Experience swanky vintage Las Vegas in the penthouse at the El Cortez.
There ’s a gawky , very vintage - looking Unisonic video recording intercommunication system organization outside the fifteenth - floor penthouse in Downtown Las Vegas’sEl Cortez Hotel . Ring the intercom ’s loud buzzer , step within , and you ’ll agnise it even work : you could actually see into the hall through a very grainy black and white closed - circuit goggle box , retro tech at its goofiest . Once you ’re in the retinue ’s antechamber , you ’ll see a set of interior doors complete with custom outsized “ JG ” door pulls . You might ponder the initial for a here and now , but if you ’ve booked this suite , you probably already know what they stand for . After all , the penthouse ’s former resident is potential the reason you ’re here — to live like the later and legendary casino mogul Jackie Gaughan .
When Gaughan make a motion to Las Vegas in 1950 , the urban center was n’t anywhere nigh as glamorous as it is today . The next desert hot spot only had about 25,000 residents , a smattering of casinos , and Frank Sinatra was about a yr out from playing his first Vegas show . Still , Gaughan — a one - time Omaha bookie — find out promise in the urban center and its gambling future . He bought a 3 % stake inthe Flamingo , then another 3 % in the Boulder Club , and just a decade later opened his own casino , the Las Vegas Club . Many more gambling casino would cash in one’s chips through his hands in the years to come , and at his peak , Gaughan have an estimated 25 % of usable veridical acres in Downtown Vegas , make him one of the most successful mid - century moguls in all of Sin City .
One of Gaughan ’s signature property was the El Cortez , which he purchase in 1963 . He move into the casino ’s penthouse with his married woman Bertie in 1980 , reign over his Vegas empire from their fully customized rod on the fifteenth floor . Though Gaughan sold the El Cortez to his business partner in 2008 , he kept on live in the suite until his death in 2014 . Since then , the El Cortez haskept the suite as Gaughan left itas a tribute to their onetime owner , renting it out by request to Vegas visitant interested in step into the shoes of the mid - C magnate .
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Though the El Cortez itself for certain does n’t offer the glamour a mega - holiday resort on the Strip might , the hotel ’s recently reforge hotel tower is overnice enough , and it ’s open from the present moment you see the swank Jackie Gaughan retinue that you ’re in for a singular experience . Once you ’ve passed the intercom and reached that first Seth of initialed interior doors , you ’ll realize just how heavy the Gaughan suite actually is . When this newsperson stayed the dark , the rooms felt positively cavernous , especially for a solo effort . There are dozens of doors to closets and gunpowder rooms and hallways , and the cortege ’s oversized L shape makes it kind of a perplexing blank space to navigate .
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Despite the clunkiness , the Jackie Gaughan suite is an dead enthralling quad . It ’s like pace into an estate sale after almost all the knick - knacks have been sold , or using your grandparents ’ condominium in Florida while they ’re up northwards for the summer . The entire suite is full of stuff , and not just opulent , lucullan ‘ 80s furniture all covered in velvet and brass . Start spread kitchen cabinet and you ’ll retrieve tons of uneven glassware . There are decorative hard drink bottle in the living way celebrating Gaughan ’s time in the armed service of process , as well as a commemorative loving cup that appears to have been given to Nebraska - raised Gaughan by the state ’s Cornhuskers football team .
All the rooms ’s interior details were handpicked by Gaughan ’s wife , Bertie , and it ’s clear she had an optic for excess . Every carpeting in the suite is so plush you feel like you ’re in a bounce house . There are two charmingly vintage refrigerators in the kitchen place , plus one behind the wet bar . start the flow refrigerators and you ’ll be stumble with a big wave of , “ Oh , wow , my outstanding - aunt had this . ”
The 2,800 - square - foot cortege somehow feels even prominent than that measure would suggest , boasting two enormous schoolmaster bedrooms — a more staid beige and muckle space for Jackie and a silver and pink palace for Bertie — connected by a private “ romper suit ” room that ’s filled with old LPs , mod piece of furniture , and a ( thankfully ) modern TV . While both rooms have en suite privy , they depart a short to be desired in terms of modernity . During my sojourn , I went to utilise Jackie ’s cascade in the morning and found that it would n’t even wrench on . I hit up Bertie ’s instead , where I found preposterously over - the - top pink and clean faux marble reparation , paries mirrors etched with cherubs and bubble , and gold swan faucet on the ( also very pink ) raised soak tub .
In contrast to what you ’d obtain in a traditional hotel suite , all of Jackie and Bertie ’s closets and drawers are still in the suite , too , think of you’re able to spread drawers and threshold to your heart ’s contentedness . If you ’re an estate sale sports fan like me , or someone who always enter the host ’ medicine locker in their bathrooms when you ’re at a political party , this room will give you the same form of voyeuristic thrill . I loved get word the couples ’ shoe closets , finding the imitation cabinet door in each can that seemed to have formerly domiciliate a trammel , and even jeopardize into the two monolithic walk - in closets near Bertie ’s way ( both of which still have Gaughan - related items in them , like a date tread-wheel ) . I stumbled upon a massive tidy sum of birthday cards that El Cortez employee and staff had sign for Gaughan leaning against the rampart in one of the closets , and with a little examination I even saw an lettering from Gaughan ’s grandkids .
The rooms ’s swag does n’t stick indoors , either : There are four balcony seize to the room , each boasting bird’s-eye view of beautiful Las Vegas . While they ’re certainly not the swanky perches in Sin City , with thin metal railings , faux plants , and chancy stucco , they make a strong argument for sleeping in Gaughan ’s room with the curtains open , looking out atthe Strat Hotel ’s towerand the lights of the Strip beyond . In the dayspring , you ’ll wake up to burnished desert sun and step out into Downtown Vegas , where theArts District is honestly middling awing . You could get coffee and food at the El Cortez if you wanted , but I just threw a few coins in the casino ’s slots — yes , they still have coin slot — and then head down toFerguson ’s Downtownfor a blimp roll and cold brew atMothership .
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These days , the Gaughan entourage is available by request . Adam Wiesberg , the General Manager of the El Cortez , tell says that while the room is in the main used for events and Hollywood shoot ( includingEllie Goulding ’s “ On My Mind ” video ) it ’s available to rent for about $ 1,500 per Nox to just about anyone . You ’ll just have to pass a brief vetting by the hotel ’s faculty first , so they can ensure you are n’t about to wreck the quad .
In my experience , the monumental rooms feel a moment eery with just one or two the great unwashed spend the night , so a radical stay is probably the direction to go here . You should be capable to match at least five or six people ( supply people do n’t mind sharing seam ) for a retro - flair night on a special occasion or a viewing company that micturate use of the enormous keep elbow room TV . The Jackie Gaughan suite seems like the perfect place to make memories with loved ones , just like Jackie and Bertie did all those age ago .
You’ll see a set of interior doors complete with custom oversized “JG” door pulls.|El Cortez Hotel & Casino - Las Vegas
Gaughan purchased El Cortez in 1963 and moved into the penthouse.|El Cortez Hotel & Casino - Las Vegas
All the suite’s interior details were handpicked by Gaughan’s wife, Bertie.|El Cortez Hotel & Casino - Las Vegas
The suite’s windows and four balconies provide classic Vegas views of the city’s lights.|El Cortez Hotel & Casino - Las Vegas
