Sands Hotel and Casino started as a casino with 200 rooms.
The Sands Hotel and Casino was a historic hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada , United States , that operated from 1952 to 1996 . The hotel was opened on December 15 , 1952 as a casino with 200 rooms , and was established less than three months after the opening of another notable landmark , Sahara Hotel and Casino . In the mid 1960s , Sands and its adjacent properties were bought by the reclusive businessman Howard Hughes , who built a 500-room tower and modernized the hotel .