Dunes Hotel & Casino Scare

Countless historical accounts of preternatural activity at the legendary Dunes Hotel & Casino of Las Vegas have prompted guests and paranormal investigators alike to question whether those mysterious goings-on have trickled over into the grand Bellagio Casino Hotel that now stands in its former place. Spiritual energy has a tendency to linger in certain locations, even after the original structure is gone.

In its original days, The Dunes was nothing more than another low-rise hotel casino in Las Vegas. Opened in 1955, a new tower was erected in 1961 that took the hotel from average to exclusive, suddenly being one of the largest hotels on the Vegas Strip. Multiple investors guaranteed further renovations that saw yet another tower added, though it is believed the main investor, hidden behind a front man, was actually organized crime boss Raymond Patriarca.
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Throughout the years, all of the top Vegas performers made their way across the stage at The Dunes – Frank Sinatra, Liberace, Dean Martin, Judy Garland, Jayne Mansfield, Phyllis Diller, Violetta Villas, the list goes on. If that wasn’t enough to give The Dunes Hotel bold print on the map of Vegas, the hotel made history when they decided, in a fraught state of near-bankruptcy, to present the first topless show in Nevada. While the state officials were not happy about it, they had to admit it was a phenomenal success, drawing record attendance of 16,000 in the first week alone.

The Dunes changed proprietors numerous times due to pecuniary difficulties. The final exchange occurred in in 1993 when famed Vegas casino operator Steve Wynn purchased the property. It was demolished later that year on October 27, 1993, imploding all but the south tower, which was collapsed by a demolition crew the following year.

Up until that point, paranormal activity had become common around the casino and hotel. Gamblers often told of cold spots in particular areas around the casino. Disembodied voices could be heard whispering among each other in the lounge area on the top floor of the hotel. More times than any skeptic could dismiss, a bluish radiance could be seen hovering in the same area of the lounge, always in the later hours of the evening.

When the haunted Dunes Hotel was no more, Steve Wynn, with the help of his company, Mirage Resorts, devised a new casino hotel. It has become one of the most famous landmarks in Vegas to date, The Bellagio, known for its elegance, its imminent luxury and its breath-taking fountains.

Opened in 1998, the hotel and casinos has usurped its own level of elegance with gratuitous renovations throughout nearly 4,000 guest rooms and indulgent suites. The property has received the AAA Five Diamond award an outstanding 11 times.

Try as they might, both professional and amateur paranormal investigators have been unable to find anything remotely preternatural about the Bellagio Hotel & Casino. Much like the memories of the legendary Dunes Hotel and its influential impact that helped to mold Las Vegas into the City of Sin as we know it today, the ghosts that once haunted the Dunes are little more than a recollection.

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