The Gold Spike has been sold
It's a sad day at CheapoVegas. It has been announced that the venerable Gold Spike (home to some of Matt and Stinky's best adventures) has been sold.
Tamares Las Vegas Properties have confirmed a purchase agreement to sell the sagging downtown Gold Spike hotel to a Miami developer for $15.6 million (yes, you read that right- for the Gold Spike!). The developer plans to convert the hotel into a trendy boutique hotel possibly closing as early as September and reopening as an upscale boutique hotel with rooms running $125 to $150 per night.
Now, if you are like me, you are asking yourself, why would I spend $125 to $150 a night to stay downtown when I can stay at the historic Golden Gate or Golden Nugget or other properties for much less?
The Las Vegas Review Journal calls it a "dreary hotel" in the headline.
Gregg Covin, 38, the new owner, plans to visit Las Vegas next week to take a closer look at the Gold Spike (did he buy it sight unseen?????). But he's already confident the Spike's smoky ambience and grungy reputation won't take the shine off his vision.
"Our specialty is taking crack houses and turning them into four-star boutique hotels," Covin said. "I think the Gold Spike is perfect for that."
Has anyone out there stayed in one of his former crack houses turned four-star boutique hotels? Because I would like to give the guy the benefit of the doubt but I have to tell you, it ain't easy.
In the short-term, Covin said he would retain the management company Navegante Group (because they are doing such a great job????) as managers of the Gold Spike. He also said he plans to keep the property operating while it undergoes renovation. "I'll probably keep it partially open for awhile," said Covin of the property, which has specials such as $1 for a shot of tequila or can of Tecate beer with salt and lime and $27.50 a night room rates during the week. "It will stay as is until I am ready for the grand reopening," he said. But according to Covin, the new hotel will bear little resemblance to the current Spike. For the extra $100 a night for a room, it better be the most comfortable place to stay and the best place to gamble downtown. Covin envisions drastic upgrades to the hotel's approximately 107 rooms, a hipper casino and a minispa at the one-acre property. I don't even want to think where they would put a spa in this place.
Covin said the Spike would ultimately get a new management team of his choosing (duh!). Larry Woolf of the Navegante Group said when that happens, the property's estimated 140 employees would have opportunities at other casinos (are we taking bets??) "We would place them where we have room I'm sure," Woolf said. "It would be quite some time before we have to address that." The Gold Spike would be Covin's first project in Nevada. But it would be far from his first reclamation of a rundown hotel. He seems to have a history in Miami. Unfortunately, what works in Miami may not work in downtown Las Vegas which has long had a reputation for doing things their own way. If he does take ownership it would likely be in the name of a limited liability company or LLC set up to do business in Nevada, Covin said.
LasVegasLynn
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