Columnist John Katsilometes: A solemn Desert passage

Monday, Aug. 21, 2000 | 9:28 a.m.

The demise of the Desert Inn is reflected in a golden box of tissue.

The hotel uses the boxes as restroom decor, serving only to complement golden fixtures and the trim around the mirrors.

But a few days ago a woman plucked a box off one of the marble counters as a souvenir from the doomed hotel. She snaked off into the casino, possibly unaware the item had no intrinsic value and bore no Desert Inn logo. Security deciphered she was probably drunk (running the giant slalom through banks of slot machines is a usually a good indication) and alerted employees of her flight pattern.

Realizing she was about to be nabbed, the woman surrendered her keepsake peacefully when she asked to change the item in for quarters so she could play video poker. Now the box is being passed around the hotel as a sort of memento.

Such tales abound as the Desert Inn descends to its inevitable demise at the end of the month. Steve Wynn will make something spectacular of the place, in time, but on this night -- last Thursday, the night of the snag-riddled opening of the Aladdin -- the mood was set by tales both funny and sad.

There's the patent looting of the property. Desert Inn coin cups are becoming increasingly rare, being lifted by the stackful to adorn mantles or office desks or be used as pots for plants. One woman made her way down the Starlight Lounge bar and tried to take every book of matches out of four big glasses before a bartender said, uh, please don't do that.

Five-finger discounts are not limited to the casino. Guests at the spa are provided plastic sandals. Fewer than 10 pair remain.

There are other signs of the downward spiral: The sports book has been closed for a week, but the lights and televisions remain on. The room was darkened for a couple of days until guests complained the shadowed area was casting a pall on the casino. Besides, homeless people were setting up shop in there. For real.

From the staff, complaints about what went wrong at the D.I. are plentiful. The lobby's too far removed from the casino. There was not an aggressive enough effort to market the golf course and turn the property into a golf-themed hotel.

An example of the frustration is the pure folly of the coffee shop layout. The hotel's 1997 renovation had the glass-encased coffee shop overlooking the pool area for a spectacular view. However, feeling a need for a bar area for the throngs of pool-goers, management inexplicably erected a giant poolside bar between the coffee shop and pool, blocking the view.

The hotel restored the view by painting a $65,000 mural on the side of the monstrosity facing the coffee shop. One employee who was working when Wynn toured the property said that when Wynn heard that story, he cracked up.

Still, the staff still insists the hotel will remain open until the scheduled Aug. 30 closing date. Late in the evening a few guests and employees talked of the closing while watching coverage of the messy Aladdin opening. Abruptly, videotape of the violent Aladdin implosion in 1998 was aired and the group fell silent.

A few gazed around the D.I., the next victim. A cocktail waitress shook her head and muttered, "What can you do?"