The Grand Sierra Resort is a resort hotel located approximately two miles east of Downtown Reno, Nevada. The hotel has 1,995 guest rooms and suites, 10 restaurants, and a casino with 80,000 square feet (7,400 m 2 ) of space. The hotel also has a shopping center, wedding chapel, pool, convention center, 50-lane bowling alley, a Lucky's Race & Sports Book, golfing and an RV park.
History
The property first opened in 1978 as the MGM Grand — the world's largest hotel casino at the time, with 26 stories, 1,015 rooms on a 145-acre (0.59 km 2 ) site. The construction cost 130 million dollars. On June 3, 1978 Donn Arden's "Hello Hollywood Hello" debuted. An expansion in 1981 increased the rooms to 2,001. In 1986 the property along with the MGM Grand in Las Vegas were sold to Bally Gaming Corp. Both resorts were re-branded as Bally's. In early 1992, Harveys Lake Tahoe entered a bidding war with Hilton Hotels Corporation over the right to buy the resort. Harveys announced an agreement on a $70 million deal, only to see Hilton up the ante to $73 million and assumption of Bally's debt. Several weeks later, after considering even higher bids, a federal bankruptcy court settled the matter by approving Hilton’s final $83 million offer. The hotel was later acquired by Harrah's Entertainment (which also owns Harveys), in the 2005 acquisition of Caesars Entertainment.
In the early stages of the MGM Grand in Reno, a stage was erected where handlers would chain a lion down for pictures with visitors and guests to the Hotel. "Metro" was not only chained, but was also heavily sedated at all appearances so there would be no danger to the guests. Later, the guest was protected by plexiglass that was set up between them and the lion. At no time were guests allowed within the lion's striking distance.
On May 11, 2005 Caesars Entertainment announced an agreement to sell the Reno Hilton to PLANTworldwide DBA as the Grand Sierra Resort Corp (GSR) . for 150 million dollars. On June 23, 2005 the sale was completed and the name of the property was changed to The Grand Sierra Resort.
Renovation
The top eleven floors of the hotel tower have been converted into 825 hotel-condominium units. Former Chairman of the MGM Grand Las Vegas, now head of the Navegante Group is planned to lease and operate the casino.
On January 31, 2007 Grand Sierra announced plans to join with Nikki Beach to convert the top four floors, pool area, and former Garage Nightclub into a destination. The Nikki Beach Pool area has been open as of July 1, 2007.
In 2008 Grand Sierra Resort was sold to Credit Markets Real Estate Corporation, a holding company for JPMorgan Chase
Attractions
- Laser Tag arena. Formerly Q-Zar/Quazar, converted to a Lazer Runner system in January 2007.
References
- ^ a b About Grand Sierra Resort and Casino
- ^ a b Grand Sierra Resort - (800) 501-2651 | Casino
- ^ Grand Sierra Resort - (800) 501-2651 | Recreation - Bowling
- ^ Grand Sierra Resort Reno Hotel & Casino - Hotel Rooms, Restaurants, History, Tips and Photos - RenoTripping.com
- ^ "Reno Casino Boom". Las Vegas Review-Journal . 5 July 2003 . http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2003/Jul-05-Sat-2003/business/21656177.html . Retrieved 26 November 2006 .
- ^ "Hello Hollywood Hello". KNPB . http://www.knpb.org/productions/hollywood/mgm.asp . Retrieved 26 November 2006 .
- ^ "Caesars Entertainment, Inc. Selling the Reno Hilton to PLANTworldwide DBA Grand Sierra Resort Corp. for Approximately $150 million". Hotel Online . 11 May 2005 . http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2005_2nd/May05_RenoHilton.html . Retrieved 26 November 2006 .
- ^ condohotelcenter.com
- ^ Vegastripping. "JPMorgan Subsidiary Buys Grand Sierra Resort (the old Reno Hilton)". vegastripping.com . http://www.vegastripping.com/news/news.php?news_id=2316 . Retrieved 2009-07-21 .
External links
- Official website
- Downtown Makeover - Updates on the Grand Sierra Resort
Coordinates: 39°31′22″N 119°46′45″W / 39.522854°N 119.779226°W / 39.522854;
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