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Question: After reading today's QOD about the Golden Gate and its claim to be the oldest casino in Las Vegas, my question is what is the oldest continuously operating hotel-casino in Las Vegas that has remained in the same location with the same name?
That would be the El Cortez.
There's an argument to be made that it's Railroad Pass, which celebrated its 90th anniversary August 1 2021 (it opened less than five months after wide-open casino gambling was legalized in Nevada), but we're taking this question literally, as we usually do. Railroad Pass is in Henderson and at the far edge at that, almost to Boulder City, and the question specifically states Las Vegas.
The beloved EC opened in November 1941 and occupied a half-city-block a little beyond congested downtown on Fremont Street between Sixth and Seventh streets, just outside the original Las Vegas town site. Downtown's first major resort, it cost $160,000 to build, sported a Spanish Ranch theme, and boasted 59 rooms; those original rooms can still be rented today in the Vintage tower with stairway access from the casino floor.
In 1945, the builders sold the El Cortez to Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel, and several of their partners for $600,000, thus also rendering it Las Vegas' first mob-owned hotel-casino. It was, in the end, just a training ground and only a couple of years later when the mobsters moved down to the just-opened Flamingo, one of the original owners bought back the property and invested a quarter-million to open a barbershop, swimming pool, night spot, and additional hotel rooms.
In 1952, the distinctive neon arrow, marquee, and sign were installed; 71 years later, they still grace the roof of the casino facing Fremont Street.
In 1963, Jackie Gaughan bought the El Cortez. In 1980, he built Tower II, bringing the room count to 297.
Gaughan and his wife Roberta Mae lived in a penthouse apartment on the 15th floor at the El Cortez till her death at age 75 in 1996; subsequently, he lived there alone. He owned the property till he passed away in 2014 at the age of 93. The suite is a time capsule, much of it preserved as it was since the 1980s. It can be rented now for around $500 a night.
In 2008, Jackie sold the El Cortez to long-time friend and partner Kenny Epstein, who runs it with his daughters, so it remains one of the few family owned and operated hotel-casinos in Las Vegas and has, over the decades, had an unusually limited number of proprietors.
On the National Register of Historic Places, the El Cortez celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2021 by investing $25 million in renovations, including new carpeting throughout, a renovated high-limit room, and an updated hotel lobby. But it's still mostly the same old joint it's always been, which makes it beloved amongst veterans such as ourselves.
