandpa someday. See ya on the flippy, Bill's.