Treasure Island Hotel and Casino

Treasure Island Hotel and Casino (also known as Treasure Island Las Vegas and "TI")[2] is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, USA with 2,884 rooms and 220 suites, and is connected by tram to The Mirage as well as pedestrian bridge to the Fashion Show Mall shopping center. It is owned and operated by Phil Ruffin.

Treasure Island
Location Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
Address 3300 South Las Vegas Boulevard
Opening dateOctober 26, 1993 (October 26, 1993)
ThemePirate
Caribbean
No. of rooms2,884
Total gaming space95,000 sq ft (8,800 m2)
Permanent showsMystère
Signature attractionsMarvel Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N.
Notable restaurantsGilley's Saloon
Seafood Shack
Phil's Italian Steak House
Casino typeLand-based
OwnerPhil Ruffin[1]
Renovated in2003
Coordinates36°07′29″N 115°10′19″W
Websitetreasureisland.com
For the Native American casino in Minnesota, see Treasure Island Resort & Casino.

The hotel received the AAA Four Diamond rating each year from 1999 through 2013.[3]

History
Treasure Island (1995)

The $430 million Treasure Island was opened by Mirage Resorts on the night of October 26, 1993. It included a casino, a 2,900-room hotel, and a free pirate show located in front of the resort.[4] It opened under the direction of Steve Wynn and Atlandia Design (a Mirage Resorts subsidiary). The initial plans called for a tower addition to The Mirage, but later evolved into a full-fledged separate hotel casino resort. The resort was designed by architects Joel Bergman and Jon Jerde in collaboration with Steve Wynn along with Roger Thomas who designed the interior of Treasure Island Hotel and Casino. The resort included a roadside sign featuring an 8,000-pound pirate skull,[5] made of fiberglass and measuring 27 1/2 feet.[6]

Treasure Island opened with a focus on family fun, including the pirate show and a 25,000 sq ft (2,300 m2) arcade. However, shortly after opening, executives realized that the resort's heavy pirate theme did not appeal to people interested in a weekend getaway. Wynn began a long renovation of the resort to improve business, a project that had cost approximately $150 million as of 2003.[7] The changes included a $65 million renovation of the hotel rooms.[8] Other changes included relocating the front desk closer to the pool, approximately three years after the resort opened.[7] In addition, the arcade was reduced to 1,200 sq ft (110 m2).[9] The various changes improved business and were considered successful.[7]

The Prairie Island Indian Community, owners of a Treasure Island casino resort in Minnesota, filed a $250 million damages lawsuit against Mirage Resorts in May 2000. The suit alleged that Wynn violated trademark law by using the "Treasure Island" name for his own casino resort. The suit also requested that Wynn be barred from using the name,[10][11] which Wynn said he registered in 1993.[12]

Treasure Island with new paint color

In April 2003, Treasure Island announced a major revamp to transform the resort into a more sophisticated property aimed primarily at adults,[7][13][14] although children would still be welcomed.[15] Treasure Island president Scott Sibella said, "We've evolved from a yo-ho-ho feel to a more sophisticated feel. We want to change the exterior to introduce the outside to what we've already done inside." Among the changes would include a new pirate show, described by Sibella as a "sexy and beautiful, adult Broadway-caliber show." Sibella described the original pirate show as something that would be expected at Disneyland. As part of the revamp, Treasure Island would begin using the abbreviated name "TI". Sibella described the new name as trendy and sexy, and said it was a name that residents and guests already used. Sibella compared the abbreviated name to the former Desert Inn, also known as "D.I." The resort's roadside skull sign would be replaced and donated to the Neon Museum. Sibella said, "It's a cool sign, but it needs to complement what we're doing inside."[7]

Describing the resort's transformation, Sibella said, "We've seen a return of Las Vegas to its roots as an adult destination. As the city has evolved, so too has Treasure Island."[16] MGM Mirage began a marketing campaign for TI in June 2003, including advertisements in various publications.[17] As part of the transformation, the hotel building was given a darker paint color,[18] using 6,200 gallons of terra cotta/"Salmon Stream" paint,[8] replacing an earlier pink coloring.[9]

Original skull sign
New TI sign

The skull sign was removed on July 10, 2003, in a ceremony accompanied by fireworks.[9][19][20] The skull portion was donated to the Neon Museum, while much of the remaining sign was scrapped.[6] The sign was replaced by an LED neon "TI" sign with a modern and sophisticated design.[5][20][21] The new sign measures 137 feet high and 84 feet wide.[8] Various pirate memorabilia had been removed from the resort over the course of three years, and was auctioned in September 2003.[22][18]

On December 15, 2008, MGM Mirage announced the resort would be sold for US$775 million to Phil Ruffin, former owner of the New Frontier Hotel and Casino.[23] Ruffin took full ownership of the hotel and casino resort on March 20, 2009.

On October 21, 2013, the Sirens of TI pirate battle show closed in order to add a new multi-level shopping and entertainment center which opened in April 2015 with a 24-hour CVS as the anchor tenant along with the Marvel Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. exhibit, which opened May 26, 2016. The ships used for the show remained in front of the resort.[24]

On June 18, 2016, Michael Steven Sandford attempted to assassinate presidential candidate Donald Trump during a political rally held at Treasure Island.[25]

In July 2019, it was announced that Treasure Island's hotel would join Radisson Hotel Group later in the year. Under the agreement, the resort would keep its name and exterior signage.[26]

Film and television history
  • In 1994, shortly after the hotel's launch, a promotional TV movie, Treasure Island: The Adventure Begins debuted on NBC. The film, starring Jason Beghe, featured the implosion of The Dunes.[27][28]
  • The sign for Treasure Island is shown in the 2003 film Looney Tunes: Back In Action
  • In the 2004 movie Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, while Steve the Pirate is walking down Fremont Street, someone drives by yelling "Go back to the Treasure Island". An alternative ending to the movie was that the Average Joes lost the dodgeball tournament, but got their money back when Steve won it at Treasure Island.
  • The resort was a major filming location for the 2005 film Miss Congeniality 2.[29][30][31] Filming included the Sirens of TI pirate show.[32]
  • In the movie Beavis and Butthead Do America, the original Treasure Island sign, along with the pirate ship outside the hotel, are briefly seen as Beavis and Butthead are driving down the Las Vegas strip in a limo.
  • Treasure Island appears in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. In the game it is called "Pirates in Mens Pants" (a pun referencing Pirates of Penzance).
  • In the movie Knocked Up, Ben (Seth Rogen) and Pete (Paul Rudd) see Mystère by Cirque du Soleil at Treasure Island during their road trip to Las Vegas.
  • In the video game Driver 2, Treasure Island can be seen in the Las Vegas level where it's been named "Pirates Island".
  • In the manga and anime "Eyeshield 21", the Deimon Devil Bats end their 2000km "death march training" from Houston, TX by reaching and staying at Treasure Island.
  • In the NBC television show Las Vegas, the ending of the season 2 premiere episode was filmed at the hotel. Many shots of the show are also filmed as though they are in Treasure Island.
  • Treasure Island is often seen during fly-over images of the Las Vegas Strip in the television drama series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Entertainment

The resort is home to Cirque du Soleil's Mystère, which introduced the entertainment style of Franco Dragone. The show opened in 1993 as the original Cirque du Soleil production in Las Vegas. Mystère has been voted nine times as the best production show in the city by the Las Vegas Review-Journal reader's poll.[33] With the sale of TI, it is the only hotel on the strip to host a Cirque du Soleil show that is not affiliated with MGM Resorts International.

Treasure Island opened with the free "Battle of Buccaneer Bay" show in a large man-made lake fronting the resort along the Las Vegas Strip. Presented several times nightly with a large cast of stunt performers, the show depicted the landing and subsequent sacking of a Caribbean village by pirates, serving to attract gamblers from the strip and into the casino after each show in the same fashion as its predecessor, the Wynn-conceived volcano fronting The Mirage casino. Notable special effects included a full-scale, manned British Royal Navy sailing ship that sailed nearly the full width of the property, a gas-fired "powder magazine" explosion, pyrotechnics, and the sinking to the bottom of the sailing ship "Brittania" along with its captain. Battle of Buccaneer Bay held its final performance on July 6, 2003, with a total of 16,334 shows performed over the course of nearly 10 years.[34][35][36]

A performance of The Sirens of TI

TI debuted the new Sirens of TI pirate show in October 2003, marking the resort's 10th anniversary.[37][8] "Buccaneer Bay" was replaced with "Sirens' Cove" and the new show utilized many of the technical elements of its predecessor. The live, free show was intended to appeal more to adults by including singing, dancing, audio-visual effects, bare-chested pirates and attractive women in the large outdoor show produced by Kenny Ortega.[38][39] The original two pirate ships were kept for the new show, as well as some special effects.[15]

The Sirens of TI was closed on October 21, 2013. The closure was initially intended to be temporary, but in November, it was made permanent, to the dismay of the show's actors. The reason cited by Treasure Island was the construction of new retail space nearby.[40]

References
  1. Location Details. Nevada Gaming Control Board (Report). Retrieved 2017-04-13.
  2. "Treasure Island Home Page". Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  3. "AAA 4 Diamond Hotels 2013" (PDF). AAA. January 18, 2013. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  4. Waddell, Lynn (27 October 1993). "Steve Wynn opens his latest Treasure". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  5. Hare, David (July 16, 2003). "Sign of the times". Las Vegas CityLife. Retrieved July 24, 2019 – via NewsLibrary.
  6. Mikkelsen, Ginger (July 23, 2003). "No bones about it: Treasure Island skull planned centerpiece of neon sign museum". View News. Archived from the original on March 30, 2004.
  7. Simpson, Jeff (April 22, 2003). "Old yo-ho-ho getting heave-ho: Trying to deep-six its former image, resort to redo show". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on January 29, 2005.
  8. Fink, Jerry (October 27, 2003). "Adult-themed 'Sirens of TI' takes a stand on the Strip". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  9. McDarrah, Timothy (July 10, 2003). "Venerable Strip staple ready to re-sign". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  10. "Casinos at Odds Over a Name//' Treasure Island' at Issue in Vegas and Minnesota". St. Paul Pioneer Press. May 26, 2000. Retrieved July 24, 2019 – via NewsLibrary.
  11. "Minnesota tribe sues over name of casino". Star Tribune. Minneapolis. May 27, 2000. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  12. Hogan, Jan (August 7, 2000). "Trademark protection no laughs". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on August 18, 2000.
  13. Smith, John L. (May 2, 2003). "Initial analysis suggests that trendiness inspired change at Treasure Island". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on June 27, 2003.
  14. "Casino's changes have kids walking the plank: HOTEL: Treasure Island will be TI, the battle in the bay is in rewrite, and the arcade is history". The Press-Enterprise. Riverside. July 25, 2003. Retrieved July 24, 2019 – via NewsLibrary.
  15. Weatherford, Mike (October 24, 2003). "Extreme Makeover: 'Sirens of TI' updates pirate battle with female cast members, rock 'n' roll attitude". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on April 5, 2005.
  16. "MGM Mirage bringing sex appeal to pirate battles". Las Vegas Sun. April 22, 2003. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  17. "Gaming briefs". Las Vegas Sun. June 13, 2003. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  18. "Former Treasure Island gets face lift". Las Vegas Sun. October 9, 2003. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  19. "Sign Of The Times". Las Vegas Review-Journal. July 11, 2003. Archived from the original on October 28, 2004.
  20. "Marquee to be replaced". Las Vegas Sun. July 11, 2003. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  21. Smith, Rod (September 14, 2003). "The Strip: Making their marquee". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on October 5, 2003.
  22. Smith, Rod (September 27, 2003). "Treasure Island to pass the buc at auction: Pirate memorabilia up for sale as Strip hotel shifts identity". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on December 27, 2004.
  23. "MGM Mirage Sells Treasure Island". The Wall Street Journal. 16 December 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  24. "Want to be a superhero? Now you can 'train' to be one at Treasure Island". Las Vegas Sun. 15 June 2016.
  25. "Briton jailed over Trump death plot". BBC News Online. December 13, 2016. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
  26. Schulz, Bailey (July 25, 2019). "Treasure Island in Las Vegas joining Radisson brand". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  27. "The Steve Wynn Show: Treasure Island The Adventure Begins". VegasTripping.com.
  28. Bierbaum, Tom (26 January 1994). "Tremors, TDs propel CBS". Variety. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  29. Cling, Carol (April 12, 2004). "Production on Bullock's 'Miss Congeniality 2' set to start". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on March 12, 2005.
  30. Cling, Carol (April 19, 2004). "'Congeniality' continues work; 'Crossfire,' 'Tonight Show' on way". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on October 30, 2004.
  31. Cling, Carol (April 26, 2004). "NBC drama 'Las Vegas' prepares to film exterior scenes". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on November 14, 2004.
  32. Cling, Carol (May 3, 2004). "'Miss Congeniality 2' prepares to film at Treasure Island". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on December 22, 2004.
  33. LVRJ Readers' Poll Archived 2011-03-25 at the Wayback Machine
  34. Clarke, Norm (July 6, 2003). "Treasure Island show sails into history". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on July 9, 2003.
  35. "Holiday weekend a busy one". Las Vegas Sun. July 7, 2003. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  36. Weatherford, Mike (July 8, 2003). "Sea Change: Treasure Island's popular pirate show closes to make way for TI's 'sirens'". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on December 29, 2004.
  37. Clarke, Norm (October 26, 2003). "New show at TI delivers the goods". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on December 28, 2004.
  38. Sirens of TI Press Release Archived 2008-08-08 at the Wayback Machine
  39. Weatherford, Mike (May 11, 2003). "Will sexy pirates be hip?". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on September 23, 2004.
  40. Clarke, Norm (November 22, 2013). "Treasure Island closes Strip-side 'Sirens of TI' show". Las Vegas Review Journal.
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