Question of the Day - 18 August 2021

As a matter of fact, someone has.

The Lucky Dragon opened on November 19, 2016, to great fanfare, but quickly ran into financial difficulty and the casino closed on January 4, 2018, while the hotel remained open for another nine months, finally shutting down for good the following October. That was followed by a foreclosure auction in which the property, which cost $165 million to open, was sold for $36 million, upwards of $14 million less than was owed on it.

The buyer was Las Vegas-based Ahern Rentals, which has been in the construction-equipment rental business since 1953 and now has 81 locations in 35 states nationwide. Don Ahern, CEO, announced that he planned to transform the property into a non-casino hotel. The sale to Ahern closed in April 2019. 

In February 2020, Don Ahern opened the renamed Ahern Hotel. The rooms and convention center were renovated at a cost of less than $10 million. 

The hotel has two restaurants, Trattoria by Chef Marc, a casual Italian, and Chef Marc's Italian Steakhouse, which is temporarily closed for renovation; some of the steakhouse dishes are being served in the Trattoria.