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Las Vegas is a great city but does not have a long and legendary past. Its history in the middle of the desert officially began in 1905, so its age is just 120 years. It can not be compared to Rome, Moscow, or New York. Moreover, until 1931, when gambling was legalized, the town was utterly unremarkable. In fact, according to historical standards, it is very young.
But imagine one casino building still standing in this city. It was built in 1906, almost immediately after Las Vegas was founded, so it can not be called new. Initially, it was just a hotel. However, the construction time made it the oldest casino in Las Vegas.
The Golden Gate is inextricably linked with Las Vegas's history, so considering them in tandem would not be foolish. The Golden Gate is a testament and a reminder that some things are still sacred to the city. This casino did the impossible and, within a hundred years, turned into a super-developed megalopolis from a small village in the desert, destroying much of its architectural past.
History of the Golden Gate Casino
The Golden Gate celebrated its 100th anniversary on November 14, 2006. The slogan on its website states, "Everything that happens in Vegas started here." And they are not joking. The Golden Gate is considered to be the oldest casino in Las Vegas, although its name changed several times, and it underwent some restorations and modifications.
_770.jpg "Golden Gate Casino")
When Las Vegas officially became a town, the land along Fremont Street near the train station was auctioned. The site at Fremont Street, 1, where now you can find the Golden Gate Hotel and Casino, was purchased by John Miller for $1,750. The building was completed during the year, and over a dozen rooms opened doors for the first visitors. The cost of accommodation and food was $1 per day. The rooms had electricity and steam radiators, but there was no air conditioning, which had not yet been invented. Therefore, the rooms were stuffy. The air temperature in the summer frequently exceeded 40 degrees!
Nevada Hotel was a pioneer in Las Vegas in many ways. The hotel building was the first brick building to appear on Fremont Street. Domestic electricity, steam radiators, and room ventilation first appeared there. The first phone in Las Vegas was installed in the hotel in 1907. The hotel first attempted to become a casino in the same year and began offering visitors roulette and poker at its bar called Apache. However, this attempt was unsuccessful: In 1909, the city fathers declared online gambling illegal.
When gambling was legalized in 1931, Nevada Hotel got the name Sal Sagev (Las Vegas spelled backward). There were tables for poker, roulette, craps, and eight slot machines. The refrigeration unit was installed in the basement, which only pretended to cool the air. However, workers who visited the casino did not notice the heat. They enjoyed the game and a wide range of beers.
In 1955, the hotel and casino were bought by Italo Ghelfi and a group of his business partners from San Francisco: Alfred Durante, Leo Massaro, Robert Picardo, Fred Detore, Bernard F. Perata, A.A. Harris, and Remi Gacherieu. They managed it until 1990 when Ghelfi's family purchased partners' shares. The hotel was renamed and became known as the Golden Gate in memory of San Francisco. With the development of Las Vegas, more and more tourists visited the city, and the casino finally began to make considerable profits.
Shrimp Cocktail
In 1959, Golden Gate started offering its legendary shrimp cocktail, invented by Italo Ghelfi. Now, it is one of the attractions of Las Vegas, but in those days, people from all over Las Vegas got in line to pay 50 cents and try this cocktail. Many people stood in line the second and the third time! The cocktail price remained unchanged for almost 50 years despite the casino losing 300 thousand dollars annually! The first increase in price to $2 occurred only in 2008. In 1991, the Golden Gate celebrated the sale of the 25 millionth portion of the shrimp cocktail. This famous cocktail is served at Golden Gate, but now costs $4.
In the 60s, a small hotel was extended and rebuilt, and comfortable rooms finally appeared. The Golden Gate became the same establishment as we know it today.
The Golden Gate after Reconstruction
In September 2008, Mark Brandenburg, the adopted son of Italo Ghelfi, sold a 50% interest in the Golden Gate property to the investment company Desert Rock Enterprises, owned by brothers Derek and Greg Stevens. In 2012, the first major renovation of the Golden Gate Casino and Hotel, the first one in more than 50 years, finally began.
Old vintage bars and halls of the casino became more open and modern, and a new five-story tower of the hotel was built.
We wanted to keep a sense of the history of this place, but the rooms had to be more modern - said the president and co-owner Mark Brandenburg. - We wanted to create a mixture of old and new, to restore the hotel to the class condition it was when it opened. Only now, it does not look like a boutique hotel but rather like one of the mega-resorts.
Indeed, the Golden Gate seems perfect now. The 126 newly renovated rooms in which casino visitors have been living since 1906 are equipped with plush beds, flat-screen TVs, clock radios, cable TVs, voicemails, and laptop connection ports. These rooms can be booked for less than $50 per night.
Sixteen luxe rooms are located in the hotel's new tower. Accommodations are comparable to those found in the best rooms on the Las Vegas Strip. They represent a mixture of modern amenities with decorative elements from the past. Rooms have a 50-inch flat screen TV, a super comfortable bed in the King of California, and a climate control device with a motion detector. The fee for staying at the hotel is between $109 and $250 per night.
Each new penthouse has a closed patio with a fireplace, ceiling fan, large flat-screen TV, and gas grill. Two penthouses occupy the entire fifth floor of the tower and are extravagantly furnished. Great attention is paid to unifying the hotel's more than centennial history.
The expansion and construction significantly exceeded my expectations - admitted Brandenburg. - At first it was not clear what would happen if we took the historical style and mixed it with modern expectations, but it was wonderful.
The reconstruction provided the opportunity to develop and improve what had been before. We can mention new parking and an expanded casino floor among the highlights. Now, there are bright new lobbies, whose decoration includes wood flooring, antique lamps, and gold-colored ceilings. In the casino hall, artifacts of the Golden Gate past are available. On one wall, visitors can see a collage of historic photographs from almost every decade of the casino. The large window display at the entrance contains the elements of a gambling entourage since 1907 and a collection of whiskey bottles from the period of Prohibition.
Of course, it has some modern additions. Recently, the hotel established the first digital high-resolution video surveillance system in the state. It is located in the casino next to the two-way mirrors that in the 50s were used to detect fraudsters. The Golden Gate installed the first in Nevada elevator Otis Gen2 to protect the environment. There are only 16 copies all over the world. It uses a technology that generates power when the elevator moves, reducing electricity use. Closed geothermal wells are responsible for maintaining the temperature of drinks cooled in the open air in one of the hotel's bars. Finally, the facade of the Golden Gate was restored to return it to its initial state, but with modern LED backlighting.
The new Golden Gate preserves and enhances the heritage of Las Vegas. This is not just a renovated classic century-old building. It embodies the spirit and mystery of Las Vegas - said Mark Brandenburg summing up the results of the reconstruction.
The Casino Floor
Table limits at Golden Gate are pretty low. The main floor accepts bets from $10 to $2,500. The maximum bet in the hall for high rollers, which is separated from the rest of the gambling tables, is $5,000.
Cuisine
The Golden Gate still has its famous shrimp cocktail that costs $3.99 at the Du-Par's Restaurant. Nowadays, the casino can boast that it has sold more than 40 million portions of these delicious drinks. But, of course, the shrimp cocktail is not the only dish. Du-Par's is a restaurant with a full-service. It is open 24 hours a day and offers a diverse menu at reasonable prices. The restaurant also has its own bakery.
Thus, the Golden Gate is the oldest casino in Las Vegas, and it has a long and legendary history, which happens rarely in Las Vegas. If you, dear readers of the portal Casinoz, will be in Las Vegas and want to taste the history of this city, visit Fremont Street, 1 and play at Golden Gate Casino. After passing through the ups and downs of the twentieth century, the Golden Gate continues to shine brightly in the current XXI century. You can visit the hotel museum and see numerous antiques, including the first phone in the city. You can have a beer at the same bar where Frank Sinatra drank his beer.
And do not forget to enjoy the taste of shrimp cocktails!
