Photos: Claire Sinclair to pitch Clairbnb on ‘Shark Tank,’ launch Kickstarter campaign
“Pin Up” at The Stratosphere star Claire Sinclair is headed to “Shark Tank” to pitch the investors on her business idea of expanding cross-country the themed bnb concept that she’s getting ready to open Downtown.
Claire will meet the sharks on the ABC series March 30, then will be back here April 16 for the Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Festival at The Orleans where she’ll be doing a signing with blonde burlesque bombshell Mosh, who has worked with Dita Von Teese and is set to take the throne as “The Queen of Burlesque.”
Claire and Mosh will have a booth set up with a red carpet where fans can take photographs and have them printed on the spot. They also will be raffling a chance to have cocktails with them at The Golden Tiki that night.
Now that she’s maxed her life savings, the brunette bombshell also will launch an indie fundraising effort on Kickstarter for her new Clairebnb project, which she previewed for me Wednesday afternoon.
The 2011 Playmate of the Year used her savings from Playboy and “Pin Up” to buy a seven-unit apartment house on South 11th Street in walking distance of Fremont Street. She has turned two of them into rental units, and two more will be ready in two weeks.
The final three will be completed this spring. One will be a Magic Crystal Infinity room modeled after the pyramid at The Louvre Museum in Paris, France. After four months of investigation and background checks, she has become the only person to have a bnb rental business Downtown.
Claire already has renters using her ’70s Bachelor Pad and Pink Palace of Jayne Mansfield with shocking pink Jacuzzi bubble bath. Next: The Pee-Wee’s Playhouse replica and The Beauty and the Beast room with a glass-enclosed rose.
The ’70s bachelor pad includes vintage Playboy magazines and a 33 1/3 LP collection. The apartments rent for $200 a night, have a waiting list and also have been used for photo shoots. It is an escape from urban Las Vegas into a magical castle in a fairytale land.
Claire talked about the closing of “Pin Up” on March 4 after four years: “It’s bittersweet. I’ve had a wonderful time with the show, but working every night has cut into some new creative ideas I want to launch.
“This boutique hotel operation is one of them. I knew that Las Vegas shows were a very finite thing, and I’ve always been one to look ahead. I bought this building with conversion plans in mind to make it the next best destination in Las Vegas.
“There are a lot of other Downtown properties that I could convert into themed Clairbnb rentals, and eventually we could have similar themed room hotels in California and throughout the Southwest.”
Seven rooms today, 70 tomorrow and maybe 700 in the future? I asked Claire if she was taking on the big Strip luxury hotels. “This is luxury on a different level. We’re able to cater with the small touches that no mega tower could compete with because we’re small scale.
“Where else would you get a Playmate of the Year bringing in breakfast, then presenting the bill? We are extremely detail oriented to make sure our guest experience is full immersion into the theme of each space.
“Each theme is its own little universe where we have created a world away from today’s hotel rooms.” We recorded our interview for Claire’s 1 million followers on social media and Buzz Feed, and we’ll post that on YouTube after it has been edited.
