Los Angeles Times -- I approached the El Cortez Cabana Suites with great trepidation. Of all the downtown resorts few are more storied than the El Cortez, and few have I seen more rundown. And, these tough times for the Strip, are brutal for downtown. The Lady Luck seems to have just vanished. The expensive redevelopment project meant to attract tourists, the mostly empty Neonopolis, recently lost one of its few remaining major tenants, a movie theater. And classic property Binion's is feuding with some landlords for its very survival. So who would expect that El Cortez has never looked better?