“There is a lot of nostalgia for the older Las Vegas,” Green said. Green said the name change could boost the property’s business, especially if it’s trying to attract a younger audience.

“SAHARA is an iconic Las Vegas brand that is already known worldwide, and the name will allow us to significantly expand our market reach to engage multiple demographics that will appreciate the intimate, unexpected experience SAHARA Las Vegas offers.” “Our guests weren’t certain what it stood for or the type of experience they would have once they got here,” he said via email. Sahara spokesman Christopher Abraham said the SLS brand never resonated with the Las Vegas audience.

Ownership switched hands once again in 2018 when the Meruelo Group agreed to purchase the property for an undisclosed price. The next time its doors would open in 2014, the property went by a new name: SLS Las Vegas. In 2011, three years after it was bought by SBE Entertainment and Stockbridge Real Estate, the property closed for renovations. The older properties are not what people always want to see.” “It’s a reminder that … the newer properties have to be here for the Strip to succeed. “The entire north end of the Strip, and this is not limited to the Sahara, couldn’t - or didn’t - keep up,” Green said. Things slowed down on the north end of the Strip in the mid-1990s as megaresorts continued to sprout farther south, Green said. The property became a Las Vegas icon as it continued to grow, hosting major talent such as the Rat Pack, Tina Turner and The Beatles.īut the good times didn’t last forever. … It tried to be thematic in its approach, which was a little different at the time.” “The Sahara had a little extra appeal for Las Vegans at the time,” Green said. The Moroccan-themed hotel-casino originally opened with only 240 rooms in 1952, costing $5.5 million. The property has a storied history in Las Vegas, Green said. “The Sahara brand meant something a while back,” said Michael Green, UNLV associate professor of history. According to experts, this transformation could be a major boon to the property. The 1,720-room property on the corner of the Las Vegas Boulevard and Sahara Avenue is undergoing a major rebranding effort that includes the name change to Sahara Las Vegas and $150 million in renovations. After operating under the name SLS for five years, the property is circling back to the iconic Sahara name, starting Thursday.

The SLS Las Vegas is returning to the hotel-casino’s roots. The closed Sahara hotel - which later reopened as the SLS Las Vegas - is seen in front of the unfinished Fontainebleau resort on the Las Vegas Strip on May 1, 2012.

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