The El Rancho Vegas had several amenities for its guests, including a health club, men's and women's clothing stores, a gift boutique, a pool, and a barbershop, as well as laundry and valet services.

The El Rancho was the first casino in Las Vegas to feature such a panoply of retail on its grounds. The El Rancho Vegas's owners intended their guests to spend as much time as possible in or near the casino, and adding retail stores neatly served this purpose.

Visit the health club here.

While the retail dimension of Strip casino resorts has certainly become much more sophisticated, it has directly evolved from the shops at the El Rancho Vegas.

Offering more than just gambling enhanced the El Rancho's reputation as "Western America's finest" resort hotel.

To learn more about another important amenity, visit the health club.

Advertisement for gift shop.

The trellis.

When the El Rancho Vegas was open, retail in general played a much smaller role on the Strip. Still, gift shops like the House of Enchantment were a fixture in resort hotels across the world, and therefore an integral part of the El Rancho Vegas.

But this still begs the question, "Who came to Las Vegas in the 1950s to buy a lamp?"

Guests could also laze or rough house around the pool as their mood fancied, or wander through the trellissed garden.

If you wanted, you be be married quickly and easily at the El Rancho. If if didn't work out, you could stay there for your divorce, just like William Saroyan.

Use of the yacht was a privilege reserved for the El Rancho Vegas's highest rollers and most valued guests. It was a common ploy amenity used to entice prospective gamblers to a property.