From a desolate wasteland to a desert oasis, Las Vegas is the gambling capital of the United States. The seventh casino built on the famous "strip," the Sands Hotel began hosting guests in December 1952. Originally a low-rise structure, the Sands Hotel became known for its iconic cylindrical 15-story tower.
From its inception, Sands was surrounded in controversy. Several of the original owners were thought to have ties to organized crime, and the hotel changed hands many times. In 1967, Howard Hughes bought the property and in later years it passed through multiple owners before the Interface Group took possession in the late 1980s.
Danny Thomas was the opening act at Sand's Copa room. A host of performers headlined the Sands over the years including Milton Berle, Nat King Cole, Lena Horne, Louis Armstrong, Johnny Mathis and most notably, Rat Packers, Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. The Rat Pack movie, "Oceans 11" was filmed at the Sands, and the hotel was known as "the" place to go during the late 1950s and 1960s.
In the 1990s, a convention center was added to the property, but in 1996 the owners decided to demolish the old hotel and build a newer mega-hotel to compete with the other elaborate properties on the strip. The hotel was closed in June 1996 and imploded on November 26, 1996. The Venetian Hotel opened on the site of the old Sands Hotel in 1999.
