The Golden Gate Hotel & Casino reached a milestone this week as the oldest continuously operating hotel-casino in Las Vegas marked 120 years of activity. The property first opened its doors on January 13, 1906, as the Hotel Nevada, with a small room inventory and a prominent location on Fremont Street. Its long tenure set the stage for an anniversary celebration scheduled for Friday, January 16, evening in downtown Las Vegas, featuring giveaways, complimentary birthday shots and commemorative merchandise for guests. The celebration highlighted the hotel’s status as Las Vegas’ first permanent hotel and a foundational part of the city’s tourism and casino history.

Heritage and Early Development

The hotel occupies the corner of Fremont and Main streets, and remnants of its earliest construction remain part of the building’s structure. Seven narrow windows along Fremont Street and 11 more facing Main Street mark the footprint of the original rooms, including the ten earliest guest rooms, which still form part of the property’s inventory.

The property originated from a land auction in 1905, when John F. Miller purchased the lot for $1,750. Before opening the Hotel Nevada the following year, Miller briefly operated a tent hotel on the site. The new building introduced amenities uncommon for the period, including electric lighting and basic ventilation. The lower floor served as a lounge that sold liquor while the second floor contained the first ten rooms. Its proximity to the nearby railroad depot contributed to early popularity among travelers.

The Golden Gate recorded several firsts during its early years. In 1907, the hotel installed  and received the city’s first phone number. The hotel also had the second neon sign in downtown when neon signage began shaping local streetscapes. In 1910, when gambling was outlawed, the hotel stored poker and roulette tables until gambling returned in 1931. The property’s name later changed to Sal Sagev in 1932, a reversal of “Las Vegas,” before adopting the Golden Gate brand in the 1950s.

Preservation and Modernization

Derek and Greg Stevens acquired the hotel in 2006 and focused on balancing improvements with historic preservation. Derek Stevens described Golden Gate’s distinctiveness as an advantage when the brothers bought the property, stating that “no one else was going to be able to copy it.” After the acquisition, construction crews uncovered a small hidden kitchen area with exposed brick and decorative archways, a remnant from one of the earliest modifications to the original hotel.

Additional features from the property’s past remain visible in the basement, where old refrigerator markings, 100-year-old bricks, early elevator mechanisms and remnants of an old kitchen demonstrate the building’s layered history. A space formerly used as the hotel’s “eye in the sky” reflects how surveillance once relied on a person lying on a platform above the casino floor.

Across the property, relics from past decades sit among newer additions. Vintage slot machines, a preserved 1909 fountain and display cases with early room keys and uniforms illustrate periods when the property carried the Sal Sagev name. The Prohibition Bar, which hosted celebrities including Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin and Michael Jackson, continues to operate in its original location with updated televisions installed above the bar.

Operational Shifts and Anniversary Events

Accoding to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the Golden Gate introduced dancing dealers at its casino before expanding that concept to other Stevens-owned properties. In August 2025, the hotel removed all live dealer table games and transitioned to electronic table games, reflecting changes in guest preferences. A nightly “Night Starts Here” promotion later joined the lineup, offering complimentary bar drinks from 6 to 7 p.m.

Hotel officials emphasized the building’s significance. “This is, literally, the birthplace of hotel tourism and casino as we know it today in Las Vegas,” Jeff Victor, vice president of operations for Circa Hospitality Group, said. Victor described the building’s survival as partially remarkable, adding that “the fact that (Golden Gate) still exists is part miracle, I guess,” due to the volume of history the structure holds.

Boardman of Circa Hospitality Group noted efforts to revitalize unused basement rooms and make historical elements more accessible. He remarked that the anniversary represented a rare milestone in Las Vegas, stating that reaching 120 years of continuous operation is unusual given the city’s approach to redevelopment.