There’s no shortage of lost souls traipsing about the greater Los Angeles area, but maybe the saddest one of all is the 582-room Terranea Resort, lying on 102 acres of pristine Rancho Palos Verdes coastline just 20 miles south of LAX.

She had it all: a 9-hole golf course, 3 pools, jumbo-sized ballrooms, a 25-room spa, residential villas, bungalows, even casitas, for god’s sakes. But much like her human counterparts trying to make it in LA, however attractive she may be, whatever her potential, Terranea inevitably winds up whoring herself out just to make ends meet. She’s so down and out, in fact, you can book a room for $210/night — a good 50% off the rack — between now and Oct. 27, good for stays through Dec. 17.

It was a rough road from the get go for Terranea, which opened this past June. First, the site it lies on was previously occupied by Marineland of the Pacific, once California’s largest oceanarium, population: cute and lovable blowholers. Its demolition broke more than just a few locals’ hearts. Further ticking off the natives, it asked for an $8 million bailout from the city of RPV, promising to pay out at least that much every year in hotel taxes once the waters calmed (… holding … breath … X eyes).  Meanwhile, hopes of attracting fractional owners to its villa/casita residences were somewhat hampered by the fact that out-of-towners can only spend between 60 and 90 days at Terranea a year — not sure a condo in Heaven could justifiably go for $2 million for 2 months.

August soon brought wildfires to SoCal, one of which broke out in RPV’s nearby inland neighbor of La Canada Flintridge. Terranea, untouched by the blaze (some good news!), nobly took in fleeing residents — sadly, nobility ain’t legal tender (back to the bad news). Opening in the worst economy of the modern era as it did, Terranea quickly defaulted on the hundreds of millions of dollars it borrowed for its development. One such was a $180 million loan from Corus Bank — the same Corus Bank that was just last month taken over by the FDIC. It’s been reported that the Starwood Capital Group bought up 40% of the bank’s loan assets at auction.

We’ll keep you updated on all the knee-breaking, money-hemorrhaging news as it happens, as a result. In the mean time, enjoy a property in (soon-to-be sunny?) Southern Cali that even jerky TripAdvisor users have rated 4 out of 5 for about a third of what you probably should be paying. (866) 802-8000