The Golden Nugget is generally described, not least in its own brochures, as being the one downtown casino that matches the extravagance and splendor of the Strip. It doesn't. It's a bright, glittery place that attracts a much more upmarket clientele than any of its neighbors, but it's also deeply boring, and very far indeed from counting as a must-see destination.
The Golden Nugget has always regarded itself as a cut above its downtown rivals. It opened in 1946, the same year that the Flamingo was unveiled on the Strip, with a decor modeled on the opulent saloons of nineteenth-century San Francisco. Its significance today, however, is as the place where Las Vegas's premier gaming entrepreneur, Steve Wynn , gained his first foothold in the casino business. During the early 1970s, the young Wynn - then a liquor distributor and real-estate speculator - accumulated enough shares in the ailing Nugget , together with inside knowledge of corruption among its staff, to engineer a boardroom coup in 1973. The Nugget swiftly prospered under his control, aided by the addition of its first hotel rooms in 1977. That enabled Wynn first to develop another Golden Nugget in Atlantic City, and subsequently to build the Mirage, Treasure Island , and Bellagio on the Strip. Like all those properties, the Golden Nugget now belongs to the combined MGM-Mirage conglomeration, while Wynn himself is busy concocting his new Le Reve project.
Although successive remodelings have ensured that the Nugget gleams like new, it still looks very much like a product of the 1970s, with more than a hint of Graceland about its long, neat rows of gold-painted lightbulbs, little white leatherette stools for slots players, and plump, white padded chairs at the gaming tables. On the plus side, at least the casino proper is well lit and high ceilinged, and much less gloomy than most.
Those parts of the Golden Nugget that lie closest to Fremont Street are devoted to gambling, with the exception of the small Buffet . In adding its two hotel towers, further back, the Nugget simply swallowed up and built over Carson Street for the length of an entire block, replacing the road with the disappointing Carson Street Café coffeeshop.
A surprisingly inconspicuous case near the elevators for the North Tower shows off the hotel's collection of genuine golden nuggets. Pride of place goes to the Hand of Faith nugget, found in Australia in 1980 and said to be, at 61 pounds 11 ounces the largest "on public display" in the world. At current prices, it's worth $296,001. Alongside are several sizeable Alaskan lumps, including one worn smooth from being carried in the pocket of its owner as a good-luck charm for 25 years. In that time, a full two ounces were rubbed off
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