A publicist for the property tells GlobeSt.com that the rooms in the two oldest towers are being darkened until demand picks back up, and its buffet also will close temporarily. The 1,100-room, 27-story Tangiers Tower, completed in 1988, will remain open along with the casino, she says.

"This happened last year as well," she says. "When there's an increase in demand we will be reopening the towers and the buffet."

The Sahara is owned by SBE Entertainment Group LLC of Los Angeles and San Francisco-based Stockbridge Real Estate Funds. The duo acquired the property for between $300 million and $400 million in August 2007. In early 2008, it won approval for a major renovation and expansion of the property that calls for demolition of the property's 200-unit mid-rise hotel tower, renovation of the two high-rise towers and development of a third high-rise tower with 1,000 rooms. Completion was slated for 2011 but those plans are currently on hold due to the recession.