Golden Nugget Lake Tahoe Hotel & Casino (formerly Sahara Tahoe, High Sierra, Horizon Lake Tahoe, and Hard Rock Lake Tahoe) is a casino hotel in Stateline, Nevada. It is one of four major casino hotels in Stateline.[citation needed] Horizon Lake Tahoe closed on April 1, 2014, to begin a $60 million renovation and rebranding as Hard Rock Lake Tahoe, which held its grand opening on January 28, 2015. It has 539 hotel rooms and 22,750 square feet (2,114 m2) of gaming space, with 431 slot machines, 33 table games and a William Hill race and sports book.[1][2][3]
| Golden Nugget Lake Tahoe | |
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| Location | Stateline, Nevada, U.S. |
| Address | 50 U.S. Route 50 |
| Opening date | June 30, 1965 |
| Theme | Gold Rush |
| No. of rooms | 539 |
| Total gaming space | 22,750 sq ft (2,114 m2) |
| Notable restaurants | Alpine Union Fuel Park Prime The Oyster Bar |
| Casino type | Land-based |
| Owner | Fertitta Entertainment / Landry's (Hotel/Casino) NevaOne, LLC / Park Companies (Landowners) |
| Previous names | Sahara Tahoe (1965–1983) High Sierra (1983–1990) Horizon Lake Tahoe (1990–2014) Hard Rock Lake Tahoe (2014–2023) |
| Renovated in | 1978, 1983, 1990, 2013–2014, 2023–25 |
| Coordinates | 38°57′45″N 119°56′27″W / 38.962362°N 119.940748°W |
| Website | www |
History
editSahara Tahoe (1965–1983)
editPlans for the casino hotel were announced in January 1963 by the Del E. Webb Corporation, a real estate development firm that also owned casinos in Las Vegas, including the Sahara.[4] Webb leased 20 acres (8.1 ha) of land for the development from the Park Cattle Co., a ranching company with large land holdings in the area.[5][6] Construction began in April 1964.[7] The property opened as the Sahara–Tahoe on June 30, 1965.[8][9] Developed at a cost of $25 million, the Sahara had a 14-story hotel with 350 rooms, and a 1,000-seat theater restaurant.[8]
The Sahara expanded with a second hotel tower completed in late 1968, with 224 rooms on 8 floors.[10][11]
Elvis Presley performed at the Sahara Tahoe from 1971 to 1976, and his suite is still available for guests to book.
High Sierra (1983–1990)
editIn 1983, the Sahara was given a Western theme and rebranded as the High Sierra Hotel/Casino.[12][13][14]
In 1985, it hosted the companies who defined the High Sierra Format, the basis for how computers access CD-ROMs today.
Horizon Lake Tahoe (1990–2014)
editIn 1990, the High Sierra was sold to Columbia Sussex, which re-branded it again as Horizon.
In 2005, Park Cattle Co. moved to evict Columbia Sussex from the premises, alleging that they had allowed the Horizon to fall into disrepair.[15][16] The ensuing lawsuit lasted until 2008, when Tropicana Entertainment (successor of Columbia Sussex's casino business) agreed to pay $165 million to Park Cattle and end the lease for the Horizon as early as 2011.[17][18]
In 2009, Tropicana Entertainment transferred the lease and the operating business of the Horizon back to an affiliate of Columbia Sussex.[19][20] Tropicana was undergoing a bankruptcy reorganization and hoped to focus its efforts on its neighboring MontBleu Casino.[19]
In 2014, NevaOne LLC, a Park Cattle affiliate, acquired the Horizon's operations.[21] NevaOne closed the Horizon for renovations on April 1, 2014, with plans to rebrand it as the Park Tahoe Casino Resort.[22][23] Warner Gaming, which operated several casinos, including the Hard Rock Las Vegas, was retained to manage the property.[21]
Hard Rock Hotel and Casino (2014–2023)
editIn July 2014, the Park family announced that the Horizon would be rebranded as the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Lake Tahoe, instead of the Park Tahoe.[24] The name was used under license from Brookfield Financial, which owned the rights to the Hard Rock brand in the Western United States.[25] The property reopened as the Hard Rock on January 28, 2015, after $60 million of renovations.[26]
Paragon Gaming acquired a majority stake in the property in 2016.[27][28]
In 2023, Fertitta Entertainment bought the property from Paragon, and announced that it would be rebranded as a Golden Nugget casino.[29]
Gallery
edit-
The Sahara–Tahoe, shortly after opening (circa 1965) -
Sahara Tahoe logo (1965–1983) -
Horizon Lake Tahoe logo (1990–2014) -
The hotel towers, as the Horizon (2006) -
Entrance to the casino, as the Hard Rock (2015)
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ Nonrestricted Count Report (Report). Nevada Gaming Commission. March 31, 2023. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
- ^ Nonrestricted Square Footage Report (Report). Nevada Gaming Commission. January 5, 2023. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
- ^ Howard Stutz (March 25, 2023). "Tilman Fertitta to buy Hard Rock Lake Tahoe, will convert the casino to a Golden Nugget". The Nevada Independent. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
- ^ "Developer sees booming future for South Shore Lake Tahoe casino-hotel". The Sacramento Bee. January 13, 1963 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Curley Grieve (June 5, 1963). "Del Webb lease property for new casino at Tahoe". The San Francisco Examiner – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Douglas building boom seen". Nevada State Journal. July 18, 1963 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Ground broken for resort". Nevada State Journal. April 30, 1964 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "$25 million Sahara-Tahoe plans opening Wednesday". Nevada State Journal. June 29, 1965 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Del E. Webb Corporation's Sahara-Tahoe Hotel opened its doors at midnight Wednesday..." Nevada State Journal. July 2, 1965 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Sahara-Tahoe plans opening of addition". The Los Angeles Times. October 13, 1968 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "State's hotels increase; sign worlds top showmen". Reno Gazette-Journal. January 25, 1969 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Going Western at Tahoe". The Sacramento Bee. AP. September 23, 1983 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "It's time to cash in your chips (classified advertisement)". The Sacramento Bee. December 26, 1983 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Nevada Scene". The San Francisco Examiner. December 25, 1983 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Hotel land dispute goes to trial". Las Vegas Review-Journal. February 14, 2008. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
- ^ Form 10-Q: Quarterly Report (Report). Tropicana Entertainment, LLC. December 6, 2007. p. 79 – via EDGAR.
- ^ Kurt Hildebrand; Paul Dunn (April 10, 2008). "Details of settlement in Horizon lawsuit revealed". Tahoe Daily Tribune. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
- ^ "MontBleu gets assurances; questions surround Horizon". Northern Nevada Business Weekly. May 10, 2009. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
- ^ a b Arnold M. Knightly (May 6, 2009). "Tropicana Entertainment assigns casino lease to former owner". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
- ^ "Tropicana Entertainment assigns Horizon lease to Columbia Sussex affiliate; amends MontBleu lease" (Press release). Tropicana Entertainment. May 5, 2009. Archived from the original on 2011-07-17.
- ^ a b Marcella Corona (March 7, 2014). "Tahoe's Horizon closing for millions in renovations". Reno Gazette-Journal. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
- ^ "Horizon to be renamed Park Tahoe". Reno Gazette-Journal. March 15, 2014. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
- ^ "Horizon closes its doors for 'substantial' improvements". Reno Gazette-Journal. April 6, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Griffin Rogers (July 24, 2014). "Hard Rock hotel and casino coming to Lake Tahoe". Tahoe Daily Tribune. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
- ^ Form 10-K: Annual Report (Report). BREF HR LLC. April 14, 2015. pp. 8–9 – via EDGAR.
- ^ Bill O'Driscoll (January 28, 2015). "'Tahoe vibe' rings in Hard Rock resort". Reno Gazette-Journal. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
- ^ Richard N. Velotta (November 2, 2016). "Paragon Gaming recommended to acquire Hard Rock Hotel at Lake Tahoe". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2018-10-03.
- ^ "Nevada Gaming Commission Minutes". November 17, 2016. pp. 6–8. Retrieved 2018-10-03.
- ^ Howard Stutz (August 24, 2023). "Fertitta: Golden Nugget Lake Tahoe will rise from rebranded Hard Rock in 30 days". The Nevada Independent. Retrieved 2023-09-16.
