The Las Vegas Aladdin was one of the old hotels of Vegas, and had been around on the strip in one form or another since 1966. If anything represents the excesses and the high stakes of Vegas, its the Aladdin: continued expansion leading to a huge sprawling hotel that covered 36 acres; mob involvement; implosion in 1998; $1.4 billion rebuild in 2000, closely followed by bankruptcy when the new look Aladdin, complete with 2,600 rooms and an entire mile of shopping within its walls, was simply ignored by the passing public!

The Aladdin was rescued and so continued trading, but since 2007, it’s been turned into Planet Hollywood. It’s still the same building underneath, but it looks completely different from the outside.  read more »