Eldorado Hotel-Casino
Opened in 1973, the Eldorado was the first hotel-casino north of the railroad on Virginia Street.
The Eldorado Hotel-Casino was the first hotel-casino to be constructed north of the railroad tracks on Virginia Street. Prior to its construction, the block housed a number of businesses including Welsh's Bakery, the Little Waldorf, the Ace Coin Shop, Silver State Camera, the Reno Hotel, and Leo's Den. Principal partners in the project included relatives Don Carano, his uncle William Carano, and his cousin George Siri, along with George Yori, Richard Stringham, and Jerry Poncia.
The eleven-story property opened on May 24, 1973 with 272 hotel rooms, six suites, a 24-hour coffee shop, and a dinner restaurant. Its casino offered 200 slot machines, 15 table games, and a keno game. Befitting its name, the decor was Spanish-themed in shades of gold, black, and brown.
Because the railroad then ran above ground and because the existing casino district was on their south side, many voiced doubts that the Eldorado could succeed. But it beat the odds, and in 1978 the Eldorado expanded, adding more than 130 hotel rooms, more than a dozen additional table games, and 300 more slots.
A major $30 million expansion in 1985 brought a new 20,000-square foot casino floor stretching the length of the entire block, while a new hotel tower brought the number of rooms to 811. The additions went much further, adding a 350-seat buffet called the Market Place (later renamed the Chef's Pavilion). A 500-seat showroom opened in 1997.
The owners of the Eldorado entered into a partnership with Circus Circus in 1993, the same year they constructed a ten-story parking garage on the west side of Sierra Street. The joint venture, the Silver Legacy Hotel-Casino, connected to the Eldorado and Circus Circus via large sky bridges and opened in 1995.
The Eldorado companies became Eldorado Resorts in 1996 and began to purchase and merge with gaming properties in other states in the years to follow. Eldorado Resorts acquired Circus Circus and took full ownership of the Silver Legacy in 2015 and in 2018 branded the three connected properties as "THE ROW," advertising it as a "city within a city." In 2020, Eldorado Resorts acquired Caesars Entertainment and kept the Caesars name. The company celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023.
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