Picture the scene here in November 1966, when Howard Hughes arrived by private train at 4 a.m. and checked into the Desert Inn's top-floor penthouse. Howard Hughes, the aviator-turned-billionaire who had become one of the most reclusive figures in America, checked into the Desert Inn's top-floor penthouse. He arrived at 4 a.m. by private train, was carried up to his suite on a stretcher, and did not leave for four years.
When management asked Hughes to vacate the penthouse — they needed it for high-rolling New Year's guests — Hughes responded by buying the hotel for $13.25 million. This was the beginning of a buying spree that would see him acquire the Sands, the Castaways, the Frontier, the Silver Slipper, and the Landmark, becoming at one point the largest employer in Nevada.
Hughes's presence transformed Las Vegas in unexpected ways. He pushed the Nevada Gaming Control Board to force the mob out of casino management, arguing that organized crime made legitimate investors nervous. He was right, and his campaign — however self-interested — accelerated the corporate takeover of Las Vegas that would define the next generation of resort development. Hughes spent his final years in his penthouse, refusing food, allowing his fingernails and hair to grow unchecked, watching ice station Zebra repeatedly in a darkened room. The Desert Inn was demolished in 2001. The Wynn Las Vegas stands on its footprint.