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Hilton's contract to manage the famous property is running out, and the company has informed the hotel's owner, Santa Monica-based Colony Capital, that it will pull its brand by January 2012 (Hilton doesn't own most of the hotels it manages). The financial picture is a mess: The Vegas Hilton has been missing payments on a $252 million loan, with the hotel-casino losing almost $9 million in the second quarter. (The Review-Journal has the particulars.) None of this should be all that surprising to Vegas regulars - for all its lore, the Hilton has looked a little threadbare, especially next to its bigger, brighter competitors. That and the economy. From the WSJ:
The latest travails of the 2,955-room Las Vegas Hilton are particularly humbling for a venue once among Sin City's elite. In its halcyon days, the Las Vegas Hilton was home to Elvis Presley and his glitzy shows and was a magnet for high-rolling gamblers. "This was literally the house that Elvis built," said Dave Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Without the Hilton, Colony would be stuck looking for another management company - that is, if it can avoid default.
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted
until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.