SAHARA Las Vegas opened on October 7, 1952, under Milton Prell. Its site had previously held Club Bingo, a smaller casino dating to 1947. The Sahara grew into a hotel and entertainment resort, then passed through a closure and the SLS name before the Sahara name returned in 2019. Those later names describe a continuing, repeatedly remodeled property.
Before the Sahara
UNLV’s architectural history records Prell forming the Sahara-Nevada Corporation and building the resort on Club Bingo’s former site. Del Webb took over construction and later ownership. The predecessor casino and the larger hotel-resort should be distinguished, even though their histories share an owner and grounds.
An expanding entertainment resort
Hotel towers, convention facilities and signs changed the property over the following decades. Martin Stern’s work helped reshape it into a high-rise resort. UNLV highlights Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland and Louis Prima among its nightclub headliners. The Beatles stayed at the Sahara when they played the Las Vegas Convention Center; that stay does not make the Sahara their concert venue.
Closure and SLS
The later redevelopment involved a real interruption in operations. Stockbridge/SBE’s company filing records its acquisition in August 2007, followed by a suspended renovation plan in 2009. Casino and hotel operations stopped on May 16, 2011. After the conversion, SLS Las Vegas opened to the public on August 23, 2014. The closed years remain part of the story.
The Sahara name returns
On August 29, 2019, the resort officially returned to the Sahara name. Its announcement said Alex Meruelo had bought the property in April 2018. Room and casino changes were already complete, while exterior, entrance and pool work continued or remained planned. The name’s return was one milestone within a longer renovation, rather than proof that every part was finished that day.
Reading the earlier exterior
The resort’s seventieth-anniversary account in 2022 looked back across those changes and further renovations. Today’s SAHARA remains a hotel-casino at 2535 South Las Vegas Boulevard. The retained historical May 2006 photograph preserves an earlier entrance, signage and roller-coaster track. It predates both the closure and SLS redevelopment; the Stratosphere tower visible behind belongs to a separate property.
Read the full history ↗ Sources and context
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UNLV Skyline, historical narrative and timeline: Club Bingo’s 1947 origins, Prell’s 1952 Sahara, Del Webb, Martin Stern, expansion and nightclub performers. The Beatles’ hotel stay is distinguished from their Convention Center concert.
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Operator’s October 2022 anniversary account: October 7, 1952 opening and later expansions, SLS conversion and returned Sahara name. Its 1960 tower date differs from UNLV’s 1959 label; an exact completion date is not asserted.
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Stockbridge/SBE, 2014 Form 10-K, Note 1, printed page 43: August 2007 acquisition, suspended renovation in 2009, May 16, 2011 closure and actual August 23, 2014 public opening as SLS.
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SAHARA announcement, August 29, 2019: actual return of the name, Meruelo’s April 2018 purchase, completed room and casino changes, and exterior and pool work still ongoing or planned.
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Operator’s About page and historical timeline, checked October 20, 2026: current SAHARA identity at 2535 South Las Vegas Boulevard, with the SLS period and 2019 renaming distinguished.
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Current mapped resort location and operator address, checked October 20, 2026. The representative point does not identify an entrance, a historical building footprint or a walking route.
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Johnwalton’s photograph, described as taken in May 2006. May 20 is the original upload date, not a verified day of photography. Transferred from English Wikipedia to Commons; CC BY-SA 3.0 selected from the file’s licensing options.
The Sahara name returned to a remodeled resort; this does not imply uninterrupted operation or unchanged 1952 buildings.
UNLV labels an early high-rise expansion 1959 while the operator’s anniversary account gives 1960 for a tower. Exact completion dates and first-on-the-Strip superlatives are not asserted.
Club Bingo is the earlier casino on the grounds; it is distinct from the later SLS name period. The former Club Bingo walls are not located by the current resort marker.
The source photograph is described as taken in May 2006. Its May20 original upload date is not treated as an exact photography day. It shows the earlier entrance and a separate Stratosphere tower.
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