Treasure Island Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas Strip, Las Vegas, Nevada
Image by Ken Lund
Treasure Island Hotel & Casino (also known as "TI") is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, USA with 2,664 rooms and 220 suites, and is connected by tram to The Mirage as well as pedestrian bridge to the Fashion Show Mall shopping center. Since March 2009, TI is owned and operated by real estate investor Phil Ruffin.
The hotel received the AAA Four Diamond rating each year from 1999 through 2013.
Treasure Island was opened by Mirage Resorts in 1993 under the direction of Steve Wynn at a cost of US0 million. It was designed by architect Joel Bergman. The initial plans called for a tower addition to The Mirage, but later evolved into a full-fledged separate hotel casino resort. Treasure Island originally intended to attract families with whimsical pirate features and icons such as the skull-and-crossbones strip marquee, a large video arcade, and staged pirate battles nightly in "Buccaneer Bay" in front of the casino entrance on the Strip.
Roger Thomas former senior vice president and director of interior design for Atlandia Design, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mirage Resorts Incorporated designed the interior of Treasure Island Hotel and Casino.
In 2003, the hotel largely abandoned its pirate theme for a more contemporary resort with a focus on adult amenities and services. The original arcade and kid-friendly pool areas were replaced with an adult-friendly hot tub, contemporary nightclub and party bar. The famous skull-and-crossbones sign at the Strip entrance was replaced by one reading simply "TI" that is also a large LCD video screen. The exterior color of the hotel was also changed from a light orange to a darker maroon color.
On December 15, 2008, MGM Mirage announced the resort would be sold for US5 million to Phil Ruffin, former owner of the New Frontier Hotel and Casino. Ruffin took full ownership of the hotel and casino resort on Friday, March 20, 2009.
On October 21, 2013, The Sirens of TI show closed in order to add a new multi-level shopping and entertainment mall scheduled to open in February 2015.
