The Golden Nugget Las
Vegas is a casino-hotel located in Las Vegas, Nevada on the
Fremont Street Experience. The property is owned and operated
by Landry's Restaurants.
It is the largest casino
in the downtown area, with a total of 1,914 deluxe guest rooms
and suites. It has also maintained AAA's Four Diamond rating
consecutively since 1977, a Nevada record.
Facility History
The Golden Nugget was
originally built in 1946, making it one of the oldest casinos
in the city.
Steve Wynn bought a stake
in it, which he increased so that, in 1973, he became the
majority shareholder, and the youngest casino owner in Las
Vegas. It was the foundation for Wynn's rise to prominence in
the casino industry. It was owned by the Golden Nugget
Companies, which became Mirage Resorts in 1989 under
Wynn.
The property was sold to
Poster Financial Group, owned by Timothy Poster and Thomas
Breitling in 2004. When Poster Financial assumed control of
the Golden Nugget, they began to upgrade the gambling
operation by installing new cashless slot machines and by
increasing the maximum bet available at table games to
$15,000. Their story became the basis for The Casino, a
television series on Fox that premiered on June 14,
2004.
On February 4, 2005,
Houston, Texas-based Landry's Restaurants, Inc. announced its
intent to purchase the property and the Golden Nugget
Laughlin. The sale closed on September 27, 2005.
The Golden
Nugget in 1983After the purchase, the Golden Nugget embarked
on a 14-month, $100 million renovation project, which was
completed in November 2006. In December 2007, the Golden
Nugget completed its $70 million Phase II project, which
expanded the resort west onto First Street and introduced
additional entertainment, event and dining venues.
