Las Vegas Weekly

November 15, 2008 · 12:47 PM

Without notice (almost), Palms turns 7 today

By Robin Leach

Paris Hilton and that famous dress, November 2001.

Photo: Las Vegas Sun

It may be very low-key and almost overlooked by everybody else, but congratulations are in order today for hotel tycoon George Maloof and his family as they quietly celebrate the 7th anniversary of the opening of the Palms.

Back in 2001, less than 90 days after the horrendous, deadly attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., George opened the first tower of his property with a glitzy, glamorous, star-studded party led by socialite Paris Hilton, who was wearing a stunning dress accented with gaming chips. Celebrities dined at the brand new N9NE steakhouse and partied until dawn at the debut night of the Rain nightclub.

George mixed up the ultimate success formulae of appealing to locals by day and to celebrity visitors by night. He took on the Hard Rock Hotel's then-monopoly of music stars and went on to build the Fantasy Tower for Hugh Hefner's only existing Playboy Club, a superrecording studio and the Pearl Theater. Over the seven short years, he's played host to MTV and VH1 awards and reality shows and earlier this year opened the third tower there: Palms Place.

Congratulations from everybody at Vegas DeLuxe to George, the Maloof family and all the Palms team members!

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