Casino Royale’s casino history begins with the Nob Hill, which opened in July 1978. After a closure in 1990, the casino reopened under Tom Elardi as Casino Royale on January 1, 1992. Its hotel has an earlier history. Those dates describe different stages of the small property at 3411 South Las Vegas Boulevard.
The motel beside the Nob Hill
The hotel accommodation began as the Caravan Motor Hotel in 1964 and later used the Travelodge affiliation. The Nob Hill casino opened beside that motel and a Denny’s restaurant. Claudine Williams and partners associated with the nearby Holiday Casino operated it. The later hotel-casino complex brought together elements that had not all opened as one integrated resort.
Closure, reopening and a common facade
The Nob Hill closed in November 1990 when its lease ended. The Elardi family remodeled it before the 1992 Casino Royale reopening. Further work during 1993–1995 enlarged the casino, added parking and connected the casino, hotel and restaurant behind a coordinated facade. The European-style frontage helped give the low buildings a common identity beside the Strip’s much larger resorts.
The Elardi years
The Elardi period also intersected with the bitter labor dispute at the family’s Frontier resort. Casino Royale faced picketing because of that shared ownership; the Frontier and Casino Royale were nevertheless different properties. Las Vegas Advisor’s 2022 retrospective places the family’s business history in that wider context. The dispute should not be mistaken for evidence that the two casinos occupied the same site.
The Best Western affiliation
A Best Western affiliation added another name to the hotel operation in 2012. That was not a newly opened casino. The Advisor account distinguishes the hotel association from the Elardi land and gaming interests. The current operator presents the property as Best Western Plus Casino Royale, combining hotel accommodation with casino activity on a comparatively compact Strip site.
A small property beside large resorts
The July 2015 photograph makes that scale visible: Casino Royale’s low frontage sits in front of the separate Venetian and Palazzo towers. The tall tower and neighboring restaurant signs are not all part of Casino Royale. Advertised prices and businesses in this dated view are historical. The map locates the current hotel-building area, rather than the precise outline of every former motel or the original Nob Hill casino.