The Desert Inn, also known as the D.I., was a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, which operated from April 24, 1950, to August 28, 2000.

Wilbur Clark, described by Frank Sinatra biographer James Kaplan as a "onetime San Diego bellhop and Reno craps dealer",[4] originally began building the resort with his brother in 1947 with $250,000, but ran out of money.

Author Hal Rothman notes that "for nearly two years the framed structure sat in the hot desert sun, looking more like an ancient relic than a nascent casino".

[5] Much of the financing came from the American National Insurance Company (ANICO),[6] though Clark became the public frontman of the resort while Dalitz remained quietly in the background as the principal owner.

[10] In attendance were a number of mafiosi, including Black Bill Tocco, Joe Massei, Sam Maceo, Peter Licavoli, and Frank Malone in a gala which Barbara Greenspun believed marked the beginning of heavy involvement of the mafia in the development of Las Vegas.

[13] During the 1950s, the hotel often hosted the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Winston Churchill, Adlai Stevenson, Senator John F. Kennedy, and former President Harry S.

[14][15][16] After the Desert Inn opened, so called "bomb parties" famously took place in the hotel's panoramic Sky Room, where patrons could view the detonations from a relatively safe distance while drinking Atomic Cocktails.

[23] In 1964, Clark sold his remaining share in the hotel to Dalitz and business associates Morris Kleinman, Thomas McGinty and Sam Tucker.

The bell captain of the Desert Inn, Jack Butler, remembered Clark: "Wilbur was the greatest guy.

[24] The Desert Inn's most famous guest, businessman Howard Hughes, arrived on Thanksgiving Day 1966, renting the hotel's entire top two floors.

[25] After staying past his initial ten-day reservation, he was asked to leave in December so that the resort could accommodate the high rollers who were expected for New Year's Eve.

[28] The reclusive Hughes continued to live in his penthouse suite at the Desert Inn for four years, never leaving his 250 square feet (23 m2) bedroom.

Usually unclothed, he spent his time "negotiating purchases and business deals with the curtains drawn and windows and doors sealed shut with tape", and did not allow anyone from the hotel staff to come in and clean his room.

Dick Taylor, the CEO of public relations firm Rogers & Cowan recalled: "We had the stars assemble in the casino's presidential suite and then took them in limos to the entrance of the hotel, where the press and hundreds of fans were gathered, like a Hollywood movie premiere.

[30] Also in 1999, Sinatra's and the Rat Pack's estate managers, Sheffield Enterprises Inc., sued the Desert Inn, claiming an infringement of rights in their use of Sinatra's name and persona in its advertising and sales, including the words "Frank", "Ol' Blue Eyes", "the chairman of the Board" and "The Rat Pack".

Sinatra's estate specifically objected to their use in "billboard advertising, marquees, alcoholic beverages and wine menus, and on the front and back of tee-shirts and caps at its gift shop" and alleged photographs of Sinatra and his signature on the walls behind the bar near the entrance to the Starlight Lounge of the Desert Inn.

Or maybe it was that long time residents were beginning to realize that their town was forever changing and would never again be that small, wonderful Entertainment Capital of the World where you could see Sinatra and the Rat Pack or Elvis for dinner and drinks."

[38] Coming a month after the September 11 attacks, the implosion was marked with less fanfare than previous Las Vegas demolition spectacles due to its similarity to the collapse of the Twin Towers.

[4] The driveway into the hotel passed under an "old-fashioned ranch sign" bearing the name Wilbur Clark's Desert Inn in scripted letters.

[7][22] The lounge was located in a three-story, glass-sided tower at the front of the hotel known as the Sky Room, which was the largest structure on the Strip at the time of its construction and commanded views of the mountains and desert all around, as well as overlooked the "Dancing Waters" feature.

[52] In 1997, the Desert Inn underwent a $200 million renovation and expansion by Steelman Partners,[33] giving it a new Mediterranean-looking exterior with white stucco and red clay tile roofs.

[50] The nine-story Palm Tower was completed, the lagoon-style pool was added, and notable changes were made to the Grand Lobby Atrium, Starlight Lounge, Villas Del Lago, and new golf shop and country club.

[58] The course hosted the PGA Tour Tournament of Champions from 1953 to 1966,[47] attracting professional golfers such as Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, and Jack Nicklaus.

[63] In 1958, Tony Martin was signed to a five-year deal at $25,000 per week, making him the highest paid performer in Las Vegas.

[66] In 1979, Jet magazine noted that Wayne Newton was "enthroned" at the Desert Inn as king of entertainment idols", earning $10 million a year, which made him the highest-paid nightclub performer of all time.

[70] In 1992, a week-long celebration of Frank Sinatra's 77th birthday at the Desert Inn was held[76] and later in January it was announced that Sinatra, Liza Minnelli, Paul Anka, Shirley MacLaine, Dean Martin, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme had all signed a two-year engagement agreeing to perform at least five weeks annually.

It is one of the five Las Vegas hotels robbed on New Year's Eve by the characters played by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and others in the film.

[79] In the 1985 film Lost in America, Julie Hagerty's character Linda Howard loses the couple's "nest egg" at the Desert Inn, leading to a memorable scene in which Albert Brooks' character David Howard tries to convince the Casino manager (Garry Marshall) to give them their money back.

David, an ad man, proposes a campaign centered around the generosity of the casino in his case, replete with a jingle: "The Desert Inn has heart...

[88] Robert Maheu, Howard Hughes's head of Nevada operations and publicist for many years, remarked that the "Desert Inn was the gem of Las Vegas".