Dunes casino shoe phone

The following are great memories held by former employees and guests of the
Dunes spanning almost thirty-eight years. If you are a former employee of the
Dunes or you have visited the hotel and have memories you would like to share,
please email me. All comments, whether positive or negative, are welcome. Even
rumors heard about the hotel or any of the figures running it are welcome. Enjoy!

Working late nights as a busboy in the Savoy Room proved to be a memorable experience
for this former Dunes employee:

" I worked in the Savoy Room from until I started there in April of My aunt and
uncle were friends with Martha Goldstein. Her son, Dave Goldstein was an executive with the Dunes
and made it easy for me to hire on there. I was only sixteen at the time so the only job available was as
a busboy. I started out in the main dining room and advanced to the "bosses" section. At that time the
Savoy Room was decorated in blue and gold and was serving an evening buffet nightly. I can still
remember the mushroom shaped light fixtures that hung from the ceiling over the buffet line. I worked
the graveyard shift which was P.M. until A.M. We would get a lot of business after the
midnight show let out at the Casino de Paris showroom. At one time or another I served all of the pit
bosses, shift bosses and their guests. The dealers usually ate at the counter toward the back of the room.
This area was part of the bosses section toward the back by the large glass windows that looked out
onto the shopping arcade and beyond that, the Sea Horse pool and rooms. Every week we had a
different junket come in from various parts of the country. New York, Chicago, Indianapolis, Miami
etc. Even Hong Kong, Mexico and Canada. I waited on "Big" Julie Weintraub from New York many
times. He always sat at table #1, the largest table in the bosses section, and the one table that always
has a telephone on the tabletop. What a character! He would go over the stats on the individuals that
he would fly out and check to see if they were spending enough money at the tables, and if not he would
have them evicted from their rooms in the Diamond. He always associated with all of the celebrities at
table #1 I remember Cary Grant came in the night the original MGM Grand opened across the street.
I served him coffee and shook his hand. He was a real gentleman. Danny Thomas played the
showroom when the Casino de Paris was on its annual hiatus to retool the show. He was also a very
nice person. Redd Foxx came in drunk late one night with two women hanging on him. He had only
one shoe and just sat in a booth and talked away. Everyone just let him ramble on! The Argentian
Gauchos fron the Casino de Paris show were a nightly fixture. Everyone loved them. We had our share
of shady characters as well. You could tell that they were "connected", however I can honestly say that
despite their line of work, every one of these "goodfellas" were always nice to everyone at the Savoy
Room. Table #2 was ALWAYS reserved for Mrs. Gottlieb, wife of Jake Gottlieb. The table was the
only one in the Savoy Room that had a tablecloth and a vase of fresh flowers on it at tall times. She
would dine there every day. Sid Wyman was the best tipper of all. We all called him "Father". He
never tipped less than $, even for just a cup of coffee. If he came in with friends you knew it would
be $ Back then, that kind of tipping was fantastic for a busboy. In the Dunes remodeled
the Savoy Room and went with an awful pink and white color scheme. We all relocated to the second
floor banquet room at the top of the escalators for the duration of the remodeling. Previously, we wore
gold and white jackets with black pants. After the remodel we had to wear pink and white jackets with
black pants. Not very attractive. The Top o' the Strip reminded me of the early mornings when several
of us would ride the shaky service elevator up there on our break to await the underground atomic blast
wave from the Nevada test site. The shock waves would always be felt in Las Vegas and when it went
off the Diamond and that glorious plylon Dunes sign would slightly sway in the after effects. What a
shame that they did not save that huge sign! They just don't make them like that anymore. I can
remember standing at the base of the sign at night and looking up while the red neon made its way up
and down. What a sight!"

Being a young kid living in Las Vegas in the early 's had its advantages. The
following memories are held by the son of a cocktail waitress at the Dunes:

" [My mother] cocktailed in the Lounge and Pit, one of 12 cocktail waitresses there at the time, I
believe ' or ' The Head Doorman at the Dunes, I'm almost certain from the beginning in
'55 through at least '67 and probably way after that, was Tisch (Tischman). Everybody at the Dunes
knew and loved Tisch. In July, , at the age of 12, I moved to LV. The Liston-Patterson fight
was held on July 22, I believe. There wasn't a whole lot for kids to do in those days, hanging at the
Dunes pool (or whatever casino your parents worked) and the go-cart track at the Hacienda (10cents a
lap) was about it in that area of town . Anyway, a buddy of mine and I went to the Thunderbird
everyday the week I moved there to watch Liston train, in the Showroom. It cost a dollar and it was
great watching him spar for a couple hours with the attendant buzz happening before a Heavyweight
Championship. A few days before the fight, held at the Convention Center, which I attended through a
contact my mom had (Cassius' autographed the program on fight night which I still have) I read an
article in the LV Sun Sports section, possibly the Review Journal, but I'm pretty sure it was the Sun,
that Cassius Clay was coming to town. I knew of him because he won the Olympics in '60 but was not
really familiar with his bravado at that point. It would have been the week of July , but if I had
to pin it down, (since I no longer have the article) I would say July It wasn't an article exactly,
it was a poem written by Cassius, and in the rhyme of the six or eight line poem, it said he would be at
the Dunes and even gave the room number, probably so the press would go up to his room for publicity
purposes. We were watching Liston spar, and all of a sudden Cassius shows up; he's at the entrance to
the Showroom challenging Liston and egging him on. Liston was on the stage in the ring. It was really
something, because we thought he was a nutcase at first then we realized it was Cassius. He was doing
all that stuff he later became famous for; I'm the Greatest, Look how pretty I am you ugly bear--all
that. And he was being 'restrained' by his entourage, probably Boudin, et al. from charging the stage
before being escorted out by Security. Liston totally ignored him, but the press was having a field day
with those old fashioned flash bulbs and fedoras it was like a scene from a movie and indelibly etched
in my mind. That day, or maybe the next, [my friend] and I went to his room at the Dunes to get his
autograph. We were greeted by who I now know was Rudy, his brother. We told him why we were there
and he cracked the door open a little more and there was Cassius, on the phone, and he was dressed to
the nines; tie, etc. Rudy told him we wanted his autograph and Cassius motioned us in while still on
the phone and Rudy had us sit on the bed while he finished his call. Then he came over and gave us his
autograph. He was incredibly nice, smiling, asked how we were doing I remember that. I also
appreciated being asked to come in and sit down, rather than wait in the hall. How many people
would do that. As the years passed and I followed his career, court battles, etc., he remained very
special to me and, of course, does to this day. I have the autograph in an autograph book that I bought
that week; it also has Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom who I saw in the Dunes Coffee Shop and recognized
from Guys and Dolls, and a few others from that era (NFS). [My mother] was there when Big Julie's
junkets started. "

Vacationing at the Dunes was always memorable for this hotel guest:

" I loved the Dunes. [My wife and I] spent our honeymoon there in I have returned to visit at
least 10 times after that and was heartbroken when it was imploded. How about the New York style
pastrami sandwiches in the Savoy Room? Or the great Emerald Green Golf Course? Arturo Romero's
Dancing Violins in the Dome? Lazy Relaxing days at the pool having drinks and friendly chats with
the coctail waitresses. Foot long hot dogs for $ shrimp cocktails too! I had rooms and
Spectacular views of the Strip. $ midweek rates for those rooms in !!!! I stayed for 8 days!
Room was right in the miidle of the Diamond Tower, 23rd floor overlooking the strip. The room
itself was not fancy, but fairly large, with a very spacious balcony. I hear the rooms that faced the ends
north and south were a bit different, some with 2 twin beds in them. A funny story.. There was a lady
named Evelyn who supposedly lived at the hotel and other hotels in Vegas who made a living telling
fortunes by the pool. I met her in and had my fortune told after a very nice chat with her. After a
while I realized that she indeed was a bit of a hustler, but it made the afternoon interesting. She was
sort of a stout lady, Greek, I believe,in her 70's with dark leather-like skin from being out in the sun
too much. I felt sorry for her. It semed like she had noone in her life. She hung out with me and some
guys I met from New Jersey who were firemen. Evelyn told me about the "Cary Grant Penthouse
suite". I guess it faced the pool in the diamond tower. I remember a real nice bright morning taking a
walk and heading out back to the golf clubhouse, watching their thisisnl.nl eating breakfast. Regis and
Kathi Lee had Kenny Loggins on and they wer singing "Cody's Song". The landscaping there was
meticulously well cared for. Remember the little pink Bar that was adjacent to the pool? There was a
cocktail waitress there named Shirley who did a great job with a super personality. I went back for the
first time in 8 years ()to notice the Oasis casino. I was a swim coach and looking for a place to
take my athletes to eat a buffet dinner. I of course took them to the dunes and ate on the second floor at
the buffet. I thought the Sultan's Table was a gourmet room. I know they moved it into the room where
the Sultan's Table was as of I believe that they started calling the buffet the Sultan's Buffet or
something like that. "

Keno Running at the Dunes proved to be a one of a kind experience for this former
employee:

" It was in I worked there. I wasn't there very long and to tell you the truth, I hated working
there. I was fresh out of WI. It was my first time away from home and I wasn't prepared for the cold
crule world. I moved from Wisconsin to Las Vegas in and my first job was as a keno runner at
the Dunes Hotel. I was 25 and very naive to the real world. It was summer and very hot in Las
Vegas and my first week on the job I saw 2 men drop dead ! One of a heart attack, and the other was
a dealer I think, of heat stroke. My thought was my god people just drop dead here! Then a week or so
goes by and I had the job pretty well down. I think they gave us 8 minuntes to run and pick up tickets
from the customers and anyway I was so glad when this one woman had turned hers over. That meant
she wasn't playing again so I passed her up and was glad as she was rude each time she played. I went
to sit down with the other girls and this woman came over to our table and proceeded to call me every
name in the book for passing her up. I explaned she had turned her ticket over but she just really made
a scene and I started crying. My co-worker walked the woman back and made it all better. The woman
acted as though she was all that and we were nothing at all. I only made $ a shift at the time, I
guess it was because we were to make tips. But that was a joke because people don't tip when they are
losing and they always lost! Another thing one day was I had these 3 guys come in dressed in suits and
each one had put five thousand down on one number. They did that 3 times in a row and lost. They got
up without tipping me and said I was bad luck! Man I didn't understand people But I loved
working there because I got to eat free during my lunch. I couldn't afford food as my rent took up my
check! "

Even thought they did not stay at the Dunes, this couple reminisced of their memorable
experience at the Dome of the Sea restaurant:

" It was and it was my first trip to Las Vegas. The man that I was with was to be my future
husband, little did I know. He took me to the "Dome of the Sea" for dinner and it was a memory I'll
never forget. It was my first introduction to Oysters Rockefeller and Clams Casino. We ordered a bottle
of Champagne and had a very delightful evening. We didn't stay at the Dunes that night, but the
dinner was fabulous. I felt very sad that they destroyed the hotel, because it was a moment in my life
when I knew what true love was about. We are still together and reminisce about that evening. "

Staying at the Dunes was more than a vacation for this hotel guest It was a second
home:

" For my high school graduation we went to the Dunes, as we had done over the years. My father
John was the insurance agent to Bob Rice, one of the owners, and we were treated to discounted rooms
(when such things were rare). Vy Kaufman, Mr. Rice's secretary for many years, handled the
arrangements and her name conjured up a high-powered hotel executive, a la Ann Southern. Our
favorite rooms faced the Olympic Pool, quieter than the Sea Horse pool but bigger. With garden level
rooms, one could cool off from the June heat in the room , return to the pool, and enjoy room service
outside. Two favorites: a quarter of watermelon cut up to share and the incomparable Dunes Burger,
grilled at the Sea Horse snack bar. Unlike today's wall-to-wall scene at hotel pools, families and
groups could organize themselves on the grassy areas just beyond poolside. Luxury, man! The Hunt
Breakfast was the Dunes' effort to one up the usual buffets. I'm not sure who dreamed up an English
style for a hotel that had started with an Arabian motif. In fact, with the Dome of the Sea, the
thematic approach to the hotel was under real siege but at least the blue lighting suggested something
foreign and exotic. The Hunt Breakfast was highlighted by a man dressed up in hunting regalia who
would stand guard over the plates as one entered the Savoy Room -- the coffee shop that also housed the
buffet. Beyond the name and the guardsman I don't know why it had much to do with hunting. But
down to the French-style donuts that was the breakfast. When we could not afford to eat at the hotel
every morning, our mother would send us over to Denny's which was next door to the Dunes. Or my
parents would agree to indulge my brother's obsession for Uncle John's Pancake Houses, which had a
branch in Vegas. The Sultan's Table remained a gourmet outpost even during the hotel's decline in the
early s. Our family had eaten there when everyone dressed in coat and tie for dinner -- that was
the rule in the early s. The white-tie-and-tails strolling violins, the quenelles of white fish with
cream sauce -- such were the elements of elegance that a dinner at this restaurant recalls. Excellent food
and strolling violins kept going until the end. Other than the House of Lords, the Sahara's fine dining
room, the Sultan's Table had no peer in Las Vegas in its heyday. Our most memorable visit occurred
when my father decided to take the family to Death Valley over the Christmas holidays in the early
s.. Having found ourselves bored with the Furnace Creek Inn, we decided to head out to, where
else, L.V., taking a route that put us in the middle of a thundering desert rain storm with clouds
darkening the view along a mountainous road. After what seemed like hours of desolation on the
highway we reached Beatty, Nevada, then and now an outpost of some limited resources. When we
finally pulled our 4-door Cadillac to the door of the Dunes, we were all relieved to be 'home'. "