the Rio, which would be Las Vegas' first all-suite hotel-casino. MarCor broke ground on the $80 million project on February 9, 1989. The groundbreaking ceremony included a 15-foot by 30-foot sand sculpture replica of the 21-story hotel. The resort was designed and built by Marnell Corrao Associates. The Rio opened on January 15, 1990. It featured a Brazilian theme based on Rio Carnival, and Brazilian musician Sérgio Mendes performed at the resort a few weeks later. The property included a casino, with 900 slot machines and 42 table games. It also had 424 suites, five restaurants, five bars, and a pool with a waterfall. It employed 1,500 workers. The resort's target demographic would consist primarily of local residents and motorists from southern California. Resort officials believed that the property's location, just west of Interstate 15 and the Las Vegas Strip, would be appealing to tourists. The Rio was the first casino opened by MarCor, which had largely focused on business parks and shopping centers. Marnell took over operations at the Rio 10 months after its opening, as he had found the early results dissatisfying. The resort struggled during its first two years, due to its location away from the Strip. By 1992, MarCor had sold all of its other properties to focus solely on the Rio. Expansions The hotel was soon successful, prompting a 437-unit addition, which broke ground on January 4, 1993. A $25 million expansion was announced later that year which would include more casino space. The new hotel tower opened during Labor Day weekend, bringing the room count to 861. The casino expansion opened at the end of 1993. A few months later, the resort announced a $75 million addition which would further expand the casino, and would increase the hotel with 549 rooms, for a total of 1,410. A dance and supper club, known as Club Rio, was opened in 1994, and was subsequently turned into a showroom. The Rio had a $250,000 laser system for nighttime displays. The system had to be adjusted in 1994, to avoid temporarily blinding commercial pilots. In 1995, Zagat named the Rio number one in the categories of Best Overall, Best Dining, Best Rooms and Best Service. A $20 million expansion began that year, adding 144 suites, more meeting room space, and a new health club and salon facility. The original hotel structure and its extensions make up the Ipanema