Westgate Walking Tour
9 discoveries Audio narration
Westgate’s hotel tower and entrance on May 11, 2022. The signs and Barry Manilow banner record that period, decades after the International and Hilton eras.
Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino began as the International Hotel in July 1969. Designed by Martin Stern Jr., it stood off the Strip beside the Las Vegas Convention Center. The same resort later carried the Las Vegas Hilton and LVH names before becoming Westgate in 2014. Its changing names explain why older accounts describe a familiar place differently.
A resort built in stages
The hotel did not reach its later size all at once. The National Fire Protection Association’s investigation records the original central tower opening in July 1969, followed by an east tower in 1975 and a north tower in 1979. These phases belong to an expanding complex, rather than three independently opened casino identities.
Elvis at the International
Elvis Presley began performing at the International on July 31, 1969. Westgate’s retrospective traces his repeated engagements through his final show there in December 1976. This was a performance venue and hotel during his later Las Vegas career. His 1967 wedding at the original Aladdin was a different event at a different property.
The Hilton years and fire
The resort carried the Las Vegas Hilton name from 1971 until 2012. During that period, a fire on February 10, 1981, killed eight people. The NFPA investigation describes flames spreading vertically along the building’s exterior. This was a separate disaster from the November 1980 MGM Grand fire at the property now called Horseshoe; the hotel names and sites should not be interchanged.
LVH and the Westgate acquisition
After the Hilton branding ended, the resort used LVH—Las Vegas Hotel and Casino—from 2012. Westgate’s acquisition closed on June 30, 2014; its announcement the following day introduced the Westgate Las Vegas name. The buyer planned to convert some accommodation into timeshare villas while retaining a substantial hotel operation. That transaction and renovation did not create an entirely new casino on demolished hotel grounds.
The continuing resort
The current operator describes Westgate as a hotel, casino and timeshare resort at 3000 Paradise Road. The representative map point identifies the resort area, not Elvis’s suite or a theater entrance. Jason Woodhead’s May 2022 photograph shows the tower in its Westgate period, with a Barry Manilow banner and monorail nearby. It is not an image of the International during Elvis’s residency.
Read the full historySources and context
The original resort’s architect
Operator’s construction-history FAQ: Martin Stern Jr. designed the International Hotel, opened in 1969 and later renamed Westgate.
The 1981 Hilton fire investigation
NFPA fire investigation, preserved in a Nevada legislative exhibit: abstract and background, printed pages 1–2. Records eight deaths in the February 10, 1981 fire, exterior vertical fire spread, and tower openings in July 1969, 1975 and 1979.
Elvis’s performance years
Operator’s Elvis retrospective: first show on July 31, 1969 and final engagement in December 1976. Repeated engagements are distinguished from continuous daily performances; promotional show totals are omitted.
The Hilton and LVH name periods
Operator’s Hilton-history FAQ: Las Vegas Hilton, 1971–2012; LVH, 2012–2014. The current resort address is 3000 Paradise Road.
The completed Westgate acquisition
Westgate announcement, July 1, 2014: acquisition closed June 30, with the new name introduced July 1. Describes planned conversion of some accommodation to timeshares alongside a continuing hotel operation.
The resort’s continuing uses
Operator’s resort FAQ, checked October 20, 2026: continuing hotel, casino and timeshare uses, and the International, Hilton, LVH and Westgate name sequence.
The separate Aladdin wedding venue
Graceland’s official account of Elvis and Priscilla’s May 1, 1967 wedding at the original Aladdin, a separate property from his later International Hotel performance venue.
The mapped resort area
Current mapped resort location and operator address, checked October 20, 2026. The representative point does not identify an entrance, a historical building footprint or a walking route.
The dated photograph
jasonwoodhead23’s May 11, 2022 Flickr photograph, also published on Wikimedia Commons with a recorded Flickr licence review. CC BY 2.0; the exterior and advertising show the Westgate era, not Elvis’s performance years.
July 1969 is the original hotel opening month supported by the fire investigation; Elvis’s July31 debut is a separate event.
The repeated Elvis engagements were not an uninterrupted seven-year daily performance. Promotional sold-out show totals are omitted.
The 1981 Las Vegas Hilton fire and 1980 original MGM Grand fire happened at separate properties.
The current point represents the resort area west of the mapped principal tower. It does not locate original walls, a suite, an entrance or a walking route.
The 2022 photograph shows Westgate-era signs and advertising, not the International or Hilton at the time of Elvis’s shows.
