Desert Inn/Le Reve: Howard Hughes and the Desert Inn
The elegant old Desert Inn had ranked among the top echelon of Strip casinos since it was constructed by nominal owner Wilbur Clark, in conjunction with such dubious partners as Mob associate Moe Dalitz, in 1950. By welcoming Howard Hughes as a guest at Thanksgiving in 1966 - on the express condition that he checked out before the high rollers arrived for New Year - the Desert Inn inadvertently spearheaded Las Vegas's move toward corporate domination.Rather than leave, Hughes took over the whole hotel, and remained for the next four years, living on the ninth floor and keeping the entire eighth floor empty. During that time, he bought enough casinos to become Nevada's largest single operator, despite seldom if ever allowing even his closest associates to see him. Tales of his eccentricity abound: quite apart from storing all his urine in jars in his closet, and having total transfusions of Mormon blood, he canceled the hotel's traditional Easter Egg hunt because he loathed children, and abandoned its pro golf tournaments because he couldn't bear the thought of golfers coming onto his property after putting their hands in those dirty holes. "Skimming" of the Desert Inn 's profits by organized crime continued throughout the Hughes years, and despite its undoubted class, and repeated extensive remodeling, the property remained financially troubled right up until the twenty-first century.
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