Las Vegas' Oldest Casino Preserves Historic Charm With Modern Extravagant Flair In A Vibrant Downtown Area

Tourist mecca Las Vegas, Nevada, with its larger-than-life hotels, casinos, and neon lights, earns its title as "the most fun city in America." Despite also being the unhealthiest city in America, this wildly popular vacation destination attracts more than 40 million visitors yearly. Sin City has enticed travelers for decades, which raises the question: Which is the oldest casino?

Las Vegas as we know it began in 1906 when the Golden Gate Hotel & Casino (then known as the Hotel Nevada) opened at the corner of Fremont and Main Street on land purchased for $1,750, with room and board costing a mere $1. The country's railroad boom was a boon for business until gambling was outlawed in the state in 1910, putting a kibosh on those roulette and poker tables until gambling was legalized again in 1931. 

The Prohibition era, beginning in 1920, could also have doomed the hotel. But those whiskey bottles never went away (and were later found in the Golden Gate's walls) and came roaring back when Prohibition in 1933. Along with the installation of an electric sign — the city's first — this new era prompted the hotel's expansion and name change to Sal Sagev (Las Vegas spelled backward). 

In 1955, investors from San Francisco, including Italo Ghelfi, transformed the place into the Golden Gate, modernizing the exterior. Music icons like Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Dean Martin even frequented the casino for a time. Eventually, Ghelfi's children bought out the partners in 1990 and restored the building's historic exterior, just in time for the outdoor, adjacent Fremont Street Experience to open in 1995.

Today's Golden Gate Hotel has benefited from new ownership again in 2008, and another expansion in 2012 to include luxury suites and a high-limit pit, yet its historical vibe is evident with old chip racks, gaming ledgers, casino uniforms, and vintage slot machines displayed throughout the hotel. While it's not one of the world's largest hotels, 12 of which are found in Nevada, the tiny yet mighty Golden Gate clocks a cozy 106 rooms. 

Standard rooms today feature pillow-top mattresses, 32-inch HD flatscreen TVs, and Bath & Body Works toiletries. Summer prices, including fees, range from $64 per night during the week to about $115 nightly on weekends. History buffs may want to stay in one of the smaller "Original 10" rooms. Know that if you want amenities like a pool or fitness center, you can use those at the sister location, D Hotel & Casino. Also, that vibrant Fremont Street Experience can be noisy. Best to pack earplugs or ask for an interior room. 

Whether it's vacations, bachelorette parties, or buddy trips, intrepid travelers are willing to brave the Vegas-bound road trip, which can take over 4 hours –- or upwards of 7 in traffic — from Los Angeles, California. But the journey to Las Vegas may get easier in the future. A new high-speed train from Los Angeles is in the works for completion by 2028 and will shave travel time down to about 2 hours. For now, visitors can fly into the Harry Reid International Airport. Plans are also underway to add a second international airport to Las Vegas.

If you're skipping the Strip on this trip, soak up downtown's experiences, such as museums and shopping. At The Mob Museum, housed over four floors in a former federal courthouse, confront the who's who of the country's mob history, including Bugsy Siegel and Al Capone. Later, visit the museum's basement-level speakeasy, The Underground, for cocktails, such as the Bee's Knees and Moonshine Mayhem, as well as sliders and charcuterie. At dusk, the Neon Boneyard at the Neon Museum is aglow with the city's retired signs, such as the Stardust and Hard Rock Cafe guitar. 

The stores, restaurants, and bars at the outdoor Downtown Container Park, housed in shipping containers, provide some novelty retail. Thrill-seekers will want to hit up the SlotZilla Zipline at the Fremont Street Experience. Designed like a giant slot machine, which serves as the launchpad, you have two options to soar above the multitudes –  either seated at 77 feet high, starting at $49, or parallel to the ground at 114 feet high, priced from $69, both with added fees.

To cap the evening, you'll want to see and hear the light shows and nightly music at the Fremont spectacle. It's free and takes place every hour from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. You can even watch the show from Golden Gate's OneBar while sipping a frozen cocktail. You can hit the slots in the casino or play table games such as roulette, craps, and blackjack with the help of dancing dealers shimmying in flapper-inspired ensembles. And maybe you will make history and beat the Golden Gate's previous biggest bet of $250,000. Or not.