David Cassidy in the News
Sahara uses Magic – and other strategies to win customers
May 28, 2000
By David Mirhadi
The Las Vegas Review-Journal
When gaming entrepreneur William Bennett bought the Sahara in 1995 for $193 million, he had a vision for revitalizing the north end of the Strip.
About $100 million later, the 48-year-old hotel has taken on a new and ambitious look.
"We're definitely on the way back," said Craig Hodgkins, the Sahara's president and general manager.
The hotel at 2535 Las Vegas Blvd. South has a new facade and the main entrance and porte-cochere have been restyled and relocated. The casino has quadrupled in size and the rooms renovated. "The Rat Pack Is Back" took up residence in the Congo Room earlier this year while magician Steve Wyrick awaits a new showroom for his act.
Motor sports fans are enticed through the race-car simulators and the new NASCAR Cafe. And for thrill-seekers, there's the new roller coaster Speed -- The Ride.
These could end up being prosperous times for the Sahara, a resort that was briefly considered for the wrecking ball a few years ago. Bennett saved the place, Hodgkins said, because of the employees, and because of the vision he had for the hotel.
Instead of trying to compete with the marble-and-prix-fixe crowd, the Sahara offers a more economical alternative. That means $1 live blackjack, all hours of the day, a practice Bennett instituted more than a year ago; room rates that average less than $70 during peak periods; and drinks priced lower than many other Strip hotels. The Sahara Buffet has the lowest prices for brunch and dinner of any hotel on the Strip. Tickets to "The Rat Pack Is Back," a show that re-creates some of Las Vegas' glory days, are $34.95, making it one of the more inexpensive acts on the Strip.
All of this has translated into higher occupancy rates for the hotel, which, at one point, hovered around 80 percent. Today, Sahara officials estimated, room occupancy is about 89 percent on most weekends.
Hodgkins declined to release the Sahara's profits, but he said the hotel has made a substantial turnaround since Bennett took over. "We're on the right track," he said.
"We do things to get people to come in the door," Hodgkins added. "If you do enough of those things, it will go in your favor. We're definitely value, but we're also someplace where you don't get lost in a crowd."
The blackjack, he said, is a perfect example. "It was a hook. If you do the math on that, it's not profitable, but it works for us. People want their money to last, they don't want to lose $200 in a half-hour. This is the place where we want you to play for a while."
"Business has been great," agreed Mark Dyer, owner of the 75,000-square-foot NASCAR Cafe. "The restaurant and the coaster have given us a substantial boost."
Dyer said he hopes the roller coaster will draw 1 million riders by the end of the year.
"It takes a while to totally change the perception of a place, and what the coaster is doing is telling people, `Hey, I gotta get down to the Sahara and ride that thing.' The coaster and the cafe have brought in a lot more people than we ever imagined. ... As far as I'm concerned, the hard part's done, and that was building this thing. If we get someone on property to look at it, and they're dazzled by it, then we've done our job," he said.
Wyrick said the move to the Sahara is a bold step for him. His $10 million magic show is expected to open in the new 900-seat Sahara Theater next month.
"It's a pretty big hop to go to the Sahara," said Wyrick, who was courted by two other Strip properties for his services, "but I don't think I could be working for a nicer man (than Bennett)."
Wyrick is moving after 2 1/2 years at the Lady Luck downtown.
"The Sahara is a property that's growing, that's definitely on the move," he noted. "I feel like we're going to have a great show and be able to do things here that we weren't able to do at the Lady Luck."
Wyrick's bigger theater will include such dramatic illusions as making a stock car and full-size helicopter disappear. But he said he hopes the show will prove to be affordable at $34.95. A magic shop is being built just outside the theater.
John McManus, Sahara vice president and general counsel, said looking to the Sahara's past by securing the "Rat Pack" show could bode well for its future.
"This place was part of that era, and we think it really makes a statement for us," said McManus, who negotiated with co-producer David Cassidy to bring the show to the Congo Room from the Desert Inn, after losing Cassidy's "At the Copa" to the Rio. "We thought the show would be a nice complement (to Steve Wyrick)."
The show, which has played to critical if not commercial success since opening at the Sahara this spring, is drawing more audiences as the hotel is rediscovered.
"The first couple of weeks of any show are slow, because you have to get the word out," McManus said. "We used to be part of the real glamour scene in Las Vegas, and we want to take advantage of that. The show gives us a lot of sincerity and believability."
"We're happy with the show, and its popularity is growing rapidly," Hodgkins said. "We expect to make money on it."
In the coming months, the Sahara may embark on a multimillion-dollar convention center on Paradise Road behind the hotel, though no plans have been set. The hotel has been without a convention venue since the former Space Center was converted into a buffet in 1997. There also is talk of a major entertainment-dining venue. Bennett's purchase of the hotel also included a 44-acre parcel across the Strip. There are no plans to develop the property at this time, Hodgkins said.
In many cases, the Sahara is not doing anything new. The hotel has a magician, just like other Strip venues. It has a roller coaster, just like its well-heeled competition farther down the Strip. It has the ubiquitous upscale dinner house, too.
"We're not reinventing the wheel. You give people a good deal, they'll tell their friends and come back," McManus said.
"Value doesn't mean cheap. It just means you walked away and you got your money's worth," Hodgkins added. "You hear a lot about tradition, and that's what this place was built on. There aren't a whole lot of places like this left."
