You've heard the phrase, "Every thing old is new again" and nowhere is it more true than in Las Vegas. Virtually every hotel that has been around for more than a few years has been remodeled to some degree. The Sahara is one of them and the remodeling has been extensive.

As with other 60's and 70's era casino hotels, the dark smoky atmosphere has been swept away in favor of light and bright. At the Sahara it has a sort of Moroccan flavor with onion domes, colorful tile inlays, and Arabian Nights tchotkes. This is one of the few instances when we weren't sad to see the old go away - it had gotten a bit seedy.

Not much has changed since that extensive remodeling a few years ago, so if you've been to the Sahara since they've upgraded things you're not going to find anything surprising or different.

As you drive up under the neon domed valet parking area be sure to snag a bellhop if you have a lot of luggage because the front desk is at the other end of the hotel - not sure whose brilliant idea that was.

The casino has three different sections - the highly themed main room is an Arabian dream come to kitschy life full of table games and lots of slots. There's a smaller, older section with some of the 70s glam still left where you'll find a small poker room, and then a small modern area near the NASCAR café done in a high-tech scheme. There's nothing particularly noteworthy here except for the legendary $1 blackjack tables, a rarity on The Strip.

There are several different towers offering a variety of room configurations but don't expect anything too unusual here I also felt that some of the rooms are exceptionally small.

Since nothing has been updated recently, you may run into some worn spots here and there but they've done a pretty good job of keeping the place maintained. They've also been adding some amenities and you can now get things like high-speed Internet (for a fee), which is rare in a hotel in this price range.

It's hard to complain with prices like these. Their published rates start around $50 a night but every time I've seen it as low as $39. For those kinds of prices you really can't ask for much more than four walls and a mattress.

There is a lot more than that in the hotel, however. They have an Olympic size swimming pool that has been completely redone. Placement is a bit of a problem since the main parking garage overlooks it. You can dine at several different restaurants or check out their wild virtual reality area Speedworld, complete with a NASCAR café and roller coaster. They have a couple of showrooms, a nice buffet, and some small shopping outlets.

Location is not the best in town considering that the only thing further north on 'The Strip' is The Stratosphere but for economy and an acceptable level of service and and amenities this is a solid choice. Not one of my favorites but pretty good anyway.

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Sam Nazarian is a name that most Vegas visitors won’t be familiar with, but people who travel in the swank circles of Los Angeles or Miami may know his Le Meridien and Ritz Plaza (respectively) or have partied at one of his nightclubs. Nazarian will run the Sahara, leading a private equity firm who put up the majority of the cash for the sale, which was rumored to be in the $400 million range.

What Nazarian plans to do with the hotel is still a question mark since he is not commenting on plans until the sale is 100% final. Oblique comments in the local Vegas papers suggest that the hotel itself will remain but will probably get a top to bottom overhaul that will aim to turn it into a competitor for the hip and trendy crowd currently dominated by places like The Palms or the Hard Rock. Whether it retains The Sahara moniker is also unknown.

Despite the very public desire of the former owners of The Sahara to include the lots directly across from and behind the hotel in any sale, this deal only covered The Sahara itself so those two parcels are still up for grabs if anyone has a few hundred million dollars burning a hole in their pockets.

The sale and licensing process will probably eat up a big chunk of 2007 so don’t expect to see any major developments at the hotel before next year.

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