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Vegas Retold

The history of Marina Hotel and Casino

Opened 1975 Closed November 1990

Marina’s lawn and loungers in 1987, looking south across Tropicana Avenue toward the separate Tropicana hotel.
View south from Marina’s grounds on June 28, 1987. The large hotel across Tropicana Avenue is the Tropicana, not Marina.

Downtowngal / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

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Original source photograph retained without editorial alteration. Responsive displays may resize and crop the presentation.

Marina Hotel and Casino opened on the South Strip in 1975, years before the green MGM Grand towers rose around part of its site. It occupied the east side of Las Vegas Boulevard near Tropicana Avenue and was also known during its final period as MGM Marina. San Remo, later Hooters and OYO, was a separate hotel on East Tropicana; it was not another name for Marina.

Hotel and casino operations

The Marina development was associated with Tom Wiesner and Southwest Securities. Fred Harvey operated the hotel, while Argent operated the casino initially. That division of hotel and gambling operations is part of its identity: Marina was a hotel-casino with its own business history before it became land and retained building space for a larger project.

The surviving records

UNLV’s architectural archive catalogs Airport Marina record drawings dated June 1974 and March 1975, under JMA Architecture Studios. Its collections also preserve Marina show programs, brochures and news clippings. The date range of that publicity folder runs beyond the casino’s operating life; a collection’s latest document date is not proof that the hotel was still open.

MGM Marina and closure

Kerkorian acquired the property for his next MGM project around 1990. Marina briefly carried the MGM Marina name before closing in November that year. A March 1991 news report already described Marina and the adjoining Tropicana Country Club as closed, with a hotel and theme park planned for their sites. The three-year gap before the new MGM Grand opened should not be counted as continued Marina operation.

Part of the building continues

The transition was more complicated than a complete demolition or a simple sign change. At the October 1991 groundbreaking, the existing hotel was slated for renovation into the new complex. A later published hotel guide confirms that part of the Marina structure became accommodation inside MGM Grand. Marina’s independent operation ended, while part of its building continued in a different resort.

A view from the grounds

The photograph gives a period view from Marina’s grounds on June 28, 1987. The lawn and loungers are in the foreground, with the separate Tropicana hotel across the avenue. It shows Marina’s setting rather than the face of its tower. The approximate map marker identifies the former hotel area within the western part of today’s MGM Grand; it does not outline every earlier parcel or identify an entrance.

  1. Marina’s development and the distinct San Remo site

  2. The Airport Marina architectural records

  3. Marina’s surviving publicity records

  4. Closure before the new project

  5. The 1991 groundbreaking and retained Marina building

  6. The earlier hotel incorporated into MGM Grand

  7. The operating MGM Grand in 2026

  8. The approximate western hotel area

  9. The later resort’s Studio Tower area

  10. A view from Marina’s grounds in 1987

What remains uncertain

  • The 1975 opening year is supported, but exact opening-day references conflict; no exact day is selected.
  • Closure is stated at November 1990 precision. The 1993 date belongs to the new MGM Grand opening.
  • MGM Marina was a later name of Marina. San Remo/Hooters/OYO was a separate property.
  • Only part of the hotel was incorporated into MGM Grand. The map is approximate and does not establish the full former footprint.
  • The prominent hotel in the 1987 photograph is Tropicana across the avenue; the photograph looks out from Marina’s grounds.

This site through time

Replaced by MGM Grand Las Vegas

1993

Marina, briefly called MGM Marina, closed in November 1990. The MGM Grand development replaced its independent resort operation and also used the neighboring Tropicana Country Club grounds, opening in December 1993. Part of Marina’s hotel structure was renovated and incorporated into the new complex. This was a larger successor resort with partial building reuse, rather than a simple rename or complete demolition of every earlier building.

Historical source — Wiley Las Vegas hotel guide excerpt, PDF page 75 / printed page 106, confirms that part of MGM Marina was incorporated into MGM Grand. UPI’s March 5, 1991 report places closure in November 1990; its October 7, 1991 groundbreaking report describes the planned renovation of the retained hotel. MGM’s 2026 fact sheet gives December 18, 1993 as the new resort’s opening. Both property histories list the source links and limits of the available evidence.

  • The new development occupied a larger site than Marina alone. Partial retention is not the same as a complete demolition or a rename of the entire resort.
  • The relationship is dated to the successor’s 1993 opening year; closure and construction occurred earlier.
  • Marina is separate from San Remo/Hooters/OYO, and this MGM Grand is separate from the original 1973 MGM, now Horseshoe.
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