History
The hotel was built in 1973 opening as a Howard Johnson Hotel. It went through several ownership changes and renamings, to the Paradise, the Polynesian Paradise, and the Treasury Hotel.
In 1989, it was purchased by Sukeaki Izumi, a Japanese industrialist and hotelier, who renovated it with an Italian Riviera ambience and renamed it the Hôtel San Rémo. He paid a reported $30 million for the purchase and renovation. In 2002, the hotel, casino, and restaurants were refurbished. The hotel had 711 rooms while the casino had 30,000 square feet (3,000 m²) of space.
In 2004, Izumi's company, Eastern and Western Hotel Corp., began looking for opportunities to grow the hotel, to take advantage of the heavy development at the intersection of Tropicana and Las Vegas Blvd. since 1989. Hooters approached with a redevelopment proposal. Ultimately, a group of nine partners in Hooters of America acquired a two-thirds interest in the property, which was put under control of a joint venture, 155 East Tropicana, LLC. Plans were announced to redevelop the San Remo as a Hooters brand casino and hotel. Hooters of America, owner of the Hooters trademark, would receive 2% of revenue as royalties.
On April 18, 2005, Hooters announced a $190 million upgrade of the property, including increasing the casino to 35,000 square feet (3,300 m2). All of the hotel rooms would be remodeled, the pool would be tripled in size, and the number of restaurants would be increased from 4 to 8 and include the second largest Hooters restaurant in the world. The renovations would reduce the number of rooms to 696 by converting rooms into larger suites.
On February 2, 2006, the weekend of Super Bowl XL, Hooters Casino Hotel officially opened its doors with a large orange carpet welcoming not only the public but many stars including KISS bass player Gene Simmons. Former Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino opened Dan Marino's Fine Food and Spirits restaurant on the same day the casino/hotel opened.
In January 2007, 155 East Tropicana accepted an unsolicited offer from Hedwigs Las Vegas Top Tier, a joint venture of NTH Advisory Group and Silverleaf Real Estate, to buy the property for $225 million (including assumption of $130 million in debt). Hedwigs planned to redesign and rebrand the casino once again, as a "lifestyle, entertainment-driven boutique hotel". Analysts called the agreement "curious" given Hooters's poor earnings performance. The deal fell through in June 2008 when Hedwigs failed to make a required payment.
With revenue declining, the casino began defaulting on loan payments in April 2009. Canpartners Realty Holding Co., a subsidiary of Canyon Capital, bought up much of the company's debt at a heavy discount and planned to foreclose on the hotel. The owners, seeking to block foreclosure, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 2011, listing only $63 million in assets against liabilities of $163 million. After a planned February 2012 auction attracted no outside bidders, the bankruptcy court approved Canpartner's $60 million credit offer for the property, with the sale expected to close around March 30. The Navegante Group was approved to manage casino operations, while Canyon Capital said it was seeking a major hotel chain to take over and rebrand the property.
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