The Golden Nugget casino chain, owned by billionaire Tilman Fertitta, has begun its planned comprehensive redevelopment of The Golden Nugget Lake Tahoe Hotel and Casino (pictured).
The company is planning a huge upgrade to the casino hotel, which has buildings dating to the 1960s. That includes adding several new restaurants, adding to the casino’s 25,000-square-foot gaming floor, and refitting several hundred of its 539 rooms.
“We’re going to touch basically every square foot of the property,” said Jason Sides, general manager of the hotel-casino, speaking late last week to the Nevada Gaming Control Board during a meeting.
Fertitta also owns two other Golden Nugget casinos in Nevada, including one in downtown Las Vegas. He is the cousin of fellow billionaire casino owners Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, who own Red Rock Resorts.
Golden Nugget Lake Tahoe
The casino now known as Golden Nugget Lake Tahoe was first opened in the 1960s as The Sahara Tahoe. Elvis Presley played at the casino and stayed there several times during the ’60s, and guests can still book the original suite he stayed in.
(No word if that will be affected by the redevelopment as of yet.)
Developers gambled that its location on the border with California along Highway 50 would tempt customers on their way to Las Vegas.
Some 75 years later, the property is still standing, but is now under its fifth different name. Nevada-based Golden Nugget acquired the former Hard Rock Lake Tahoe in late 2023 for an undisclosed fee.
That transaction involved former owner Paragon Gaming returning a truckload of rare music memorabilia to Florida-based Hard Rock International, as it had previously licensed the Hard Rock name while operating the casino.
Lake Tahoe now has three other major casinos, several of which have also undergone various name changes. Alongside Golden Nugget Lake Tahoe, visitors can try Harrah’s Lake Tahoe, Bally’s Lake Tahoe, and Harvey’s.
The Redevelopment
Golden Nugget would be making a “significant capital investment” in the upgrade, Sides told regulators. But he declined to report exactly how much that will be.
On its website, the casino now has a “coming soon” page displaying some renderings of its new rooms, around 100 of which are expected to open for bookings this year. The rest will follow in 2025.
“Currently, one restaurant is under construction. That’s going to be a Saltgrass Steak House we anticipate opening in September. One of our two hotel towers is out of order and construction is about to begin on that. We expect to have our first doors open back in October in that tower,” Sides said.
As well as upgrading the Golden Nugget Lake Tahoe, Tilman Fertitta plans to build an as-yet-unnamed casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip.
The planned 43-story, 2,400-room hotel and casino resort is in the early stages of development, with Fertitta having purchased the land in late 2022. It has not been given a name yet, with Fertitta Entertainment reportedly evaluating options for the site.
David is an online casino expert who specializes in online slots and boasts over 10 years experience writing about iGaming. He has written for a wide range of notable publications, including eSports Insider and WordPlay Magazine.
David graduated Derby University with a BA Degree in English Literature and Creative Writing.
