End Of An Era As The Last Rat Pack Hotel In Las Vegas Closes

Blame the economy.  Blame the new owners.  Blame the passage of time.  Whatever the reasons, another chapter closes on the Las Vegas Strip as The Sahara - the "last of the original Rat Pack" casino-hotels shuts down this week.

Opened in 1952, the Sahara hosted everyone from Elvis Presley and Jerry Lewis to Frank Sinatra and the Beatles in the 1950s and 60s, and their photos still decorate the walls above the reception.

But in recent decades Vegas saw an explosion of mega-sized casino resorts which left the "small" Sahara struggling to fill its 1,700 rooms at the end of the famous Strip.

The death knell was sounded in March, when its owners since 2007, SBE Entertainment, announced that the casino-hotel complex with its more than 1,050 staff was no longer a viable business.

Some employees blame the new owners.

Dennis Carade, a front desk clerk for 39 years, .....doesn't mince his words about the Sahara's latest owners.

"These are the worst we've ever had. They came in here from California and they are very arrogant. It took them about three and half years to take this hotel right down to the ground," he said.

"These people should be ashamed to themselves," he added.

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