After finding some really bad information about the condition of the SLS Hotel, a representative at Alex Meruelo’s company tells us that they are pushing back on the purchase price really hard.
The representative, wanting to remain anonymous, tells us that the Hotel requires major upgrades despite being redone to even fit with modern safety and security measures.
While the deal was supposed to be done already, it’s now delayed until next year or father. While Sam Nazarian bought the hotel for $400 million, the price that Meruelo is willing to pya keeps on going lower.
Additionally, after looking at the books, Meruelo’s company found the casino was run as a “personal plaything” for Sam Nazarian during his short lived tenure there. The hope was the demographic would be similar to his clubs, which flourished under his hedonistic way of doing business.
But the concept never took hold with the targeted demographic. Part of that was due to the SLS’s awkward location at the north end of the Las Vegas Strip. The resort was completely surrounded by failed or stalled resorts, such as Alon, Fontainebleau, and Resorts World, and nothing says “not hip” more than a wasteland.
Then there was the loss of almost $100 million 6 months after opening, when no one wanted to go to the hotel.
