I hear you. I, like a lot of people, miss things despite rarely visiting when they were around. “)

Got a free two-night stay at the Riv years ago. Probably about a decade, maybe 12 years ago. I didn’t ask for any special accommodations, I took what they gave me. I was traveling solo, so I had nobody to impress.

The room was OK, but I had stayed at Orleans 3 nights prior, and those two nights at the Riv were definitely a let down. Room wasn’t awful, it was better than what I got for next to nothing in 2011 at Las Vegas Club. That was a bit unnerving. Riviera was just tired and dated. It wasn’t unclean, but I didn’t want to come back, even for a free room.

Given the age, and lack of upkeep, and the loss of action around the Riv: No more Stardust, Frontier or Westward Ho, the Riv was nearly an island. They seemed to stop trying, from gambling to shows to dining…it was as if they were just driving a car without any maintenance, waiting for it to break down so they could scrap it.

Lets not revise history, The Aladdin was not “torn down” to build Planet Hollywood, they did a piece by piece remodel… And the Rivera was a flea bag dump at the end, my wife had to stay there for a business trip and she almost came home because it was substandard and uncomfortable… We saw Splash, it would have been at least a decent show if The Riviera had not packed us like sardines, it left a mark…

Or do like they did witl Aladdin, tear it down and build it back up… So Riveria 2

I said that on day one.. There was no reason for them to buy it as they wasn’t going to occupy all that space from the rear to the strip of the Riv.. They simply bite off more than they can chew.. I’m sure plans changed now due to covid also… They wanted all this convention space and then once covid hit people stopped going and now want to stay away from crowds by working from home if they can. So they are now taking a conservative approach for convention space. I still stay they didn’t need all that space and the Riv should still be standing today… I guess because no one wanted to buy it, so they sold it to LVCVA.

Too often, the people pining for these lost places have selective amnesia. Like virtually all of the casinos that were demolished, the Riviera was a complete dump at the end.

If the place had been properly maintained and occasionally upgraded over the years, it might not have been imploded. But, even that’s not a given.

Retrofitting a high-rise hotel tower to meet current standards costs a ton of money. Even if you renovate, you end up with nice but tiny rooms (because hotel rooms were smaller back when they were originally built) that can’t beat the newer properties.

Have you driven down the strip lately ? Looks like a war zone. Damaged roadway and orange cones. Our primer street should be a priority to be completed. What area the county commissioners doing ? Hard to attract convention business when we look like a third world country.