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What can you tell me about the new baseball Triple-A team, the Las Vegas Aviators? I know they’ll be in a new ballpark. Where would I stay if I took in a few games?
The Las Vegas Aviators (formerly the 51s, formerly the Stars) are an affiliate of the Oakland Athletics and play in the AAA minor-league (MiLB) in the Pacific Coast League.
The Las Vegas Stars started playing in Las Vegas in 1983, when they moved from Spokane; till 2000 they were affiliated with the San Diego Padres. The team morphed into the 51s in 2001 and changed affiliations to the Los Angeles Dodgers. They changed affiliations again in 2009 to the Toronto Blue Jays, and again in 2012 to the New York Mets.
With the new Oakland A’s affiliation, the name was changed again to the Aviators (the team is owned by the Howard Hughes Corp.; the name honors Hughes’ long love affair with airplanes).
Hughes Corp. also owns the new Las Vegas Ballpark stadium where the Aviators will play starting next month, after 35 years at Cashman Field.
Plus, Hughes Corp. is in the early stages of building a 14-story 267-room hotel on 4.3 vacant acres next to the ballpark. That will, of course, be the most convenient place to stay to take in a game or two. It’ll also be right in the middle of the area that includes the ballpark, the shops and eateries at Downtown Summerlin, City National Arena ice rink where the Golden Knights practice, and whatever other developments Hughes Corp. comes up with in the meantime. But the opening of that hotel is a couple years away.
This summer, however, the closest and most convenient lodging is Red Rock Resort. It’s less than a half-mile walk from the hotel-casino south to Downtown Summerlin and the stadium.
Beyond that, the closest digs are La Quinta Inn and Suites, 9570 W Sahara Ave., about a mile and a half east and a bit south; Best Western Plus, 8669 W Sahara Ave., another mile or so east. You might walk from La Quinta, but you’ll need a car for the five-mile round-trip from and to the Best Western.
And if you have a car, you could also stay at the Suncoast or JW Marriott-Rampart a few miles northwest or even the Element Las Vegas, several miles south on 215.