The Mint Hotel had been next door to the older Binion's Horseshoe. 'Which led to him writing 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas', which has always been a tribute to the Mint Hotel and Casino. 'When he was here, he went on an eccentric weekend, to put it lightly,' elaborates Worz. Thompson's most famous book, conceived while on assignment for Rolling Stone magazine in 1971 to cover the Mint 400 off-road race. That extends to an old-fashioned pay-phone on display, as well as a manual typewriter on which can be found the first page of Hunter S. Kind of tie-in with the historical significance of our neighborhood.' 'We wanted to take it back to a late 50s, early 60s vibe on the interior. Instead, Worz went with a light blue, which he says provides more of the vintage atmosphere he was seeking. It was pink and yellow, which were not colors that I particularly wanted to use with this concept.' The sign is a variation based off the original. The new business has a similar look on a smaller scale. 'You really can't draw a boundary between the two.' 'The Mint, I think, is an amazing example of sign as architecture or architecture as sign,' noted urban scholar Martin Treu while lecturing at the Neon Museum last year. It was displayed in a newspaper photograph before the casino even opened, and was featured prominently in print and billboard advertising. The sign - manufactured by YESCO (Young Electric Sign Company) - was different from anything Las Vegas had seen before.

Then in 1965, a 22-story tower was completed - the tallest building in Nevada at the time. The gentle parabola with an upswept vertical segment on the left harkens back to a casino that opened on Fremont Street in 1957 and expanded three years later, acquiring the next door Bird Cage. So we wanted to pay tribute to that by opening the Mint.' 'We love the colorful history behind Las Vegas. 'Both my partner and I are big history buffs,' says Todd Worz in front of Mint Tavern with its startlingly familiar facade. LAS VEGAS (KSNV) - A new drinking, gaming and entertainment spot just up the street from the SLS has a sign that is eye-catching in its own right, but for long-timers, it will evoke a wave of nostalgia.

Binions horseshoe hotel