After several unsuccessful years, Joe Kelley took over management, and began successfully targeting local customers with forty-nine cent breakfast specials and other promotions. The Showboat opened on September 3, 1954. While Moore and Houssels ran the hotel, the casino was leased by a group of managers from the Desert Inn, including Moe Dalitz. The first resort within Las Vegas city limits, it had 100 rooms on two floors.
Kell Houssels of the Las Vegas Club for $2 million. History Showboat (1954–2000) Showboat facade and swimming pool, seen in 1961
However, construction never started on the project, and much of the property was redeveloped as the Showboat Park Apartments, opened in 2021. The Castaways hotel was demolished on Januto make way for a new resort.
The hotel consisted of a 19 story tower containing 445 rooms, a casino and an adjacent RV park. The Showboat Hotel and Casino, known as the Castaways Hotel and Casino from 2000-2004, was a hotel and casino located at the north end of the Boulder Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada.
