Sahara Las Vegas

Sahara Las Vegas is a hotel and casino located on the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada, at the intersection of Sahara Avenue. Owned and operated by the Meruelo Group, the resort features 1,616 rooms and a 50,662-square-foot casino. It also houses the northernmost station of the Las Vegas Monorail.

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The site’s history dates back to 1947, when Milton Prell opened the Club Bingo casino. In 1951, Prell and former business partners began developing the Sahara, which was partially built on the Club Bingo site. Constructed by Del E. Webb Construction Company, the Sahara officially opened on October 7, 1952, becoming the sixth resort on the Strip. Themed around African design elements, the property expanded over the years with several additions by architect Martin Stern Jr., including a 14-story hotel tower in 1960 and a 24-story tower in 1963. Del Webb acquired the resort in 1961.

The Sahara began losing prominence in the late 1960s as larger, more modern resorts emerged. In 1982, Paul Lowden purchased the property and added a third hotel tower in 1988. He later sold it to Bill Bennett in 1995, who invested $100 million in renovations that introduced a Moroccan theme. Bennett also added a NASCAR-themed area featuring a restaurant and the “Speed – The Ride” roller coaster.

In 2007, the Sahara was acquired by Sam Nazarian’s SBE Entertainment Group and Stockbridge Real Estate Group. Due to financial challenges, the resort closed its doors on May 16, 2011. Two years later, a major renovation began, and on August 23, 2014, the resort reopened as SLS Las Vegas, part of SBE’s SLS Hotels chain. With a sleek, contemporary design, SLS Las Vegas primarily targeted visitors from Southern California.

However, the new concept struggled financially. Nazarian sold his stake in 2015 to Stockbridge, and by 2016, one of the hotel towers was rebranded as W Las Vegas under Starwood Hotels. In 2018, the Meruelo Group acquired the entire property, and following the end of its partnership with Starwood, the W Las Vegas tower was reintegrated into the SLS brand. On August 29, 2019, the resort was renamed back to Sahara Las Vegas, marking a new chapter under Meruelo’s ongoing renovation efforts.