SLS Las Vegas Casino Sold to Alex Meruelo and Meruelo Group

26 Comments

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  FYMYAWF May 31, 2017

  Wait...what happens to the just opened co-branded "W" tower at SLS? Does all that money that Marriot or whomever owns the W brand go to waste if they re-brand the entire hotel? What a colossal waste of time and resources if yes.

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  razmaspaz May 26, 2017

  This is an interesting sale. I so badly wanted to like SLS, both times I visited it was a ghost town. It seems like they were actively trying to turn away gamblers. Staff was not exactly inviting either. I feel like it is a marketing department pushing all the right millennial buttons, and a casino that is pushing all the wrong ones. If they had $5 or $10 3:2 BJ or 9:6 JOB or something that offered value, they might be able to convince people to stick around after the party, but as it is, it feels like the Casino is there just to remind people at the pool they are in Vegas.

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  Wolfdog May 25, 2017

  Some of your cleverest, yes cleverest, captioning in awhile. Interesting that he owns the Grand Sierra, too. Stayed there for the first time, a few months ago. It's a pretty nice place. And they brought in some pretty good video poker. He'll need to do that again, to get me in there. Nothing Sahara about the current theme. Perhaps, the New Sahara? Naw

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  William Wingo May 25, 2017

  I wonder if they'll keep the resort fee....

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  The Vegas Voice May 24, 2017

  Lets get real. SLS tried to sell a $400 room that offered a view of an abandoned building or the view of naked city/ crack alley!

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  Bear Cornelius May 24, 2017

  Check out my Facebook icon, it is a coaster from the SLS; my wife and I liked the place but the writing was on the wall. When the place first opened it felt "similar" to when the Palms opened; a bit of glitz and excitement for the young ones (I am 51) after dark and good games during the day for me. There was 9/6 JOB at the bar with free Stella, low baccarat limits,,,but not enough Blackjack tables (especially pitch). For just $500 in theo a day they rolled out the red carpet too, free three nights stays with free-play and concerts. I guess it's back to GVR and the M. RIP SLS

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  Lee May 24, 2017

  I loved the old Sahara, but it was in desperate need of redevelopment. The biggest problem is Sam Nazarian thought he could slap the "SLS" branding on it, and the L.A. "hipsters" and "trust fund babies" would flock to it. Wrong. That clientele goes to the south end of the strip where everything is within a drunken stupor walking distance. As a prior post stated, the place is nice but its in the wrong neighborhood. This place needs to cater to locals. And you start by changing the name back to Sahara because I figure nearly every local still calls it that to begin with. They also need to cater to all those people at the convention center just down the street. The place now has the foundation to be great, it just needs to be less "hip". I would think there has to be a market for a resort that caters to "adults".

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  Grid May 24, 2017

  Nailed it. You just don't put a club kid and foodie resort that far away from the action. A gambler will stay on an island, thats why the Gold Coast or Rio has people in them. But the cool kids want to walk the strip and live the Vegas high life. SLS could never offer them that.

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  Rooster May 24, 2017

  I've gone by there a couple times, but didn't bother to stay because there was nothing. going. on. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. The place was a ghost town. Hopefully, they'll come up with a way to get people in there.

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  FYMYAWF May 23, 2017

  Not surprised. Props to SLS for giving it a go on the north strip, but I think a lack of a clear identity doomed it. It never really differentiated itself enough from the established resorts further south to succeed. It was upscale, but why trudge up there when Wynncore is closer? It was smallish, but not really a boutique that could go full quirk like Artisan and bring in a regular crowd. You sure as heck weren't going to get many of the Circus crowd from across the street. Hopefully the new owners can rebrand it in such a way that it finds an audience. The north strip sure needs the traffic.

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  Wally Marshall May 23, 2017

  Ask the employees at Grand Sierra how happy they are.

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  Wolfdog May 25, 2017

  I had long conversations with many GS employees, since I was checking out the place, as my Peppermill backup. They all seemed happy.

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  AccessVegas May 23, 2017

  It would be a great buy for two reasons: 1. The convention center expansion is just down the street from the property. 2. Once the monorail is extended to the stadium, SLS will be an inviting property to stay at for the 50 events per year the stadium is slated to hold.

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  AccessVegas May 24, 2017

  The monorail is the great equalizer. It will be quicker to use the monorail to get to the stadium from SLS then surface streets from much farther south. Also, the stadium is going to turn the entire area into a traffic mess on event days.

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  Bouldersteve May 23, 2017

  If or when Resorts World is completed things will get better for the north strip including the SLS. I guess Stockbridge was tired of losing money and did not want to wait the 3 years it will take for the turn around. I always thought they should have marketed to locals until the tourists return to that end of the strip.

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  Kevin Rackley May 23, 2017

  It's too bad Derek Stevens' time and capital is tied up downtown. He might be able to operate this thing at a profit.

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  Mike L May 23, 2017

  It'll be interesting to see if he's going to venture over to the strip again since he was part owner of the Riv.

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  Laura Collins May 23, 2017

  The could enlarge the casino and add more machines, it is very small now...

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  yetis911 May 23, 2017

  Your kidding right? Because more gaming is what operators need in Vegas right now.... If they could pick it up and move it closer to where the action is on the Strip, that is the only think that could help this property!

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  RustyHammer May 23, 2017

  I'm of the belief that better gambling, not simply more, is vital to the future of that propery. (See what I did there?) Again, if Orleans can proliferate off the strip, so can the SLS property. It has been reported that they've recently made more efforts to appeal to the local crowd. Orleans caters to both, successfully. It can be done.

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  double.down.now May 23, 2017

  it's interesting that you say that because as a tourist I tend to stay on the Strip for the nicer rooms but i gamble at the Orleans and Downtown because of the better odds.

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  Grid May 24, 2017

  I agree 100%! I actually stayed with them shortly after it opened. As someone on vacation, I was bored fast in the casino. It was small, the selection of machines was limited ETC. It was obvious to me that they were catering to the club crowds, nothing wrong with that. But it kept gamblers away. Their website boasts that they have 600 slot machines. My local casinos in Chicago have double that. And they need a better slot manager. I was just there a month ago to see if it got any better. They have rows of machines all with the same titles. They don't need 6 Buffalo Golds or 4 of the same WOF. With just a handful of machines now, doubling up of the titles means there is even less choices.

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  Marc Erdheim May 23, 2017

  yes they will go back to the sahara name

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  RustyHammer May 23, 2017

  Call it whatever you want, I'm not sure how that helps. Good restaurants, lively pool parties, music/entertainment and nifty rooms are all important to the success of a casino. But it's a casino, dammit. Lure the casino crowd to the building and the rest will take care of itself. It shouldn't be that hard. Location is a huge detriment these days with so much less happening on the strip between Wynn and SLS, but Orleans ain't on the strip, and it does just fine. Rio ain't on the strip, and it does fine. Gold Coast ain't on the strip.... And get rid of that stupid statue thing out front.

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  Bouldersteve May 23, 2017

  Good points. The SLS tried to be a high roller hotel/casino in a low roller district. The Orleans and Gold Coast know that and market their property accordingly but then Boyd is a gaming company not a hedge fund.

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  RustyHammer May 23, 2017

  New owners expected to add open face cheese sandwiches and flatbread casserole to the restaurant offerings. Whether or not this new concept is in partnership with PIzza Rock is unknown at this time.

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