Remembering Las Vegas Hacienda Hotel

Above, the Las Vegas Hacienda Hotel around the early 1960s.

Back during Spring Break in 1973, two friends and I spent several days in Las Vegas, Nevada. We stayed at the Westward Ho Motel and Casino (closed in 2005) on the Las Vegas Strip. It was near the now-gone Stardust Hotel and Circus Circus.

Above, the Westward Ho Motel circa 1976. Photo from Vintage Las Vegas.

We spent the week hanging out at the hotel's pool and roamed around town and took an excursion to Hoover Dam. On the way back from the dam, we rode some ATVs (the now-outlawed three-wheeled ones). 

As far as gambling was concerned, as we were slightly under age (19 years), we limited our gambling to the Hacienda Hotel on the Strip. 

About the Hacienda Hotel according to Wikipedia:

The Hacienda was a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, that operated from 1956 to 1996. It was opened by Warren Bayley, who owned other Hacienda properties in California as well. Bayley opened the hotel portion in June 1956, although the opening of the casino was delayed as the Nevada Gaming Control Board objected to his choice of casino manager, Jake Kozloff. The casino portion eventually opened on October 17, 1956. The $6 million property had 266 rooms and the largest pool on the Las Vegas Strip. Like its sister properties in California, the resort included a neon sign that depicted a cowboy riding a palomino horse.

The Hacienda was built at the south end of the Strip, making it the first resort to be seen by tourists driving up from California. The Hacienda was located by itself at the time, a distance away from other resorts. Because of its location, most guests did not bother to visit the other resorts. The Hacienda was the first Las Vegas resort to target a family clientele, and until 1962, it operated a plane service to fly in guests from out of state.

Above, the Hacienda Hotel in the  mid to late 1960s.

The Hacienda Hotel property is now occupied by Mandalay Bay.

The Hacienda casino had some old mechanical slot machines and were pretty generous in payouts, at least to me. They were nowhere near like the more modern slot machines in use at the time and the electronic ones of today. I did pretty well with the Hacienda's slots. I did even better at their roulette tables. Those were the days when we gambled with Eisenhower dollar coins. I made enough money that all I ended up paying (for the week) was my share of the room expense and food. I was able to bring cash back home with me.

Las Vegas was actually fun back then and not at all crowded, unlike today. Since slot machines are all electronic today with push-buttons instead of pull handles, I don't bother with them. They don't pay out like the olden days. If I do any sort of gambling these days, it will be at the roulette wheels.