What's Left from the Good-Old Days in Downtown Las Vegas

I read your page on the history of the El Cortez today with interest. Is there anything else left from the "good old days" of the El Cortez era in downtown Las Vegas?

Yes, a few places downtown not only date back to the "El Cortez era," but actually predate it.

Any discussion of old downtown Las Vegas has to start with the Golden Gate, built in 1906 as the Hotel Nevada and home to Las Vegas’ first telephone number. Alas, the 99-cent shrimp cocktail is gone, but it still has its original pint-sized hotel rooms, which have been augmented with newer, larger ones in a recent makeover by owner Derek Stevens that added a hotel tower and showy new porte cochere onto the back. So it continues to move with the times, but it has a more "classic Vegas" flavor than any other downtown casino.

Except, perhaps, the El Cortez, which opened in 1941. Proving that everything old is new again, the El Cortez is enjoying a renaissance sparked when its management had the foresight to lease some vacant office space to artistic entrepreneurs in what became Emergency Arts. As coffee shops and niche restaurants began popping up around the neighborhood, the El Cortez became chic, after suffering a long period of isolation from the Fremont Street Experience-linked casinos. The interior of the casino floor and restaurants definitely has a Bugsy Siegel aura (he learned the ropes of the casino business here), and ownership has done a good job of balancing intimacy with ease of movement. Largely untouched by the passing years, the El Cortez has the distinction of being on the National Register of Historic Places; it's the oldest continuously operating casino in the U.S.

The glamorous Golden Nugget hails from 1946, although recent owners Steve Wynn and Tilman Fertitta have made it over so radically that the Nugget wears its years very lightly. What period flavor it exudes is mainly felt in the marble-floored check-in area. The showroom has a nice older-Vegas vibe, too, although it’s remarkable to think that Frank Sinatra hung his hat in a joint so small.

Binion's (1951) has the potential to be an atmospheric casino again, but the hotel rooms remain closed and the garage needs to be rebuilt. Formerly the Horseshoe, a part of its soul disappeared when Harrah’s Entertainment bought the Horseshoe brand and the World Series of Poker -- and took both of them away.

Believe it or not, the Fremont's 15-story hotel tower, built in 1956 at the height of the mob era, was the tallest building in Nevada. The original owner, Ed Levinson, was an associate of Meyer Lanksy, and Allen Glick's Argent Corporation owned it during the last gangster gasp in Vegas. It hasn't seen much upgrading over the decades, so it still has an old-time Vegasy feel, though the Second Street Grill is a (fairly) modern favorite.

The last stop on your tour should be the Downtown Grand (1964), once the Lady Luck. It suffers a bit, business-wise, from being a couple of blocks off the Fremont Street Experience, but it's kitty-corner from the Mob Museum: More old Vegas than that you cannot get. The two hotel towers feel entirely contemporary in ambience and elbow room, but the casino clings to its historical roots. The drop-ceiling has been stripped away and, in industrial-chic fashion, the upper workings of the old Lady Luck are laid bare: You can see all the catwalks once prowled by the eye in the sky. This stylistic choice marries the architecture of Mob-era Vegas with the latest in slots and table games — a point of understandable pride with Downtown Grand management.

With that, we say goodbye to small area where Las Vegas began, skipping over the Four Queens and The D. At the former, built in 1964, only Hugo's Cellar is reminiscent of a bygone era. And the latter hails from 1980, the opening year of a decade that architecture forgot. Owner Derek Stevens has wrought many improvements to the interior, but The D is stubbornly of an era that produced nothing of lasting style in Sin City.

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[email protected] Nov-11-2021

1980s

Very interesting article.

So you think that The Mirage (1989) produced nothing of lasting style in Las Vegas?  Or do you just mean nothing reminiscent of the old days?

alohafri Nov-11-2021

1980s

The article is about downtown. The Mirage is on the Strip. IMHO, the Mirage will be special as the start of a new generation of Las Vegas, but really not reminiscent of the old days.

VegasVic Nov-11-2021

Mirage

Yup, the Mirage has nothing in common with the "good old days" (and isn't downtown).  It did start a new direction for the strip, which some people love an others do not.

Kevin Lewis Nov-11-2021

Exploding tigers and such

The reference made was to a lack of style in Vegas as a whole, not just downtown. And the Mirage was the trend-setter for the period of "themed" casinos--you know, pirate battle, Eiffel Tower, blah blah. I agree with the assessment that nothing built then or in the subsequent decade had the remotest trace of style. A possible exception is the Luxor, which at least went full monty with its theme and looks substantially different inside and out compared to the other casinos.

Jerry Patey Nov-11-2021

Old Vegas

Fremont 4Queens Golden  Nugget for me. That kinda has broad def. could be end of an era when the themed casinos were built.

Jerry Patey Nov-11-2021

Old Vegas

No Mirage is not old vegas but was first sashimi we stayed in in 1991. It is still my favorite casino even thought I have not gambled there in over 2 decades. It is on strip and VPoker inventory reflects that. Downtown casinos ( most ) continue this trend.

Larry Stone Nov-11-2021

PLAZA

you left out the plaza which has a musty old feeling to it.  and main street station has an antiquey vibe to it.

rokgpsman Nov-11-2021

Laughlin as an alternative

It's been a few years, but the last time I was in Laughlin it had more of a good-old-days feel to it than the Fremont St area in Vegas. Laughlin is about 90 minutes drive from Las Vegas. Many of the casinos in Laughlin felt like they were back in the 1960's, especially the Pioneer. The employees I dealt with were friendly, the atmosphere was laid back, relaxed. I think there are about 8 or 9 casinos in Laughlin, plus there's the beautiful Colorado River with all kinds of recreational activity. Just a nice change from the crowded, noisy conditions on Fremont St with its panhandlers and weirdos after dark. It might have changed by now, but was a nice alternative that had a yesterdays kind of feeling to it. Reno might be similar but I've not made a trip there. Laughlin is a major stop for RV vacationers. Harrah's used to have charter flights to Laughlin from various US cities but I don't know if they do that anymore. I've heard the past few years have been tough on tourism in Laughlin.

Cyclone99 Nov-11-2021

Binion's

It should be noted that Binion's has renovated and reopened some of the original hotel rooms as Hotel Apache.

AL Nov-12-2021

Binions & the Apache

Just to make sure that there's no misunderstanding, the recently-available Apache rooms are not simply part of the Binions  tower (read: 1950s).  Rather, they are a throwback to the Apache building of the 1930s, and the Apache decor is very different from the traditional "modernist" architecture of the 1950s and 1960s.  When I heard that Binions was making these nostalgic rooms available now, I assumed that they would be charging $100/night or more, but unbelievably (and good for us), they can be had for the same price as rooms in the Four Queens:  starting at less than $50/night.  At least one (maybe more) of the Apache rooms is haunted, and that has made for quite an interesting stay for some guests!  If you are either a disbeliever in this stuff, or a believer who is looking for chills & thrills, research which rooms have been reported by guests to be haunted, and make a reservation!  (No pun was intended by mentioning both "Apache" and "reservation".)

AL Nov-12-2021

2 nitpick corrections

1. The Downtown Grand is not "a couple of blocks off the Fremont Street Experience".  It is only 1 block from it.
2. The D does not hail from 1980.  The building built in 1980 was the Sundance.  Years later, it was renamed Fitzgerald's.  Years later than that, it was finally named The D.

Question of the Day - 11 November 2021

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