Question: Can you give us an update on what's happening with some of the older hotels? Which ones are going to be torn down when?

Louise in Boulder, Colo.

Answer: There is only one hotel that is absolutely, positively headed toward the wrecking ball.

That is the Boardwalk, between Monte Carlo and Bellagio. No timetable has been set in stone, but later this year or early next it will be torn down to make way for an estimated $4.4 billion development, with up to four hotels, condos and entertainment facilities from parent company MGM Mirage expected to open in phases starting in 2008.

The Frontier is the next most likely to go. The oldest continually operating hotel on the Strip (since 1942) will be replaced by a 3,000-room, $1 billion resort, but that's the extent of the public information out there. My guess is that by this time next year the hotel will be closed or gone.

The Stardust's days are also numbered. Parent company Boyd Gaming has bought up some adjoining land and is rumored to be developing a multi-billion dollar "city within a city" concept like the one replacing the Boardwalk. Again, this is just a guess, but I figure it's unlikely the Stardust will be around by the summer of 2006.

The rumors of the Tropicana's imminent demise have not been greatly exaggerated. The demise has just been delayed a lot. The owners want to tear all or part of it down and build one or two big resorts on the land but keep bumping back their formal announcements of when that will happen. I think 2006 will be the Trop's final year in existence.

The Riviera has been a big question mark. There have been no formal discussions about redeveloping the property, but everyone believes it is ripe for the wrecking ball, especially when neighboring Wynn Las Vegas and whatever replaces the Frontier go up. I figure whatever happens here will get announced after the Frontier and Stardust announcements are made, so it may have a chance to make it to 2007, but probably not much beyond that.

Other hotels rumored to be on the chopping block include the Sahara, Imperial Palace and even Circus-Circus, but I think all of those are unlikely to go away at this particular juncture. It's more likely you'll see improvements or overhauls of those hotels instead of completely new buildings.

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