<P> On May 16, 2011, at 12: 00 PM PDT, the last hotel guest checked out of the Sahara Hotel and Casino, and the hotel officially closed at 2: 00 PM . This marked the end of a 59 - year run on the Strip . According to the Sahara's website, any previous reservations would be honored at the Circus Circus . NCL / National Content Liquidators began a liquidation sale on June 16, 2011, of all items inside the property; the sale continued until the property was completely empty . The final day of the sale was September 4, 2011 . </P> <P> The "Speed - The Ride", which was located in front of the casino, was sold and removed . It will be relocated across from the Mandalay Bay in the new Akita Plaza . </P> <P> On February 14, 2013, Nazarian announced the groundbreaking for the $415 million conversion of the hotel into the SLS Las Vegas . The hotel opened on August 23, 2014 . It contains 1,600 rooms, a casino, four nightclubs, the clothing store Fred Segal and various restaurants . The name "SLS" was chosen by Nazarian to denote style, luxury and service . </P> <P> The guest rooms and restaurants were designed by Philippe Starck in collaboration with Gensler . Additionally, a handful of suites are designed by musician and actor Lenny Kravitz . </P>

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