The Hotel El Rancho Vegas was
renowned for its guest rooms, which sprawled over 66 acres of what is
now prime Strip frontage. When the El Rancho opened, of course,
the land was nearly worthless, so the low density guest accommodations
made sense.
The Hotel El Rancho
would have been dwarfed by a moderately-sized Strip casino of today.
It opened with 63 rooms, had 144 in 1947, and only 220 rooms at its demise
in 1960. The rooms were not in a single building, Motel 6 style,
but rather in groupings of bungalows and cottages (69 of them by 1960).
If you stayed at the El Rancho
Vegas, you would have had your pick of several room styles. The
most basic were the simple double and twin bed rooms, which had very
few frills. A step up, you might find the bungalows, which were
detached and semi-detached dwellings. At the top end stood the
"super-deluxe accommodations," which were basically small
houses for as many as ten guests.
Many guests, including celebrities
like comedian Joe E. Lewis, made the El Rancho Vegas their home, receiving
mail there and, for all intents and purposes, living there. Showgirls
and other casino employees also lived on property. |

Room Rate Card
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