Sahara (hotel and casino)
Encyclopedia
The Sahara Hotel and Casino is a closed hotel
casino
located on the Las Vegas Strip
in Winchester
, Nevada
. It was in operation for 59 years from 1952 to 2011. The hotel had 1,720 guestrooms and suites with a casino covering more than 85000 sq ft (7,896.8 m²), and sits on 55 acre (22.3 ha) including the empty adjoining land. The hotel is the northernmost stop for the Las Vegas Monorail
. The Sahara was the last remaining vintage "Rat Pack
" casino-hotel, and anchored the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip
. The porte-cochere
entrance, topped by an onion-dome minaret
, is designed to set the resort's warm Moroccan flavor and hospitality for arriving guests.
just outside of the City of Las Vegas, and was the sixth resort to open on the Strip. The resort was built by Del Webb
.
In late 1954, the hotel hired jazz musician Louis Prima
to be their late night lounge act, one of the earliest ones on the Las Vegas Strip. Along with his then wife Keely Smith
and sax player Sam Butera
, they created one of the hottest late night attractions on the Strip. In 1956 Abbott and Costello
appeared together for the last time on the Sahara stage before their permanent breakup.
In 1961, the hotel was purchased by Del Webb. In 1962, a Don the Beachcomber
restaurant opened in the hotel, becoming a top attraction to not only hotel guests but a variety of celebrities as well. A 24-story tower was added in 1963 which made the hotel the tallest building in Las Vegas.
The resort was the site of the annual Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon
for many years, mostly in the 1970s, and for a brief time in the 1990s.
Performers at the resort over the years have included Frank Sinatra
, Dean Martin
, Sammy Davis Jr., Judy Garland
, Marlene Dietrich
, Jack Benny
, Paul Anka
, George Carlin
, Liza Minnelli
, Violetta Villas
, Shirley Bassey
, Wayne Newton
, Imogene Coca
, The Platters
, Connie Francis
, Bill Cosby
, Jeanette MacDonald
, Ann-Margret
, The Mills Brothers, Joey Bishop
, Shelley Berman
, Buddy Hackett
, Helen O'Connell
, Edgar Bergen
and Charlie McCarthy, Kay Starr
, Steve Lawrence
and Eydie Gorme
, The Drifters
, Don Rickles
, Bobby Darin
, Teresa Graves
, The Coasters
, and many others.
Del Webb ran into financial problems in the late 1970s and early 1980s, it sold the Sahara to Paul Lowden (Archon Corporation) for $50 million in 1982.
Ownership changed in 1995 when Archon Corporation
sold the property to Bill Bennett. Bill Bennett owned the hotel until his death on December 22, 2002.
The 27-story tower addition was added in 1987 and a new porte-cochere was added by the relocated pool in 1997.
In 1999 further renovations added a roller coaster
and the NASCAR
restaurant
. The roller coaster, called Speed-The Ride
, shoots riders from the hotel outside along the Las Vegas Strip, where it loops through the grandiose Sahara sign in front of the hotel, goes straight up a tower, stops and then takes a return trip backwards. Bergman Walls Associates
were the 1999 architects.
Rumors of the Sahara's closure surfaced in the media in February 2006. In a news article on June 30, 2006, it was reported that the Sahara site, as well as a defunct adjacent Wet 'n Wild property, were for sale.
On March 2, 2007, Sam Nazarian
and Stockbridge Real Estate Group signed an agreement to purchase the Sahara from the Bennett family. The transaction was said to be valued between $300 and $400 million for just the hotel/casino and its 17.45 acres (7.1 ha) lot. The deal does not include the 26 acres (10.5 ha) lot across the Strip from the Sahara and 11 acres (4.5 ha) lot east of the Sahara on Paradise Road.
, Flamingo
and the Riviera
remaining from the post-World War II era.
On May 16, 2011 at 12:00 PM PDT, the last hotel guest checked out of the Sahara Hotel and Casino, and the doors were officially closed at 2:00PM. This marked the end of a 59-year run on the Strip. Some 1,600 jobs will be lost due to the closing. According to the Sahara's website, any previous reservations would be honored at the Circus Circus
.http://www.saharavegas.com/ NCL/National Content Liquidators began a hotel liquidation sale on June 16th, 2011 of all items inside the property and continued until the property was completely empty. The final day of the sale was September 4th, 2011.
On November 2, 2011 it was revealed that the Clark County Commission has approved renovations of the hotel casino. The property will be remodeled, rethemed, renamed and reopened.
was filmed here.
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
located on the Las Vegas Strip
Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...
in Winchester
Winchester, Nevada
Winchester is a census-designated place in Clark County, Nevada, United States that contains part of the Las Vegas Strip. It is one of a number of CDPs in the unincorporated urbanized area directly south of Las Vegas. The population was 26,958 at the 2000 census. It is governed by the Clark County...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
. It was in operation for 59 years from 1952 to 2011. The hotel had 1,720 guestrooms and suites with a casino covering more than 85000 sq ft (7,896.8 m²), and sits on 55 acre (22.3 ha) including the empty adjoining land. The hotel is the northernmost stop for the Las Vegas Monorail
Las Vegas Monorail
The Las Vegas Monorail is a monorail mass transit system located on the Las Vegas Strip, in Clark County, Nevada, United States. It connects the unincorporated communities of Paradise and Winchester, and does not actually enter the City of Las Vegas. It is owned and operated by the Las Vegas...
. The Sahara was the last remaining vintage "Rat Pack
Rat Pack
The Rat Pack was a group of actors originally centered on Humphrey Bogart. In the mid-1960s it was the name used by the press and the general public to refer to a later variation of the group, after Bogart's death, that called itself "the summit" or "the clan," featuring Frank Sinatra, Dean...
" casino-hotel, and anchored the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip
Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...
. The porte-cochere
Porte-cochere
A porte-cochère is the architectural term for a porch- or portico-like structure at a main or secondary entrance to a building through which a horse and carriage can pass in order for the occupants to alight under cover, protected from the weather.The porte-cochère was a feature of many late 18th...
entrance, topped by an onion-dome minaret
Minaret
A minaret مناره , sometimes مئذنه) is a distinctive architectural feature of Islamic mosques, generally a tall spire with an onion-shaped or conical crown, usually either free standing or taller than any associated support structure. The basic form of a minaret includes a base, shaft, and gallery....
, is designed to set the resort's warm Moroccan flavor and hospitality for arriving guests.
History
The hotel was opened in 1952 by Milton PrellMilton Prell
Milton Prell was a casino owner and developer most notable for his projects in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was also good friends with Colonel Tom Parker, best known as the manager of Elvis Presley. Elvis married Priscilla in Prell's apartment at the Aladdin in a private wedding shielded from the media...
just outside of the City of Las Vegas, and was the sixth resort to open on the Strip. The resort was built by Del Webb
Del Webb
Delbert Eugene Webb was an American construction magnate, real estate developer and sports-team owner, who is most significant for founding and developing the retirement community of Sun City, Arizona.-Early life:...
.
In late 1954, the hotel hired jazz musician Louis Prima
Louis Prima
Louis Prima was a Sicilian American singer, actor, songwriter, and trumpeter. Prima rode the musical trends of his time, starting with his seven-piece New Orleans style jazz band in the 1920s, then successively leading a swing combo in the 1930s, a big band in the 1940s, a Vegas lounge act in the...
to be their late night lounge act, one of the earliest ones on the Las Vegas Strip. Along with his then wife Keely Smith
Keely Smith
Keely Smith is an American jazz and popular music singer who enjoyed popularity in the 1950s and 1960s. She collaborated with, among others, Louis Prima and Frank Sinatra.-Career:...
and sax player Sam Butera
Sam Butera
Sam Butera was a tenor saxophone player best noted for his collaborations with Louis Prima and Keely Smith. Butera is frequently regarded as a crossover artist who performed with equal ease in both R & B and the post-big band pop style of jazz that permeated the early Vegas nightclub...
, they created one of the hottest late night attractions on the Strip. In 1956 Abbott and Costello
Abbott and Costello
William "Bud" Abbott and Lou Costello performed together as Abbott and Costello, an American comedy duo whose work on stage, radio, film and television made them the most popular comedy team during the 1940s and 1950s...
appeared together for the last time on the Sahara stage before their permanent breakup.
In 1961, the hotel was purchased by Del Webb. In 1962, a Don the Beachcomber
Don the Beachcomber
Donn Beach , born Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt, is the founding father of tiki restaurants, bars and nightclubs. The many so-called "Polynesian" restaurants and pubs that enjoyed great popularity are directly descended from what he created...
restaurant opened in the hotel, becoming a top attraction to not only hotel guests but a variety of celebrities as well. A 24-story tower was added in 1963 which made the hotel the tallest building in Las Vegas.
The resort was the site of the annual Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon
Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon
The MDA Labor Day Telethon is an annual telethon in the United States to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association . The first MDA telethon was during the Thanksgiving Day weekend of 1952 and titled Party for MDA. It has been held annually since 1966...
for many years, mostly in the 1970s, and for a brief time in the 1990s.
Performers at the resort over the years have included Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
, Sammy Davis Jr., Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
, Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
, Jack Benny
Jack Benny
Jack Benny was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film...
, Paul Anka
Paul Anka
Paul Albert Anka, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor.Anka first became famous as a teen idol in the late 1950s and 1960s with hit songs like "Diana'", "Lonely Boy", and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"...
, George Carlin
George Carlin
George Denis Patrick Carlin was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor and author, who won five Grammy Awards for his comedy albums....
, Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli
Liza May Minnelli is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of singer and actress Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli....
, Violetta Villas
Violetta Villas
Violetta Villas is a Belgian-born Polish and international singer, actress, composer and songwriter. Her voice is characterized as coloratura soprano, she has five-octave vocal range and absolute pitch. Villas can play the piano, violin and trombone...
, Shirley Bassey
Shirley Bassey
Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...
, Wayne Newton
Wayne Newton
Wayne Newton is an American singer and entertainer based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He performed over 30,000 solo shows in Las Vegas over a period of over 40 years, earning him the nicknames The Midnight Idol, Mr. Las Vegas and Mr. Entertainment...
, Imogene Coca
Imogene Coca
Imogene Fernandez de Coca was an American comic actress best known for her role opposite Sid Caesar on Your Show of Shows....
, The Platters
The Platters
The Platters were a vocal group of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound was a bridge between the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the burgeoning new genre...
, Connie Francis
Connie Francis
Connie Francis is an American pop singer of Italian heritage and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1950s and 1960s. Although her chart success waned in the second half of the 1960s, Francis remained a top concert draw...
, Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...
, Jeanette MacDonald
Jeanette MacDonald
Jeanette MacDonald was an American singer and actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier and Nelson Eddy...
, Ann-Margret
Ann-Margret
Ann-Margret Olsson is a Swedish-American actress, singer and dancer whose professional name is Ann-Margret. She became famous for her starring roles in Bye Bye Birdie, Viva Las Vegas, The Cincinnati Kid, Carnal Knowledge, and Tommy...
, The Mills Brothers, Joey Bishop
Joey Bishop
Joey Bishop was an American entertainer who was perhaps best known for being a member of the "Rat Pack" with Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Dean Martin...
, Shelley Berman
Shelley Berman
Sheldon "Shelley" Berman is an American comedian, actor, writer, teacher, lecturer, and poet.- Early life :Berman was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Irene and Nathan Berman.- Career :...
, Buddy Hackett
Buddy Hackett
Buddy Hackett was an American comedian and actor.-Early life:Hackett was born in Brooklyn, New York, New York, the son of a Jewish upholsterer. He grew up on 54th and 14th Ave in Borough Park, Brooklyn, across from Public School 103...
, Helen O'Connell
Helen O'Connell
Helen O'Connell was an American singer, actress, and dancer.Born in Lima, Ohio, O'Connell joined the Jimmy Dorsey band in 1939 and achieved her best selling records in the early 1940s with "Green Eyes", "Amapola," "Tangerine" and "Yours"...
, Edgar Bergen
Edgar Bergen
Edgar John Bergen was an American actor and radio performer, best known as a ventriloquist.-Early life:...
and Charlie McCarthy, Kay Starr
Kay Starr
Kay Starr is an American pop and jazz singer who enjoyed considerable success in the 1940s and 50s. She is best remembered for introducing two songs that became #1 hits in the 1950s, "Wheel of Fortune" and "The Rock And Roll Waltz"....
, Steve Lawrence
Steve Lawrence
Steve Lawrence is an American singer and actor, perhaps best known as a member of a duo with his wife Eydie Gormé, billed as "Steve and Eydie"...
and Eydie Gorme
Eydie Gormé
Eydie Gormé is an American singer, specializing, with her husband, Steve Lawrence, in traditional pop music, in the form of ballads and breezy swing. She has earned numerous awards, including the Grammy and the Emmy...
, The Drifters
The Drifters
The Drifters are a long-lived American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group with a peak in popularity from 1953 to 1963, though several splinter Drifters continue to perform today. They were originally formed to serve as Clyde McPhatter's backing group in 1953...
, Don Rickles
Don Rickles
Donald Jay "Don" Rickles is an American stand-up comedian and actor. A frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Rickles has acted in comedic and dramatic roles, but is best known as an insult comic....
, Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin , born Walden Robert Cassotto, was an American singer, actor and musician.Darin performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk and country...
, Teresa Graves
Teresa Graves
Teresa Graves was an American actress and singer. As the star of Get Christie Love!, Graves is credited as being the first African American woman to star in her own hour long drama television series....
, The Coasters
The Coasters
The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group that had a string of hits in the late 1950s. Beginning with "Searchin'" and "Young Blood", their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting and producing team of Leiber and Stoller...
, and many others.
Del Webb ran into financial problems in the late 1970s and early 1980s, it sold the Sahara to Paul Lowden (Archon Corporation) for $50 million in 1982.
Ownership changed in 1995 when Archon Corporation
Archon Corporation
Archon Corporation is an entertainment company based in Paradise, Nevada. The company has owned casinos and water parks. Members of board of directors include State Senator Sue Lowden who was chairwoman of the Nevada Republican Party and State Senator Bill Raggio...
sold the property to Bill Bennett. Bill Bennett owned the hotel until his death on December 22, 2002.
The 27-story tower addition was added in 1987 and a new porte-cochere was added by the relocated pool in 1997.
In 1999 further renovations added a roller coaster
Roller coaster
The roller coaster is a popular amusement ride developed for amusement parks and modern theme parks. LaMarcus Adna Thompson patented the first coasters on January 20, 1885...
and the NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
. The roller coaster, called Speed-The Ride
Speed-The Ride
Speed-The Ride was a roller coaster located on the Las Vegas Strip at the now-defunct Sahara Hotel and Casino.According to the roller coaster database, Speed-The Ride is a double LIM Shuttle Loop Coaster that accelerates to ending on a 90-degree section...
, shoots riders from the hotel outside along the Las Vegas Strip, where it loops through the grandiose Sahara sign in front of the hotel, goes straight up a tower, stops and then takes a return trip backwards. Bergman Walls Associates
Joel Bergman
Joel Bergman is an architect who has designed several landmark casinos.Bergman was born in Los Angeles. He graduated from the University of Southern California in 1965.-Stern and Associates:In 1968 he joined Martin Stern, Jr....
were the 1999 architects.
Rumors of the Sahara's closure surfaced in the media in February 2006. In a news article on June 30, 2006, it was reported that the Sahara site, as well as a defunct adjacent Wet 'n Wild property, were for sale.
On March 2, 2007, Sam Nazarian
Sam Nazarian
Sam Nazarian is an Iranian-American entrepreneur. Nazarian is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of SBE, a Los Angeles based luxury hospitality, real estate development and lifestyle company which includes hotel, restaurant, nightlife, and real estate divisions...
and Stockbridge Real Estate Group signed an agreement to purchase the Sahara from the Bennett family. The transaction was said to be valued between $300 and $400 million for just the hotel/casino and its 17.45 acres (7.1 ha) lot. The deal does not include the 26 acres (10.5 ha) lot across the Strip from the Sahara and 11 acres (4.5 ha) lot east of the Sahara on Paradise Road.
Closing as the Sahara
The Sahara shut its doors on May 16, 2011. SBE chief executive Sam Nazarian stated that the hotel was not "economically viable". Nazarian said that he would help some 1,600 hotel workers find new jobs. Its closure leaves only the TropicanaTropicana Resort & Casino
Tropicana Las Vegas is located on the Las Vegas Strip, in the township of Paradise, Nevada. It is owned by Tropicana Las Vegas Hotel and Resort Inc. and operated by Alex Yemenidjian's Armenco Holdings. It offers 1,658 rooms and is attached to a casino...
, Flamingo
Flamingo Las Vegas
The Flamingo Las Vegas is a hotel casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada and is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment Corp.. The property offers a casino along with 3,626 hotel rooms...
and the Riviera
Riviera (hotel and casino)
The Riviera is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. The hotel has over 2,100 rooms, many located in a 23-story tower. The casino has of gaming space.-History:...
remaining from the post-World War II era.
On May 16, 2011 at 12:00 PM PDT, the last hotel guest checked out of the Sahara Hotel and Casino, and the doors were officially closed at 2:00PM. This marked the end of a 59-year run on the Strip. Some 1,600 jobs will be lost due to the closing. According to the Sahara's website, any previous reservations would be honored at the Circus Circus
Circus Circus Las Vegas
Circus Circus Las Vegas is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by MGM Resorts International. Circus Circus features circus acts and carnival type games daily on the Midway...
.http://www.saharavegas.com/ NCL/National Content Liquidators began a hotel liquidation sale on June 16th, 2011 of all items inside the property and continued until the property was completely empty. The final day of the sale was September 4th, 2011.
On November 2, 2011 it was revealed that the Clark County Commission has approved renovations of the hotel casino. The property will be remodeled, rethemed, renamed and reopened.
Film history
The 1960 version of Ocean's ElevenOcean's Eleven (1960 film)
Ocean's 11 is a 1960 heist film directed by Lewis Milestone and starring five Rat Packers: Peter Lawford, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Joey Bishop....
was filmed here.