James Bond will no longer be able to stay at the Tropicana hotel. The film that starred Agent 007 in 1971, "Diamonds Are Forever," greatly contributed to the establishment becoming one of the landmarks of Las Vegas. It was then that Bond, played by Sean Connery, said the following phrase: "I hear that the Hotel Tropicana is quite comfortable."
Those words put the legendary establishment on the map and enriched the history that has shaped the Tropicana Las Vegas -- until now. Almost 70 years old, the hotel, which also had a casino, is closing its doors and will be replaced by a Major League Baseball stadium, the construction of which will cost nearly $1.5 billion. This will happen the demolition of the hotel is completed, which is scheduled for October.
This decision will cause the closure of the third-largest casino in Las Vegas. Although, contrary to what it may seem, it is an appropriate outcome. This is what Charlie Granado, who was a bartender at the Tropicana for the last 38 years, told the AP: "It’s time. It’s ran its course. It makes me sad but on the other hand, it’s a happy ending," said Granado.
It is not surprising news either. According to USA Today, University of Nevada history professor Michael Green said that although it is something "sad for historians," it is not strange that an American town decides to get rid of an emblematic building to build another one more in line with the times:
Hotels built in the 1950s were not designed for the 2020s. The Tropicana’s closing reflects Las Vegas changing to keep up with and get ahead of everyone else. … The times have changed.
This is a similar transformation that a former employee of the establishment, Antioco Carrillo, spoke about. He is a 56-year-old man who lives in Las Vegas and worked for 20 years in the kitchen at the Tropicana. As he explained, his first job in the United States was in that establishment and, for that reason, the closure made him somewhat sad, but he understood that it was because "the city is transforming": "It’s the property that gave me the opportunity to live here. But I think it is a positive move, at the end of the day, because the city is transforming," declared the former employee.
