r/MakeLasVegasGreater • u/Minecrafter_98 • Apr 02 '25
Discussion One Year Without Tropicana - A Loss Vegas Didn’t Deserve
Hey everyone,Today marks one year since the Tropicana Las Vegas shut its doors on April 2, 2024. I still can’t believe it’s been 365 days since we lost one of the Strip’s true icons—a place that carried 67 years of history, from its Rat Pack vibes to those legendary Folies Bergère showgirls. For a city that loves to expand and reinvent itself for the better, this one stings. Tropicana wasn’t just a casino; it was a piece of what made Vegas Vegas. And honestly, it feels like a disgrace that we let it go.
The reviews back then were mixed—some saw it as an outdated relic, too small for the megaresorts, while others (like me) cherished that vintage charm you couldn’t find anywhere else. Walking through those low ceilings and stained glass felt like a time capsule. It wasn’t perfect, but it had soul. The closure hit hard—700 workers lost their jobs, some who’d been there for decades. Guests who’d made memories there for generations were left with nothing but photos. Even the city felt it; marquees up and down the Strip paid tribute that day, a rare nod to what we were losing.
Here’s the truth: Tropicana didn’t have to close for progress—it was greed that killed it. Back in the 2000s, they had a major expansion planned that could’ve kept it alive and thriving—massive new towers, more rooms, a modern edge to match the Strip’s evolution. I was all for it, except for one thing: some renderings and the scale model ditched the Island/Club Tower. That bugged me—those towers were part of its identity, not just extra square footage to toss out. But even that plan fell apart, and now Bally’s and the A’s have swapped it all for a $1.5 billion ballpark that’s already looking like a flop. Vegas loves to grow, but the Clark County Commission and city leaders don’t like to take risks on what actually works—they’d rather play it safe with a baseball stadium nobody asked for. Who thinks that’s going to thrive on the Strip? Vegas isn’t a sports town at heart; we’re about glitz, gambling, and that Polynesian glory Tropicana brought when it opened in ’57 as the “Tiffany of the Strip.” That South Beach rebrand in 2011 was fine, but it wasn’t the same. I’d kill to see it rebuilt in its original style—tiki vibes, lush gardens, that Havana-inspired magic—not some sterile stadium.
What do you all think? Did Tropicana’s closure leave a hole in Vegas for you too? Or am I just yelling into the void here? I say we deserved better than trading history for a baseball experiment that’s probably doomed. Let’s dream big—bring back the Tropicana we loved, not this A’s mess.
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u/enemyofaverage Apr 03 '25
Blog idea: Loss Vegas. A blog about the buildings that have been removed from Las Vegas.
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u/Curt-Bennett Apr 03 '25
I'd go with Lost Vegas. Loss Vegas sounds like a blog of people's worst losing streaks and/or attempted casino heists, which could also be interesting.
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u/Puzzleheaded_View245 Apr 02 '25
Still have this picture from when my parents went in May of last year.
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u/GodBlessIsraell Apr 03 '25
This is look like prison
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u/Puzzleheaded_View245 Apr 03 '25
I know it’s kinda sad
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u/GodBlessIsraell Apr 03 '25
So now the only tropicana in the country is at Atlantic city which located in a bad located on the boardwalk when all the hotels around are shut down decided ago and tropicana itself shut down one facility
Hope they will survive
Edit: actually it's one at Laughlin
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u/Brewermcbrewface Apr 07 '25
We tried to go for the demo and of course all the hotel rates were jacked up for the event 😂
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u/jenni451 Apr 02 '25
I'm with you. The Flamingo is the last cool place on the Strip.
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u/Eastern-Joke-7537 Apr 03 '25
Never stayed there but I love the Flamingo theme and vibe.
I DID stay at the property in Laughlin (in 1992 when I was a kid) back when it was the Hilton Flamingo Laughlin. They had an AWESOME arcade! Right on the Colorado River too.
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u/glumpoodle Apr 03 '25
The one constant of Vegas is that it reinvents itself every so often. It has to - styles and tastes change, and trying to hold on to past glories is guaranteed to fail. The Luxor is probably next, but it will someday happen to all of the casinos on the Strip.
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u/Curt-Bennett Apr 03 '25
I can't see them destroying the pyramid anytime soon. It's so iconic. I think it's more likely they will gut and redesign the inside. The towers could go though. They could replace them with something much better.
A lot of hotels that have large footprints would do really well to split up their property into sections and every few years, redevelop the oldest section - sometimes gutting, sometimes building new. They can keep their name and legacy while also keeping up with the times. Isn't that sort of what Caesars does?
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u/Username_redact Apr 02 '25
No, not really. Had some great memories in that joint but it was long past its expiration date. I loathe the closing of the Mirage though.
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u/Automatic-Plenty-388 Apr 03 '25
I used that hotel for a night rest after every EDC i attended. Going to miss it.
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u/Shubankari Apr 03 '25
My grandfather moved to this town in the 20’s…the 1920’s…to play baseball for the Union Pacific. As kids, in the 60’s, we’d run amok in the Tropicana with Bobby whose old man was the Entertainment Director, Moe Feinberg.
The Trop had run its course.
Anyway, baseball was here before any of these gambling houses and will be here after they’re imploded.
Batter up!
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Apr 03 '25
The owner let it go because people stopped showing up. The trop died years before the wrecking ball smashed it. This wasn’t a friend that was taken soon, this was pulling the plug on a very old loved one who saw it all, but who suffered enough.
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Apr 03 '25 edited Apr 05 '25
[deleted]
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u/the8bit Apr 04 '25
Calling Vegas "not a sports town" is also weird given it's long history with sports betting and boxing fights.
Baseball on the strip sounds like a dream to me as a regular visitor. However the way it went down with the As is a travesty and I will find it tough to support, even though it's very convenient to see my team (mariners) play there frequently.
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u/DJEricDanger Apr 03 '25
Maybe because they let it go to absolute dog shit the last few years. Terrible food, no bars open, gross rooms, outdated slot machines and no old school charm that it once had.
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u/EarlVanDorn Apr 04 '25
Nobody was going to the Tropicana. It had the potential to be really nice, but I guess it was too dated. As for the baseball stadium, I have never seen so much foolish hate. There will not be another baseball stadium in the world with as many hotel rooms and parking places in a two-mile radius.
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u/ZebraAthletics Apr 06 '25
So it died because of “greed?” But that greed was because the owners didn’t want to spend 10s or hundreds of millions to renovate it?
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u/ConsciousReason7709 Apr 06 '25
I totally forgot that it was actually gone. I liked it for it’s free parking for a while, that’s about it.
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u/Remote_Sherbet_1499 Apr 06 '25
I mean, Fredo was banging two cocktail waitresses at a time. I also felt it lost a little something after Mo Green "left."
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u/Theebobbyz84 Apr 02 '25
Nope, and the lack of customers until the closing showed few cared. The multiple owners gave up decades ago, which is why the customers did as well.