You’d think that a used bed would be about the last thing you’d want to buy from a failed casino, but you’d be wrong: Atlantic City’s erstwhile Sands has sold 950 of them. From the Press:
Every single bed — about 800 double beds and 150 king-size beds — from the Sands’ 500-room hotel tower has been sold since the doors were opened to the public May 3 to dispose of the building’s vast contents.
“We’ve sold out of beds. But we still have plenty of other furniture left. The first floor of the casino looks like a furniture store,” said Carmen Gonzales, a spokeswoman for Pinnacle Entertainment Inc., the Las Vegas-based gaming company that plans to knock down and redevelop the Sands for a large new casino.
National Content Liquidators Inc. is overseeing the sale of hundreds of thousands of items from an inventory worth an estimated $1.5 million to $2 million. The sale is tentatively scheduled to end June 10, Gonzales said.
In addition to the beds, other prized items are the furnishings and decorations from the luxurious suites once occupied by well-heeled gamblers and the celebrities who performed in the Sands’ legendary Copa Room.
“The suites are decimated. The Hollywood Suite is gone,” Gonzales said of the ultra-exclusive penthouse hideout. “Pretty much everything is sold from the suites on the upper floors.”
The Sands essentially has been converted into a gigantic warehouse. Furniture, appliances, glasses, silverware, plates, pots, pans and much, much more are all up for public sale. The huge crowds that surged into the building on the first day have dwindled, but the sale is still attracting a few hundred people daily.
When the Trump World’s Fair/Regency/Atlantis/Playboy closed, I breezed through their auction. They had a few mattresses for sale, including one that looked like someone had done something indescribable on it. I’m talking Patrick Bateman territory here. That kind of put me off from even touching anything for sale, even though I thought it might be fun to buy a slot stool. Knowing what people have done on slot stools, I ultimately walked out empty-handed.
I’m hoping against hope that these beds were bought by other hotels and motels and that no one actually thoughts they were getting a great bed for their home here.
If I get to town in time, I might stop by and take some pictures and notes at the very least There’s probably a great story hidden somewhere in all the detritus of the old Sands.
If they ever do this at the Taj, I’m calling dibs on the ram’s head sculpture glued to the decorative table across from CF elevators. It’s a long story.