LAS VEGAS, NV - The Artisan Hotel is nestled next to the off-ramp of I-15 and Sahara and has long been a locals' favorite. It is known for its low lighting and floor to ceiling art, its reputation is that of a hidden jewel.
But it's lost much of its luster according to folks who work there. They say for awhile now, this diamond in the rough has been just plain rough.
Sam Airapetian, who runs the hotel restaurant, tells Contact 13 Chief Investigator Darcy Spears, "We have all kind of water leaks. We have bathrooms upstairs that are not being fixed."
In late October, a hotel guest complained to the Health District, saying their room fridge had left over food which caused a strong odor; baseboards were "hairy" due to not being cleaned; hallways were filthy; phone was sticky, and the bathroom floor had a white powdery substance--much like one we found when an employee took us into a guest room.
During a November 3 inspection, the Health District shut down two guest rooms and 4th floor housekeeping. One guest room didn't have a working smoke detector. Others had torn and soiled mattress covers, stained pillowcases and dirty sinks.
Inspectors also documented mold in an ice machine; no sanitizer in the spray bottles used to clean the rooms; dirty dishes and dirty linen in with the clean linens, and a hot water heater leaking green, slimy water.
The inspector notes that almost all the "violations observed last year were observed again during this inspection.
The Artisan was cautioned that the entire "facility may be closed and the permit suspended or revoked for failure to comply" if things weren't cleaned up quickly.
"We have Health Department issues in this building," Airapetian acknowledges.
The issues don't stop with the guest rooms. The Health District also temporarily shut down the hotel's only bar earlier this month after finding bugs in the booze, something that's noted as a repeat problem.
In an inspection report obtained by contact 13, the Health District also found mold in the bar's ice machine--another repeat violation; little to no sanitizer for the glasswasher; dirty soda gun cups and wine racks, and unprotected overhead sewer lines.
When we went inside a few days earlier, we found the bar ceiling buckling and cracking apart right over patrons' heads.
"The status of the restaurant at this point is we have no management," says Airapetian.
He and his partner, Steve Amalyan, lease the Mona Lisa--the hotel's only restaurant. It too was temporarily shut down in late October for health violations.
Pictures a health inspector took show mouse droppings in the kitchen; who knows what growing on a food scoop; rusty food warmers; nowhere for employees to wash their hands; rotted cabinets; a food press encrusted with what appears to be old meat, and all kinds of food well out of the safe temperature range--conditions ripe for food-borne illness.
And speaking of ill, health inspectors found all manner of spoiled and outdated food.
The mayonnaise and cottage cheese were more than a month old, and the honey mustard was three months past its sell-by date.
"The place sort of seems like it's falling apart, yet it manages to stay open, so what do you think is going on?" Spears asked Airapetian.
"Um, that will be a hard question to answer."
Sam says it all comes down to money owed to him and many others by Artisan owners Doug and Ninette DaSilva, who both refused our repeated requests for an on-camera interview.
"And what do they owe you?" Spears asked.
"Well," Sam answered, "we have a balance of about $19,000."
Sam and Steve aren't the only ones who say they're owed money.
"We'll show up, we'll either not get paid at all or we'll get a check that won't cash," said Michael Davis, a UNLV student who worked as a valet at the Artisan.
We spoke to him in September when the DaSilvas owed him about $600.
That was the extra amount I had to come up with for tuition this (September) month, so right now I'm probably gonna have to go take a payday loan to pay my phone and my car payment."
While we were trying to help Michael get his money, Doug DaSilva scheduled two interviews and canceled both at the last minute, claiming he was in Texas working on the opening of a new Artisan Hotel in downtown El Paso.
Apparently there's money for that, but not for some of the employees in Las Vegas.
"Some people were behind like six or seven paychecks," Davis recalled.
With our help, Michael got paid.
But many say the pay problems aren't going away.
"We're here today with many people, but of course there's more people sitting at home kind of being scared to be in front of the camera," Airapetian said.
Housekeeper Elizabeth Huerta showed up with her husband and their two little boys.
Mr. Huerta translated for his wife.
"She worked 15 days, but she don't get paid anything. I don't know why."
Alfredo Rodriguez is a maintenance man who's worked at The Artisan for more than 20 years.
"I work now maybe 16 checks, no pay."
"They owe you 16 past paychecks?" Spears asked.
"No pay."
We've also heard from bartenders, front desk clerks and contractors.
"My main concern is to get myself paid first and get things straight in this building so we can run some legitimate business," Airapetian said.
The Artisan owners have multiple active criminal cases against them through the District Attorney's Bad Check Division.
They're in the top tier of deadbeats for bouncing payroll checks.
According to the D.A., Ninette DaSilva still owes employees more than $26,000.
Doug's passed more than $42,000 in bad checks.
Both have had felony warrants out for their arrest and our camera was rolling when Metro came to question Ninette.
Inexplicably, they didn't do anything.
"Once again no one's getting arrested so..."
Manager Andrew Wheatley was sent out to shoo us away.
"Why doesn't Ninette come talk to me herself?" Spears asked him.
"What does she have to talk to you about?"
"About her lengthy history of writing bad checks and not paying her employees."
Her rap sheet with the District Attorney's office goes back to 1994.
"I can show you what her rap sheet looks like if you need to see that," Spears offered.
"It doesn't concern me."
If the hotel manager isn't concerned, perhaps that explains a lot about the Artisan.
After we started investigating, Doug DaSilva's lawyer called the D.A. to strike a deal.
To avoid arrest, he made a $7,500 down payment on Nov. 13 and promised the court he'd pay off the rest of his debt over the next six months.
Ninette DaSilva promised to pay off hers by next Spring.
We'll be watching to make sure they keep those promises.
In the meantime, the Health District has allowed the Artisan's bar and restaurant to re-open, but one of the guest rooms is still shut down, and so is 4th floor housekeeping.
