Las Vegas Strip street drive from 1988 

Wow. The nostalgia. I miss when table games were the norm. The casino treated people like clients, not like faceless wallets. I miss the simplicity. I miss Lake Mead not dropping 100 feet in level. I miss when $100 bucks was not just a drop in the bucket. Thanks for posting this, it brings back some great memories. Wolfy :)

00:00 Landmark (demolished, now parking) 00:49 Convention Center 00:52 Las Vegas Hilton (now Westgate Las Vegas) 02:55 Foxy’s Firehouse (demolished) 04:48 Circus Circus 05:00 Slots-a-Fun 05:11 Westward Ho (demolished) 05:25 Stardust (demolished; Echelon/Resorts World site) 06:35 Silver Slipper (demolished, 1988) 06:43 Frontier (demolished) 08:05 empty lot (Treasure Island) 08:44 “new casino going up” (Mirage, 1989) 08:50 Caesar’s Palace 09:55 Dunes (demolished; Bellagio) 10:40 Jockey Club 10:52 empty lot (City Center, Monte Carlo) 11:44 Desert Rose Motel (demolished; NY NY) 11:50 Lone Palm Motel (demolished; NY NY) 12:20 empty lot (Excalibur) 12:45 empty lot (Luxor) 12:50 Hacienda (demolished; Mandalay Bay) - car turns around 14:09 White Sands Motel 14:20 Tropicana 15:00 Marina (closed; building exists in the MGM Grand structure) 15:38 Motels: Full Moon, Monie Marie, Del Rey Motel, Gold Rush Inn, Jamaica Motel, Tahiti Motel (all demolished) 16:18 Aladdin (demolished; Planet Hollywood) 16:50 shopping center (Paris Las Vegas) 16:58 Bally's 17:28 Barbary Coast (The Cromwell) 17:39 Flamingo 18:02 Imperial Palace (The Linq) 18:09 Holiday Casino (Harrah's) 18:29 Nob Hill (Casino Royale) 18:32 Sands (demolished; The Venetian) 19:17 Tam O’Shanter, Imperial 400 Motel (demolished; Palazzo) 20:05 empty lot (Wynn) 20:20 Desert Inn (Wynn/Encore) 20:15 Monaco Inn (demolished for widening of Desert Inn Dr) 21:35 Silver City (Ross Dress for Less) 21:45 Morocco Motel (demolished) 21:54 La Concha Motel (demolished) 22:00 Riviera 22:29 Algiers (demolished; Fontainbleu site) 22:32 El Rancho (demolished; Fontainbleu site) 23:08 Sahara (SLS Las Vegas) - 23:59 Foxy’s Firehouse (demolished) 23:25 Holiday Motel 24:31 Rancho Anita Motel, Sulinda Motel (demolished, now Stratosphere parking)

My Daughter lives in Las Vegas now and i'm up there at least 4 to 5 times a year, started coming to Vegas in the late 70's - early 80's this video is like a history lesson on how much has changed in the past 35 -40 years

A lot of people here reminiscing about Vegas in the 80's. It's funny, because in the Clint Eastwood movie The Gauntlet, there is a scene where a cab driver goes on about how choked up Vegas traffic is now, and how good the old days were. And that was in 1977! Haha. So it's all relative, and you grow attached to what you grew up seeing.

I miss this Vegas...lasted from 1982 till 2005 and had to get out. It just wasn't the same anymore.

priceless footage. Thanks for posting

I enjoyed vegas back then. They took care of the gambler and people still new your name and the comps were good. Vegas today is nothing but high priced food, high end retailers, and corporations pinching every fucking penny out of you they can. It's almost like the gambler doesn't even matter to these people anymore. It sucks.

I worked at the landmark from 1985 to 1986. Loved vegas then. I was so young

So much of the Strip I had forgotten. The Silver Slipper? How could I have forgotten it? We walked the strip from one end to the other two or three times a year, like so many others, and I completely forgot about some of these places. For those who are still pining for the Dunes...We stayed there about 2 months before they demolished it. It was time for it to go. It's hard to remember so much dead space between casinos on the south end. Thanks so much for posting this. It really takes me back.

Dear Sir. whoever you are. Thank you for sharing this precious video. I always tell people that I wish I had my digital camera and could walk the Strip from end to end in 1955 to record for history what Las Vegas was like in its classic day. When I first visited Vegas in 1967 we only stayed one night at the Imperial 400 Motel. I have been trying to find exactly where on the Strip that was. It clearly shows in your video and now I see that it has been engulfed by the Venetian and Sands Convention Center since the next intersection was "Sands Ave." And all the other places. I recall the Hacienda being the last isolated casino on the Strip before heading back to California. I never ventured off the strip so I missed seeing the Landmark. Note free parking, service stations right on Las Vegas Blvd, several empty lots, La Concha motel (now at the Neon Museum), the Marina, and the Dunes (no Bellagio). I will save this video to refer to when seeking out the placement of the other buildings. Glad you had the forethought to record an important era of Las Vegas. The Strip now is a gaudy cesspool. No character. Expensive food (Bachanal Buffet $60), $25 parking fee, resort fees, $200 show tickets, people dressed like they just finished gardening or forgot to put clothes on over their underwear, and eye hurting LED displays that make you think that you are in hell. Too bad.

Fascinating video, thank for shooting, editing and uploading to RU-vid!!

Thank you for taking the time to film. Brings back a ton of memories!!!

Thanks for sharing. Great, happy memories. Those were the days.

Rest in Peace "Wet N' Wild" 23:00. What an amazing time capsule of Vegas in the '80s. Thank you dave!

My first trip to LV was back in 2015 and this blows my mind how much open space there is. I'd love to go back in time and take all of this in. Amazing.

I remember that. I mover there in 77 I worked at the PaddleWheel as a cocktail server back then...the paddle wheel was one of the first casinos in the clip.. nothing looks even remotly close the that now

Wow. It's like taking a trip back in time. The Strip sure has changed in 30 years. Great archive. Thanks for posting.

I was born in 1996, and to see what this place looked liked in the decade I wish I was alive in, is pretty dang cool!

Dude, THANK YOU. me and my wife started dating in 1987 and our place was definitely Las Vegas. We always stayed at the Tropicana in the garden rooms and played at the Hilton, Riviera, and the Golden Nugget. We are beside ourselves with excitement about your videos. We cannot thank you enough for the look back at how Vegas used to be. thanks again.

Wow, the Monaco tower at the RIV was being built. Great video, thanks for sharing.

Yeah those where the days. The meal prices on the marquees that was a bargain then even with inflation . The Casino Hotels made there money on gambling they didn't over price you on the food and rooms. Like today

1988 was one of my first trips to Vegas,, I think I just saw myself heading in for nite !! 🤠

Anyone remember the .99 midnight steak dinner at Binions downtown? good food had to wait in line to be seated, around 1982-83 ! the good ole' days

Been here since 77 and couldn't remember what was there back then. Your video is fantastic. I just never realized just how barren it was from Caesars to the Hacienda!! Yhe only people that could possibly say that the strip looked like crap are the spoiled ass kids born with everything. Not realizing they are the basis for the casinos we have now..they should appreciate and respect our history a little more. But on a good note, thank you so much for this. Almost got a tear when I saw Wet n Wild!

I love the 1980’s! ❤️

Oh I love this! I was dancing at the Tropicana in Les Folies Bergere when you were filming. I so miss the good old days! And the Aladdin! Miss Miss! Thank you for sharing

I live here now and I love seeing these videos. It's changed so much!

Thank you so much for taking us along. And, thank even more whoever furnished the minute markers to ID the properties past-present-future. Loved the "old" (like a Hitchcock film in B&W). But, "time stands still for no man." I'm going to actually watch this again because I want to pay careful attention to the minute-marker notes. Nice touch in driving both sides.

Thank you very much for uploading and sharing this video with all of us. It made my day today by taking us down memory lane.

Back in 1984 I had a chance to move to Vegas for work as an architect. I have been kicking myself for years for not taking that offer. Great video.

Vegas was wonderful in the 80's. I remember when the Bananno family sent me to Vegas back in 1984 to take care of some business. I liked it so much here that decided to stay.

Thanks for the memories!!! I'm still hoping 🙏 that the theme Hotels make a return

Watching this video brings back a lot of good memories. Thank you!

Great video thanks. I was in Jubilee 83-86 so this brought back lots of happy memories. Thanks for sharing this video!

I adore Las Vegas and this was an outstanding piece of film. Thank you for the upload.

Love this video. Feb of 2020 here as I just watched it. I'm so old I remember the low prices. In fact I was watching a rerun of the old Vegas TV show just a couple of days ago. One of the casinos had listed on one of the marquees Chicken Dinner 99¢ and Steak Dinner $1.99! It may have been at the Desert Inn where Dan Tana worked out of. Good memories with this video. Bravo!

Oh, David, thank you so much for posting this. I just received this recently and this was my first chance to watch it in its entirety. My husband and I went out for years and always stayed at the Riv. Sadly, the last time we went out on a regular basis was 1988. We went back in 2015 and I could not believe how much it had changed (getting ready to raze the Riv in 2016, too), how many hotels had been razed. Arco gas was 73 cents a gallon, all the headliners, how open it was then. What wonderful memories. Thank you so much for that. Those were good times.

Nice job capturing all this. It's really not that long ago, but most of the Strip is so desolate! I especially enjoy seeing the future site of Bellagio which, at the time, contained the Oasis and Dunes. Just amazing how it's all changed.

At 8:22 you can see the cranes in the background that are building the mirage, which opened a year after this video

i was living there when you filmed this... thanks for the memories

Wow! What a blast from memory lane. Living in Vegas for the last two years I rode right along side you in this video remembering the places I used to frequent MANY years ago and knowing what has risen in their place. (And also sadly remembering what used to be in the vacant or now half finished buildings.) Thank you for this trip!

Thank you so much for posting. Very cool video. Amazing how empty the strip was in 1988.

Great job! It was so easy to bump around Vegas back then!! Cruise from Downtown to the Strip in 8 minutes...

Thank you for putting this up. I've been going to vegas every year since 2007. I always wanted to know what old vegas looked like

Great vintage footage. Nice to see it on video rather then pictures and trying to figure out where things were. I've been coming here since 2011, living here 3 years now, so many changes. My brother hasn't been here in about 25 years, I told him he won't recognize it next time he comes.

so cool to see the southern end of the strip when none of it had been built yet! these old videos are always great knowing what is to come and to appreciate the history...

I remember driving to Las Vegas from California the first time by myself in 1990. No hotel reservation and just got the hint of where to live by looking at the ad on the billboard in California desert. I end up checking in Aladdin hotel for $25 per night in the motel style room in the back. Lunch buffet was around $5 at the time. Steak and lobster in Stardust was 7.99. At that time I did not adventure with the local casino away from the strip. Those prices could be even more amazing.

The Riviera looked completely different back then.

Wow the gift shop on Sahara hasn't change and they were more motels than casinos on the strip back then, interesting

Such an awesome upload. 30 years after this was shot, this is pretty much unrecognizable! Love the wide open spaces...especially southbound on the strip .Basically no clutter back then. No Treasure Is., no Mirage...I suspect that may have been in the early plans of construction, planning. I just remember that opening when I was in high school and wanted to see it..lol, Maybe those old run down motels, leveling them was for the best...that's what looks like takes up the majority of the LV Strip. Love the billboard "Siegfried and Roy at Frontier Hotel/Casino" I was there in late 96, early 97...and sure it was more built up by then. Still...so different compared to today.

This is amazing! Thank you for uploading it!

Vegas in the 80’s was the best. It was before the large gaming corporations took over and decided to make profit centers out of every aspect of the operation. Deals abounded for the tourist and local alike. Cheap rooms, great food for less, free live music lounge acts, and drinks were free for the asking. Not anymore. Thanks for the memories!

Thank you for posting this! Even though I moved to Vegas when I was quite young in 1989, I still remember some of these casinos. The Desert Inn had the best sunday brunches in its showroom! I saw a show at both the Dunes and inside the grand theater at the Aladdin. The Boardwalk Casino and it's hobo stew (and 1c extra dozen donuts). The Hacienda and the little, crappy arcade I spent way too much of my childhood in. And the best mexican restaurant Tres Lobos inside the Stardust, with the Frontier's a close second (I miss the tortillas they used to serve instead of chips!).

Wow! I remember going when I was a kid. Night and day difference. It's just way too over the top now.

My first trip to Vegas was 1990 as a 12 yr old. It’s crazy how much it’s changed. I remember staying at the Circus Circus and eating dinner at the the Frontier and watching the thunderstorms from the entrance of the Frontier that were going off in the vast NW Desert whats now the Summerlin Durango area. Also lived in Vegas for a while about 20 yrs ago. Watching this makes it seem like such a long time ago lol. Almost unrecognizable now.

Love this clip. Thanks for putting this online. I love Las Vegas but only went for the first time in 2006. Been back each year but I wish I'd gone earlier. This clip has just become my instant favourite.

I watched a couple of demolitions back even before this video.....implosions! Really cool to see!

So much fun! this video, thank you for sharing this amazing piece!

Thank you so much for this! It was killing me trying to remember the name of a casino I saw a few years ago. It was silver city

My first visit to Vegas was as a kid in the summer of '88...boy has it changed.

born and raised here. 1968 to present. thanks for the memories

Thanks for uploading. This video makes me wonder how Vegas looked back then and caught my attention.

I never got a chance to experience Las Vegas during that era. But this video is the closest thing to a time capsule. For that, I thank you !!

I liked going to Vegas around this time. You never saw parents with their kids and people gambled. Now you have all these people who come for the shopping, dance clubs, expensive food and worst of all parents who vacation here and bring the kids. IMHO this place sucks right now. In want full pay blackjack and 2.99 steak and eggs. Not Gucci stores and $30 buffets.

Ugh what I wouldn’t do just to travel back to the 80’s/90’s. I was born and raised in vegas, but I wasn’t born until 1997 so I never got to enjoy ANY of this. Nowadays I obsess over “retro” memorabilia & merchandise just to tie me closer to the good ol days. The strip now is still super exciting and lively, but I wish we could go back to this. The simplicity, affordable prices, open space, and there weren’t people walking around doing the most like they do now.

my roomate went freakin nuts describing this video about the changes over the years, thank you!!

Wow ! Thanks for putting this up! Brings back so many memories!

This is great! I've been going to Vegas at least twice a year since the mid 90's for business. Incredible how different it was even from your video to then. Of course now it's very dramatic. Thanks for posting!

Thank you so much for sharing, sure bring lots of memories

There was so much open space on the strip back then. The city is always changing and reinventing itself.

First of all WOW! Thanks for the video. I moved to vegas in '94 and thought i had seen the changes, your vid really puts my opinion in check. I missed a lot of the transformation.

great video! thanks for uploading. The last shred of what Vegas 'used' to be!

Thanks for sharing this, great to see some of the old buildings. Your video actually captured the Monaco tower being built at the Riviera. Kind of strange that the whole thing will likely be imploded this year.

Thanks for posting! What a great trip down The Strip! I

Great footage to have , thanks for posting .

Great video.... back when you went to Vegas and enjoy every minute...

besides enjoying what the old vegas strip was like, I got a real kick looking at the 80's cars! That Town Car tho!

23:02 Wet 'n Wild! so many fun times there.

Yes, I am originaly from Detroit, moved to Las Vegas in 1984.

Very cool video thank you for posting. Las Vegas has changed quite a lot .

Thank you for sharing. Great video!

that would have been a monday. I was working at McCarran, 4pm to midnight fueling airplanes while I was a college student at UNLV. Best job I ever had, I worked monday thru thursday and had 3 day weekends. I had a blast and would often be able to pick up on women while I was working. I think I was at $14 - $15 an hour, I was the only student who owned a townhouse and didnt have to live on campus. I also remember riding my CBR1000 Hurricane up and down the strip, I was living the dream. I could write a book about my life while in college, the stories and experiences I had would make a great movie.

Thank you for this memory lane video... I moved there in 1988.. Was so exciting back then.. You really got value for your money before greed, southern California and Mexico basically ruined it starting in the mid to late 90's until present... All the best hotels have been torn down.. The ranchero with the giant bowling ally upstairs... The showboat with the largest bowling ally in the world 104 lanes.. Vegas still has the Boulder hwy though with Samstown......

Oh my god....30 years ago....still remember that old Strip....Thnx for vid...

Watching this video, brings back a lot of memories. Watching make me think back, when Las Vegas really was not "Kid Friendly". Thank You! For sharing this video. seeing everything that use to be there, is just really cool. Once Again...Thank You! I know the video was not shot in HD...LOL! But kind of wish it was...Just a little better. But still good.

Amazing historical video! Thanks!

Thanks for the memories.. my first trip was in 92 ... brings back some awesome memories

I just got back from Vegas a couple weeks ago and i miss it already. My sister and her family lives in North Las Vegas up by the Aliante it's a good 15-20 minute drive to the strip but i still love it anyway. I'm going back in late June. Can't wait!

This is great to see for me , thanks for posting Ive been visiting for a few years now , first time in 98, interested in the history of the place , recently visited the Neon boneyard where they have restructured the La Concha reception, great to see this and where the La Concha Stood near Riviera. Well done for having the forsight to film.

Thank you for the memories.

Thank you for sharing this

I love Vegas now, been going every year since 2007. But Vegas looks like it was much more fun back then.

wow the strip has changed so much in just 25 years. i personally didn't have any real exposure to Vegas until 2008 and have been a few times a year ever since. i greatly appreciate you putting up this video i really enjoyed seeing what it looked like then. it is weird though to think i was only 3 when this was made.

Good video Delicious Dave, I enjoyed that immensely.

thank you for posting. Boy has Vegas changed.

Excellent video! Brings back memories of how things were there.

Very cool to see. This is around the first time I went to Vegas..Doesn't even look like the same place nowadays and not for the better

It's crazy to see how different Vegas is now. I was a baby/kid during this time when I lived there and remember those old hotels that they demolished. Ahhh good times 😊

Excellent vid!!! Hard to believe all the changes. I visit 4 to 5 times a year & it's krazy how it never ends

Watching this takes me back. I miss these old hotels. The current skyline is just too depressing. But, at least I can say that I saw great change from childhood.