Ahern Hotel

Ahern Hotel occupies the shell of the Lucky Dragon, a themed casino that opened in 2016 and collapsed within two years. Don Ahern bought it at auction in 2019 and reopened it as a 203-key, non-gaming boutique hotel two blocks off the Strip — one of the few Las Vegas properties built for a very different business than the one it now runs.

The place

300 W Sahara Avenue, on a 2.5-acre parcel a few blocks north of the Strip's northern end — close enough to walk to the Strat and the northern Strip corridor, but outside the resort-corridor core most Las Vegas visitors default to.

The concept

The building opened in December 2016 as the $139 million Lucky Dragon Hotel & Casino, an Asian-themed gaming resort built to court Asian gambling customers — the first new casino near the Strip since the Cosmopolitan in 2010. It defaulted on a $90 million loan within a year, filed for Chapter 11 in February 2018 and closed that October. Las Vegas businessman Don Ahern, owner of equipment-rental company Ahern Rentals, bought the property at auction for $36 million in April 2019 and reopened it later that year as the non-gaming, non-smoking Ahern Hotel: the casino floor became convention and event space, the dragon-themed décor was stripped out (its centerpiece chandelier sold to a Washington state casino), and the red exterior was kept. The result is a rare Las Vegas story — a themed casino's failure recycled into a straightforward hotel rather than demolished or reflagged as another resort.

Dining & wellness

All American Sports Kitchen, Ottimo Gourmet Kitchen & Pizzeria (Italian), Joel's Chophouse and Slice pizzeria cover the dining rotation, alongside Aroma Barista Bar and the Ahern Lobby Bar. A seasonal outdoor pool with a poolside bar and two floors of convention space — repurposed from the old casino floor — round out the amenities, along with a live-entertainment Showroom.