When the Tropicana Hotel opened in 1957, the Saturday Evening Post referred to the hotel as the”Tiffany of the Strip”, sadly, the Tropicana Hotel and Casino has been facing financial troubles and has already filed bankruptcy protection along with eight other properties owned by Columbia Sussex Corp, putting the future of Las Vegas most representative and iconic hotel in peril. Several news media agencies have reported that the hotel continues struggling with financial and operational problems including not enough personal to attend their customers, however, the hotel keeps baiting customers by offering some of the cheapest room rates in Las Vegas and advertising on the Internet with a series of discount packages and special coupons.

"Unfortunately, the Tropicana's hands are tied. Making an investment to build a new casino probably feels a lot like making an investment to pay the mortgages, in terms of speculation that isn't paying off.'' said Daniel Y. Rubin, a lawyer of the firm that represents MGM Mirage's main stakeholder, Kirk Kerkorian.

Tropicana Entertainment LLC has unsuccessfully searched for investors and the plan to rebuild the Tropicana and turn it into the largest resort in Las Vegas failed due financing difficulties. According to Deutsche Bank AG analyst William Lerner, the financial problems are not exclusive of the Tropicana and many other projects will never see the green light due tight market restrictions and a series of other financing problems. The situation also affects other old sites in SinCity including the ImperialPalace Hotel and Casino and the Riviera Hotel and Casino, keeping them from getting the funds needed to compete with the newest and more attractive mega resorts.

The problems started last year when Bill Yung III, Tropicana Entertainment CEO, lost his license to operate the Tropicana Atlantic City. The New Jersey gaming officials remove his permission to operate the hotel declaring that he lacks of ”business ability'' and “integrity'” to run the Tropicana Atlantic City. This decision took the Nevada's Gaming Control Board to conduct a separate investigation of the Tropicana Las Vegas and finally ended up with Young’s resignation in June 6^th. Yung was substituted by Scott Butera, however, his future is still undecided after a bankruptcy court declared that it will hold a hearing to decide if Butera should stay in his position.

Yung had plans to create an improved and largest version of Tropicana Las Vegas by 2010; the plan included building a complex with five towers, 10,000 rooms, and 900,000 square feet of casino, shopping and convention space, however, the increasing construction expenses and other difficulties sealed the project’s fate before it was intensely discussed. But the inability to refinance or get capital limited the Tropicana’s chances to survive, and the company had no other option but cutting jobs as a way to sustain the company's cash flow. This situation unchained a series of other problems, cutting the Atlantic City’s workforce by 20% was the factor that originated the difficulties with New Jersey regulator authorities, which declared that Tropicana’s personnel was not enough to run and sustain a first-class business. On May 5^th, Tropicana Entertainment filed for bankruptcy protection, declaring a total of $2.8 billion in assets and $2.4 billion in debts. On the other hand, Tropicana Entertainment subsequently won a court permission to borrow $67 million to continue its operations until the company decides which way they will take.

“The current plan is to invest in the asset and re-evaluate down the road. Closing the Las Vegas hotel isn't an option, and everybody is of the strong opinion that it's a difficult time to buy or sell anything.'' said Scott Butera.