LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AFP) – Las Vegas marks the end of an era this week as one of the US gambling mecca's last original "Rat Pack" casino-hotels, the Sahara, finally closes its doors.
Opened in 1952, the Sahara hosted everyone from Elvis Presley and Jerry Lewis to Frank Sinatra and the Beatles in the 1950s and 60s, and their photos still decorate the walls above the reception.
But in recent decades Vegas saw an explosion of mega-sized casino resorts which left the "small" Sahara struggling to fill its 1,700 rooms at the end of the famous Strip.
The death knell was sounded in March, when its owners since 2007, SBE Entertainment, announced that the casino-hotel complex with its more than 1,050 staff was no longer a viable business.
"In a way it was a surprise, but in a way it wasn't," Michael McLendon, a supervisor in the casino's poker room -- already deserted ahead of Monday's final day -- told AFP.
"The way things were going, with the economy and all, we felt something was happening. We just didn't know what it was," he said. "I'm retiring. I'm done. There are not too many people out there looking for a 66 year-old anyway."
And with hard times hitting Vegas even harder than most US cities, the prospect of finding other jobs is not good.
"Some dealers here, just like porters, bartenders, cocktail waitresses, they found other jobs. But the majority didn't, because it's not a good time, now in Las Vegas, because of the economy," said McLendon.
Sheryl Reed, a waitress in the Nascar Cafe for 11 years, hasn't found anything. "It sucks ..You have to be in your 20s to work in Vegas, now. I left applications, they say they'll call you, but they never call," she said.
Dennis Carade, a front desk clerk for 39 years, has also chosen to retire. "I was offered a job in the Aria because a friend of mine works there," he said, referring to another Vegas casino.
"But you know, I've been in this business for 50 years, time's up," he said, recounting anecdotes about Elvis and Clint Eastwood -- who made "The Gauntlet" here in 1977.
He also doesn't mince his words about the Sahara's latest owners.
"These are the worst we've ever had. They came in here from California and they are very arrogant. It took them about three and half years to take this hotel right down to the ground," he said.
"These people should be ashamed to themselves," he added.
The management of SBE Entertainment declined to make any comment.
Far from its "Rat Pack" glory days, the Sahara has been known in recent years for its dollar-a-go games and the 6-pound, 2 foot (2.7 kilo, 60 cm) burrito available in the Nascar Cafe, dubbed "The Bomb."
But the hotel, with its Moroccan-style decor, its large Hollywood-style swimming pool and its ghosts -- Sol Arenas, a cleaner for 20 years, says she saw a "frightening and diabolical presence" in the Tangiers tower -- retained an outmoded charm which many will miss.
In the 1950s the "Rat Pack," a group of actors led by Sinatra but also including Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr., appeared in numerous Vegas shows and several films, including the original "Ocean's Eleven."
For French retirees and Strip habitues Brigitte and Daniel Quentin, who have already seen the demise of the Dunes, Stardust, New Frontier and Sands, the end of the Sahara is another body blow.
"We've stayed here several times and it is distressing," said Brigitte. "We knew our machines and the staff. It was a hotel with a human dimension, it had warmth."
It is a view shared by Tracy Reed, a Californian who has visited the Sahara four or five times a year for 15 years.
"It was like home. The other hotels are way too big. There's no contact, you can't meet people, get to know them. And here you got to know the employees, they got to know you by name, it's just very homey," she said.
In his little tattoo parlour, opposite the reception, Eric Ayala also voiced the hotel staff's emotional attachment to the hotel.
"This morning, we just got an employee who wanted a tattoo of the coin of the casino on his arm. He was sad, you know, he's been working here all his life".
By Steve Green (contact)
Published Friday, March 11, 2011 | 8:17 a.m.
Updated Friday, March 11, 2011 | 3:21 p.m.
Related stories
At the end, 59-year-old Sahara isn't a hint of what it once was
Sahara guests, workers fondly remember ‘the last of the oldies’
Sahara's closure could hurt monorail, but station will stay open
Sahara Memories
Do you have memories of the Sahara? Let us know and we'll share them with other Sun readers.
KSNV coverage of Sahara closing
KSNV coverage of the announcement that the Sahara hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip will close in May. From the noon newscast on Friday, March 11, 2011.
Sahara Announces Closure
Sahara History
Boomtown: Part Six
In the 1950s Las Vegas began to see a growing trend in resort casinos on the Strip. As the mob began to take over the casino business in town, high class performers billed at inexpensive rates made Las Vegas an entertainment Mecca.
Beautiful Sahara is Jewel out of fairyland (10-7-1952)
Million Dollar Fire Belts Hotel Sahara (8-26-1964)
Fire? So What, They Said (8-26-1964)
Sahara to get some L.A. Glitz (4-8-2007)
Sahara cites weak demand in closing hotel towers(12-15-2009)
2535 Las Vegas Blvd. South, Las Vegas
The owner of the Sahara hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip on Friday announced plans to close the property on May 16.
"We are working with our partners to assess a variety of options for the property, including a complete renovation and repositioning," said a statement from Sam Nazarian, CEO of SBE Entertainment Group, which owns and operates the Sahara. “While no final decisions have been made at this point,” Nazarian said, “the continued operation of the aging Sahara was no longer economically viable.”
The property, which opened in 1952, has 1,720 rooms. Its closure will add to the woes of the north end of the Las Vegas Strip, where the Riviera hotel-casino's parent company is in bankruptcy and the Fontainebleau casino-resort project remains stalled.
"We see the northern end of the Strip as the future of Las Vegas," Nazarian said in the statement. "With Las Vegas showing early signs of recovery, we are confident that we ultimately will find a creative and comprehensive new solution for this historic property."
The property said about 1,050 employees would be affected by the closure.
D. Taylor, head of the Culinary Union in Las Vegas, said the union would work with some 400 affected hotel and food and beverage employees to help them find new employment or upgrade their job skills.
"I'm not surprised," he said. "At the same time, I'm sad."
Taylor said he's hopeful some of the workers can find jobs elsewhere as the economy picks up.
At the same time, he noted it's been "tough sledding" during the recession for the north end of the Strip, which includes the stalled Echelon resort and vacant land where the New Frontier used to sit.
"It's the end of an era," he said of the Sahara.
The Sahara said it has been working with MGM Resorts International on possible solutions for both customers and employees.
“SBE is fortunate to have a strategic relationship with MGM Resorts International. As a result, we will work together to try to find jobs for Sahara employees in cases where there are open positions in MGM Resorts' properties,” added Nazarian. “We will also work with MGM Resorts to accommodate Sahara hotel and group customers with reservations following our closure.”
The Sahara's human resources department will be working with team members through this transition. The Sahara plans to offer sessions with Nevada Job Connect and provide career counseling.
"We sincerely appreciate the service and dedication shown by the many Sahara team members over the decades,'' Nazarian said. "They have been the heart and soul of this iconic property. We thank them for their longstanding service.''
Last summer, Nazarian told Bloomberg News he was in talks with lenders about restructuring the Sahara's debt and had reached a forbearance agreement with the primary lender, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc.
“We’re funding the property,” Nazarian said at the time. “Our commitment is to redevelop it.”
The property's Rat Pack heritage didn't do much in recent years for the Sahara, which was hurt by its lack of any recent major upgrades.
It was also a victim of the explosion in the city's hotel room count since the opening of CityCenter and the Cosmopolitan.
Statistics from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority show the city's room count reached 149,177 in January, up 5 percent from November 2009.
Visitation to the city hasn't kept up with the capacity additions, pushing citywide hotel occupancy down from 94 percent in April 2007 to 79 percent in January.
Plans for the closure follow last year's announcement that 1,037 rooms at the Plaza in downtown Las Vegas would be closed for renovations.
A bright spot, though, was the closed 349-room Ritz-Carlton at Lake Las Vegas reopening as the Ravella.
Andrew Zarnett, a gaming analyst at Deutsche Bank, said the closure of the Sahara and potentially other uncompetitive properties is not surprising.
"While this may have come as an unexpected event for many, we are not surprised by this announcement as we have been expecting unprofitable and dated casinos in Las Vegas and other markets to shut down, given the continued downward pressure they face from higher unemployment, rising commodity inflation and reduced discretionary spending. In the near-term, we expect other unprofitable casinos in Las Vegas and regional markets to either shut down or get bought out by bigger operators who can reinvest in the property. We believe this closure may impact American Casino Entertainment’s Stratosphere property located in the north end of the Strip, which is now surrounded by Riviera (under bankruptcy), Sahara (closed) and the permanently stalled Fontainebleau project," Zarnett said in a note to clients.
The closure also is likely to harm the bankrupt Las Vegas Monorail, which has a station at the Sahara that is the transportation system’s northern terminus and a connecting point to the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada's bus transit system. (Related story: Sahara's closure could hurt monorail, but station will stay open)
In an e-mailed statement, Ingrid Reisman, vice president of corporate communications for the Las Vegas Monorail Co., said the station would stay open.
The hotel includes 85,000 square feet of casino floor space and two main restaurants: the House of Lords steakhouse and the NASCAR Café. The hotel-casino’s entertainment options include "The Magic and Tigers of Rick Thomas" and "Striptease," a topless revue, but both went on hiatus and were originally scheduled to return in mid-March.
In 2009, the Sahara closed two of its three hotel towers and its buffet, citing slow business. The hotel’s room rates have been as low as $30 on weekends during the last few years. It recently offered $1 rooms through its Twitter account to entice visitors.
SBE purchased the Sahara hotel-casino in March 2007 for a price estimated between $300 and $400 million. The Navegante Management Group operates the casino while SBE manages the hotel and restaurants.
SBE recently announced plans to rebrand and redesign the Fontana Bar at the Bellagio as Hyde Nightclub. MGM Resorts International had announced a partnership with its new players club card, M Life, and SBE that would allow guests to use the SB Preferred program at MGM resorts.
SBE operates four other hotels, including the SLS Hotel in South Beach, the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills, the Four Points by Sheraton at the Los Angeles International Airport and Redbury in Hollywood. It also operates several nightclubs and restaurants in the Los Angeles area.