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 Though
long since outclassed by its
mighty neighbors, the casino now known as Bally's was twenty
years ago the most famous, and infamous, hotel in the world. This is
the original MGM Grand , which opened in 1973. Setting out to prove
that there was far more money to be made in the casino business than
in producing movies, entrepreneur Kirk Kerkorian had sold off almost
the entire assets of MGM Studios in order to build the biggest hotel
that had ever existed.
Named after the 1932 movie Grand Hotel , the
MGM Grand did indeed generate vast profits. However, it was
devastated in November 1980 by the worst hotel fire in
history, when faulty wiring in the deli caused a blaze that
killed 84 people and injured over seven hundred more. The
MGM Grand reopened in identical shape within eight months,
but four years later Kerkorian sold it to Bally's, the
pinball and slot-machine manufacturers, who had just had a
tremendous cash windfall from the worldwide success of their
Pac-Man machines. That company later ran into difficulties,
and sold the hotel to the Hilton corporation in 1996, which
chose to keep on calling it Bally's . It's now run in
conjunction with Paris next door by Park Place, who took
over Hilton's casinos early in 1999 and also own Caesars
Palace . Kerkorian, meanwhile, had retained the MGM Grand
name for his own future use.
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The fact that Bally's is actually one of the Strip's
dullest buildings, consisting of little more than two monolithic
rectangular towers, has been disguised by turning the whole thing
into a giant neon sign. Not only the towers, but also the tubular
walkway that carries pedestrians into the casino, shift constantly
through a spectrum of four garish colors. The walkway moves so
slowly, however, above a shallow pool, that you'll probably have
tired of the light show long before you reach the end.
There's little to detain you inside the hotel, which
is used more by conventioneers and business people than vacationers.
Non-guests tend to head straight for either the good-value Big
Kitchen Buffet , up on the second floor of the South Tower; the
large, high-tech Race & Sports Book, hidden away in the basement of
the North Tower; or the monorail, right at the back of the property,
which connects Bally's and the current version of the MGM Grand . At
least the pedestrian walkway runs in both directions, so it's not
too hard to find your way out again.
3645 Las Vegas Blvd South
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