Mar. 12, 2011 (United Press International) -- Sahara in Las Vegas to close in MayLAS VEGAS, March 12 (UPI) -- The Sahara Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas said it would close its doors in May with -- a rarity in Sin City -- no plans to rebuild with a posh, new replacement.
In its hey-day, the 55-year old resort featured shows by comedian Johnny Carson and once, in 1964, put up entertainment royalty, the Beatles, as guests, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.
Chief Executive Officer Sam Nazarian said in a statement the hotel was now losing money and was "no longer economically viable."
Since the economic downturn, the hotel on the older, far northern section of the Las Vegas Strip, has rented rooms priced as low as $26 per night, but other fancier hotels have also dropped prices and even the large hotels have been losing money recently, the Journal said.
Gambling revenues in the state have dropped by $1 billion from its 2007 peak to $5.8 billion.
The Las Vegas Sun reported the closing was met with mixed emotions, as some visitors reveled in the old-style hotel that sold $1 hot dogs and $1 cups of beer.
"I was shocked, but I'm not surprised it's going belly up," said Helmut Hartleb, of Windsor, Ontario, whose first of what turned out to be annual visits to Las Vegas was in 1958.
"They're building new (resorts) and the old ones come down, thrown into the scrap heap," he said.
"It's sad. It's one of the last of the oldies. That's progress, I guess. I'll miss it. These guys are like my family," said Kim Whitney, who has worked at the Sahara for 35 years.
EU gives Greece a break, not IrelandBRUSSELS, March 12 (UPI) -- The European Commission has granted Greece new terms on its bailout, but failed to reach a deal with Ireland, Prime Minister Enda Kenny said.
After a meeting of financial and political leaders in Brussels that went long into Friday night, Prime Minister Taoiseach Enda Kenny said, "It was impossible to reach a deal for Ireland this evening," the EUobserver reported Saturday.
Ireland balked at EU demands that it raise its corporate tax rates, which is part of an EU effort to reach tax "harmonization." Greece, on the other hand, while initially shocked at the proposal, has agreed to privatize about $69.5 billion in assets, mostly real estate holdings, that the EU suddenly demanded in February.
Greece had previously agreed to sell $7 billion of its assets. In February, the International Monetary Fund, the EU and the European Central Bank suddenly increased its sell-off demands. Greece initially responded with indignation.
Greek government spokesman George Petalotis at the time said, "We did not ask anybody to meddle in the internal matters of the country,"
This week, Greece handed in a list of assets it would agree to sell.