The new Aladdin was built at great cost to replace the more dimunitive earlier namesake and to compete in luxury and appointments with its new and soon-to-be neighbors, Paris and Bellagio.

The charming hotel was doomed from the day it opened: August, 2001. Shortly afterward people stopped coming - not just to the Aladdin but to Las Vegas, or anywhere else. By the end of September Aladdin was in bankruptcy. It was purchased for pennies (actually something over $400 million) and is in the process of being reconfigured into Planet Hollywood.

Since its opening the Aladdin has featured a buffet that for price and value consistently beats those of its putative betters and neighbors. It is not certain that it will survive the transition.

The interior shopping court, Desert Passage, was owned separately and is still doing pretty well.