Less than twenty-four hours from now, the New Frontier Hotel will close the books and the doors on 64 years of operation. RoadsidePictures and I were there yesterday (Saturday) to pay our respects and take some pictures.
People were prying the room number plates off the doors and the waterfalls and streams in the Atrium Tower had been turned off. The folks around the pool seemed to be having a good time but then it was 109 outside.
Inside, we talked with a guy who had been coming to Vegas for over 40 years and loved the Frontier. He looked so sad and dejected as he told us he was being priced off the Strip. "Rooms at the Palms are $250 a night. I can't afford that. But I could afford a room here."
The Old Vegas is quickly giving way to the New Vegas of luxury hotels and ultra-lounges.
We will the miss the Frontier. Not so much for what she is today but for all that she was over the last 64 years.
Be sure to check out our continuing history of the property at our Brief History of the Las Vegas Strip:
http://classiclasvegas.squarespace.com/display/ShowJournal?moduleId=1093544¤tPage=4
The sign is much taller than it looks.
The old vs the new
Trump Tower and the Frontier Parking Lot
Special thanks to RoadsidePictures for allowing us to use these images.