Here's an extract from a newspaper article about 3 years ago with some of the history of the hotel:

----------------------------------------

World Trade Center hotel to be auctioned

The Desert Inn Road property once owned by the founder of U-Haul will go on the block Sept. 14.

By John G. Edwards
Review-Journal

The World Trade Center hotel, "the centerpiece" of holdings of the founder of U-Haul, will be auctioned Sept. 14 along with a collection of art, statues and a gift shop.

The 310-room hotel is at 910 E. Desert Inn Road, southeast of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Leonard Shoen, 83, the founder of U-Haul, owned it before his death in an automobile accident in Las Vegas last October.

"It's considered a centerpiece (of Shoen's property holdings)," said Aleda Nelson, president of Eric Nelson Auctioneering.

"It's a great property in the heart of the highest population base in the state of Nevada," said Eric Nelson, the auctioneer.

Nelson expects the buyer to use it for a casino, noting it has 30,000 square feet that could be used for gambling. Several businesses failed in attempts to open casinos at the site in the past.

At one point, a group out of Houston announced it would open a casino at the location.

Another time, United Coin leased the facility for a casino but failed to get operational. A previous owner of the hotel defaulted on a mortgage loan and Shoen purchased the hotel from Bank of America in 1994, Nelson said.

Shoen obtained a World Trade Center license for the property. He and his wife purchased art around the world and from movie stars and offered it for sale at the property.

The art work ranges in value from $25 to $10,000 and more, Aleda Nelson said. The art, furniture and fixtures will be sold as one unit, she added.

Nelson estimates that Shoen spent more than $32 million on the property, art and improvements.

The U-Haul founder obtained a license to operate it as a World Trade Center. The center assisted companies incorporate in Nevada.

It was authorized by the World Trade Centers Association to bring together business and government agencies involved in foreign trade, including international trade clubs and seminars.

Shoen was a deal maker and an energetic man, Nelson said, but his failing health often interrupted efforts at the World Trade Center.

Shoen, a colorful and pugnacious entrepreneur, may have committed suicide in October when his car ran into a pole in Henderson, according to police. He had 12 children and one adopted child.

Shoen founded U-Haul in 1945 in Ridgefield, Wash., after serving in the Navy during World War II.

He started with a $5,000 investment and was called Sam the Trailer Man. By the time of his death, U-Haul's holding company, Reno-based Amerco, was the nation's largest truck rental company with 14,000 dealers and 1,100 company owned facilities.

Shoen, who was married five times, lost the business to sons, Joe and Mark Shoen, in 1986. The family made news over the years for its bitter feuds.