# SLS Hotel and Casino Las Vegas History: A Modern Chapter in Vintage Las Vegas Strip History

**Location:** Sls Hotel and Casino Las Vegas
Explore SLS Hotel and Casino Las Vegas history on the legendary Sahara site—a bold reinvention in Las Vegas Strip history that lasted just five years.

URL: https://vintage-vegas.com/posts/sls-hotel-and-casino-las-vegas/
Last updated: 2026-02-21

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## A New Name on a Legendary Site

In 2014, the former [Sahara Hotel and Casino](/posts/sahara-hotel-and-casino-las-vegas/) at 2535 South Las Vegas Boulevard rose again under a new name: SLS. After nearly sixty years, the Sahara had shuttered in 2011, ending an era of classic Strip glamour. What replaced it was anything but classic. SBE Entertainment and Stockbridge Capital Group poured $415 million into a sweeping overhaul, stripping down much of the old structure while keeping traces of the original bones. The result was a 1,600-room, 60,000-square-foot casino that leaned hard into a younger, LA-cool aesthetic rather than the vintage Las Vegas nostalgia you'd expect from a property with such deep roots. For fans of old-school Strip history, the transformation felt like a necessary gamble.

## Built for the Nightlife Set

SLS was designed for the party crowd. Life Nightclub, built inside the old Sahara showroom with towering ceilings, LED walls, and aerial performers, became one of the Strip's most talked-about venues. The restaurant lineup screamed "trending": Bazaar Meat by José Andrés, Katsuya, Cleo, Umami Burger, 800 Degrees Pizza. Bars like Foxtail and The Sayers Club kept the energy high well past midnight. For a few glorious years, the north end of the Strip felt like it had found a new pulse.

## The Hard Numbers

But nostalgia for the Sahara name didn't translate into gaming revenue, and the north Strip never quite delivered the foot traffic its owners had hoped for. SBE sold its stake in 2015. In 2016, a 289-room tower briefly became W Las Vegas before folding back into SLS as the Grand Tower in 2018. Businessman Alex Meruelo purchased the property that same year and set about brightening the casino floor, refreshing the rooms, and widening the resort's appeal beyond its nightclub identity.

## The Sahara Returns

In June 2019, Meruelo announced what many vintage Las Vegas fans had been waiting to hear: the Sahara name was coming back. The SLS era closed after just five years, and the Strip's most storied monogram was restored to its rightful place on the boulevard.

## Why It Matters

SLS may have been short-lived, but it's a fascinating footnote in Las Vegas Strip history. It proved that even a legendary site can be reimagined for a new generation—and that the pull of old names still carries weight. For anyone tracing the evolution of the Strip from vintage glamour to modern reinvention, SLS is a chapter you can't skip.


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Tags: las vegas history, vintage vegas, sls hotel and casino las vegas