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Sahara closes two hotel towers due to low demand
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Updated: Dec. 15, 2009 | 3:38 p.m.
The Sahara closed two of its three hotel towers for the winter season because of low demand, but the casino and other amentities will remain open, a property spokeswoman confirmed.
“Two towers of the Sahara Hotel will remain dark based on demand through the holiday winter,” an e-mail statement said late Monday. “Upon further demand, Sahara Hotel will make more rooms available.”
Property spokeswoman Verena King could not say how many rooms were shut or how many workers might be laid off because of the closings. She added, though, that the towers could be reopened if needed because of increased customer demand.
The Tangiers tower will remain open at the Sahara, which opened in 1952 and has 1,720 rooms.
Michael Zaletel, owner of travel site i4vegas.com, said hotels often shut down rooms during slow seasons to help reduce expenses and salaries.
Sahara also shut down its buffet last week, as it does every year at this time.
The Sahara is privately owned by Los Angeles-based SBE Entertainment and private equity firm Stockbridge Real Estate Funds of San Francisco. They purchased the Rat Pack-era Sahara in late 2007 for $331.8 million.
Before the economic downturn, the new owners planned to build a new 1,000-room hotel tower. The renovation plans also called for demolishing the 200-room Tunis tower, and completely renovating the 17-acre property.
The Sahara does not release its financial information, but nearby mid- and lower-tier hotel-casinos have struggled during the recession.
The Riviera’s revenues decline 28.9 percent the first nine months of the year while its room rates dropping 20.8 percent. The Stratosphere’s revenues fell 17 percent and room rates dropped 31.3 percent, and Circus Circus saw revenues drop 21.9 percent, with room rates dropping 32.3 percent.
Binion’s Gambling Hall & Hotel downtown closed all of its hotel rooms Monday and cut 100 positions. The downtown casino company also blamed the decline in visitor traffic and revenues for the closing.
Contact reporter Arnold M. Knightly at aknightly@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893.
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VegasDude2010 wrote on January 08, 2011 10:08 PM:
Ha! Ha! Ha! Hey Stockbridge? How's that $331 million purchase working out for you? Unbelievable how these hedge fund companies use other people's hard earned money and they pisss it away on projects like this. Wow. 2 towers closed? This hotel is a DUMP. Does this mean they were running 35% occupancy?
class act wrote on December 19, 2009 04:40 PM: Rob Talbot: The Sahara has always been terrible IMHO., HECK even the Stratosphere is much better, new sportsbook, nice, clean casino. The Sahara looks as old as it is. I tell everyone I know not to EAT at the sahara, heck the bathroon toilets look 80 years old. SBE Entertainment is probably taking all the money it is making and running with it, paying staff minimal and making basic repairs as needed. I won't ride the roller coaster either. $331.8 million??? I bet if they could sell it today it might get $100 million pricetag at best. DOMINO wrote on December 19, 2009 06:08 AM: So quick to blame Obama for the economy...Did we forget that he's been in office for only a year, and that's not enough time to fix the MESS that Bush did over the course of EIGHT years! Would you be able to fix it that quickly? Didn't think so... And, about the corporations not coming to Vegas because Obama said not to...I believe we have something called FREE WILL and the companies can do as they please, regardless of what the President says. Duh. andrebhaynes@ymail.com wrote on December 18, 2009 08:55 PM: My girlfriend and I went to the Nascar Cafe at the Sahara today to eat the burrito that weighs six pounds. Apon arriving we were told that only one person can eat the burritto and that we must enter the contest. I offered to pay full price for two burrittos and they refused. We left. The Sahara is doomed for failure. Andrew wrote on December 18, 2009 04:18 PM: Sahara closes down 2 towers and their buffet EVERY year at this time. This media report is worthless and biased. Both towers are running but just not booking people because it's the slow season until after Christmas when the New Year's crowd rushes in. Maybe they will do a story on how most maids in hotels are working part time around this time every year as well. Harry P. Niss wrote on December 18, 2009 03:55 PM: This sounds just like after 9/11. Everyone said vegas is done for good! Well what happened? It came back stronger than ever. Now its another down cycle which was created from a economic slump. U think any other resort town in the world is not feeling the same way? Vegas is as american as apple pie. No little midwest casino can create a oasis in the desert. Weather the storm, and u will be rewarded. On a side note. Who cares about the sahara? That dump should have been torn down a long time ago, lol. Hoss wrote on December 17, 2009 06:12 AM: The more I see Expedia's cheap prices for Vegas, the more I think these places are cooking the books about occupancy figures. At one time, Super Bowl weekend was really high priced with hard to find rooms, it is a joke now with $40 found. Midweek is a ghost town, $20 at Hooters etc.. You go 2 blocks from Sahara & LVB and you are in areas that rival Atlantic City's roughest. Longshot wrote on December 16, 2009 01:10 PM: It may be all the gambling joints opening up all over the U.S. Why leave home when you can get fleeced right where you live? Rob Talbot wrote on December 16, 2009 01:02 PM: Last November several friends and I stayed at the Sahara while in town for a convention. The rooms smelled bad and they were grungy. My room had an oily, black, stinky ooze fill up the sink, and housekeeping was barely noticed. Empty beverage glasses, wine botles, beer bottles, and room service trays sat untouched in the hallways for up to 3 days. I would only go back in that building if I was wearing a haz-mat suit. We were told by a local that it was due to be torn down in 2-3 years, so obviously there is going to be zero maintenance/upkeep. BLOW IT UP NOW. Mike wrote on December 16, 2009 12:51 PM: Tim @ 9:22. The problem is that at some point people didn't leave. They started moving to Vegas to live there permanently. The perfect model fell apart when that happened. Read More Comments |
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