Kell Housells, and by 1959 Housells had bought out Jaffe's interest in the Tropicana becoming the majority shareholder in the hotel. Jaffe next leased the Tropicana to the owner of the Las Vegas Club, J. Finally, in April of 1957, the Tropicana Hotel and Casino opened its doors to the public.Īfter opening Ben Jaffe leased the property to Phil Kastel, however, the Nevada Gaming Control Board quickly raised suspicions over Kastel's alleged links to organized crime, these allegations were later confirmed when a note containing the Tropicana's earnings figures were found in possession of known mobster Frank Costello. Ben Jaffe was forced to sell his interests in other properties to finance the completion of the construction of the Tropicana Hotel. Plagued by construction delays and budget overruns due in part to competition for skilled labor with the under-construction Stardust Hotel. His goal was to build the most elegant hotel in Las Vegas, featuring the ambiance of Cuba and the elegance of France and Italy. In the year 1955 Ben Jaffe, a hotel executive from Miami Florida, arrived in Las Vegas and bought 40-acres of land on the (then) desolate corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Bond Road (now Tropicana Avenue).

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