Baron Von Humboldt's excursions somehow blazed a trail for this fated site; people often hike up to the hotel, as if it were the equivalent of a mountain peak. An endless source of speculation, the Sheraton Humboldt is rumored to have been built as a tax write-off. Some have dreamed of turning the vacant building into a casino, the only one of its kind in what used to be called Saudi Venezuela. Successive government officials have used the site for fabulous parties, the city glittering at their feet.