Treat Yourself: A Vegas Hotel Offers Full Suite Buyout for an Exclusive Holiday on Fremont Street
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This holiday season, why not get a little treat for you and yours – like… an ENTIRE hotel?!
For the first time, the Golden Gate Hotel & Casino, Vegas’ oldest property and historic cornerstone of downtown’s Fremont Street is offering a full buyout of its luxe suites. Up to 36 lucky guests can have an incredible and so-very-Vegas experience that includes drinks, dinner, nightlife and that incredible feeling that you’re the only ones staying at the property.
It’s all happening during the peak holiday season (Dec. 16 - 24) making it a unique option for a family get together or an incredible one-night work bash, says Derek Stevens, owner of the property (and several others in the vicinity, including the incredible high-rise Circa). “This is the first time we’ve done this, and we think it’s a pretty cool little thing,” he said. “Within 24 hours, we had two business owners that said ‘oh, you know what? I want to do that for my team.’”
A ‘Golden’ Opportunity
The concept was borne of practicality, said Stevens. The 120-year-old Golden Gate hotel presents a number of unique challenges in an otherwise very architecturally young city. “We’ve closed the hotel a number of times over the years for a 10-day period just before Christmas and New Year’s,” he said. “The Golden Gate is the oldest hotel and oldest building in Las Vegas, so it gives us an opportunity to do routine maintenance, and this year, we thought: ‘You know what? Our 16 suites at the Golden Gate are in perfectly fine shape. Why not try something new.’”
The suites, which were added to the hotel in the last decade and feature two lavish penthouses and 14 luxury suites do not require the upkeep of the more classic parts of the property, so Stevens saw a chance to create a unique stay in the center of the Vegas universe. “You can have something pretty cool for your friends or family – go out to dinner, go on a bar crawl and you have a safe place to go sleep,” said Stevens.
And, because this really is a gift from the Golden Gate to the lucky guests, it’s not just a room. For the nightly rate of $9,000, the up to 36 lucky guests get the full Fremont experience, drawing from Stevens’ multiple downtown properties. The stay includes a prix-fixe dinner at Andiamo Steakhouse at the nearby D Las Vegas, and then a private cocktail party at the aforementioned Circa’s Legacy Club, the top-floor bar with an unmatched view of the Vegas skyline.
Of course, the Golden Gate Casino will be in full swing as well, fired up and ready to make holiday cheer. Adding to that is another fun Golden Gate first: A free open-bar happy hour and free slot play at Bar Prohibition. “The Night Starts Here” promotion is a nod to the Casino’s long history and all of the fun that has been had and continues to be had, said Stevens. “Our whole premise is that in the oldest place in Vegas, isn’t it great to think that you can have your night start at the Golden Gate … there have been a lot of people that had their night start like that; and it’s a great feeling.”
1. Dial “1” for Golden Gate. 2. The original hotel property. 3. The hotel/casino stood through many eras of history. (Photos courtesy of Golden Gate Hotel & Casino)
A History of Firsts
The Golden Gate Hotel & Casino has unsurprisingly had a number of firsts in the city during its long history. From having the first phone – the number was simply “one,” said Stevens – to unique marketing moments like their famed dancing dealers, serving the first-for-Vegas shrimp cocktail, or naming the hotel “Sal Sagev” (yes, that’s Las Vegas backwards), the property has an incredible history.
There was so much fun being had, in fact, that they omitted one important detail, said Stevens: locks on the doors. “When we first took the Golden Gate down for a pretty major renovation, I think it was 2009, we miscalculated on one thing,” he admitted. ”We never thought about the fact that there were no locks on the doors. The doors hadn’t been locked since the last time that the casino was closed – the day of John Kennedy’s funeral.”
Luckily, the locks are scarcely needed for the modern Golden Gate, which continues to welcome visitors day and night for a unique stay or just a stop in. Said Stevens, “It’s open to everyone, and I’m glad to see that we’ve got both a great blend of tourists and locals alike.”
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