The tower faced southwest to northeast, and the exterior featured horizontal, red-colored neon lights, located in between each floor. During the 1990s, the Stardust had its own in-house direct marketing department, an uncommon feature for a hotel-casino. By 1997, there were plans to remodel and expand the Stardust. A $9 million renovation of the Stardust suites took place in 1998, and plans were announced for a separate $24 million renovation project. The latter would include new signs, and minor remodeling of hotel rooms and the casino. The project was underway in 1999, with improvements being made to the façade. By the end of 1999, demolition was set to begin soon on the remaining 537 hotel rooms left from the resort's opening in 1958. The rooms were contained across four motel buildings, each of them two stories in height. Boyd Gaming considered using the property for an expansion of the Stardust convention facilities. In 2001, despite fears of an economic slowdown, Boyd Gaming announced plans to expand its convention space. The new Stardust Pavilion and Exhibit Center would add , and would be built next to the existing conference center, which had . At the time of its closure, the Stardust was among the smallest resorts on the Las Vegas Strip, with 1,552 rooms, and an casino. The Los Angeles Times wrote that the resort went from being "the world's largest hotel to one of the smallest on the Strip, from glamour to infamy to middle-class normalcy." The Stardust primarily catered to a middle class clientele for much of its history, and at the time of its closing, it was one of the few remaining Strip resorts to still offer affordable amenities; newer resorts were becoming increasingly upscale. Signs The 1958 Stardust façade sign was long and high, wrapping around two sides of the building, and was lit with of neon tubing and 11,000 incandescent bulbs. It weighed , contained of wiring, and drew 3,000 amps. At the bend in the sign was a diameter plastic model of the Earth. Cosmic rays of neon and electric light bulbs beamed from behind the model Earth in all directions. Three-dimensional acrylic glass planets spun alongside 20 sparkling neon starbursts. Across the universe was a jagged galaxy of electric lettering spelling out "Stardust". The "S" alone contained 975 lamps. At night, the neon constellation was reportedly visible from over away. The façade signage was