Written by Thomas | Saturday, March 12th, 2011

The Sahara Hotel, known as one of the few remaining landmarks on the Vegas strip, is officially closing it doors in just 2 months from now.  With history dating back all the way to 1952, the Sahara will leave only the Flamingo and the Riviera as the few original hotels that were around in Vegas’s early era.

The hotel itself was once home to legendary greats like Johnny Carson and Abbott and Costello. It was also one of the hot spots for the famed “Rat Pack” that featured a young Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr.

Many of my own minions will weep the closing of the Sahara, mainly because it’s not every day you can visit such a historical site that included such fun amenities like a Nascar-themed restaurant and a roller coaster! Did I mention it’s also home to tons of lower-limit table games like $1-a-hand blackjack? Heh.

Anyways, the official closing date for this gambling icon is May 16th, 2011, with no immediate signs of the property ever being re-opened again in the near future.

CEO of SBE Entertainment Group Same Nazarian made the following statement earlier in the week regarding the shutdown of the Sahara Las Vegas:

“The continued operation of the aging Sahara was no longer economically viable.”

It is unclear whether the closing of the hotel will be to make way for a larger mega-resort like the Cosmopolitan and Aria, which have been two of the more large-scale hotels to be opened up on the south end of the Vegas strip within the last 18 months.

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