Ahern Hotel

Ahern Luxury Boutique Hotel (formerly Lucky Dragon) is a boutique hotel and former casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The resort is located on 2.5 acres (1.0 ha) of land at 300 West Sahara Avenue, near the Las Vegas Strip. Ahern Luxury Boutique Hotel is adjacent to the Allure Las Vegas high-rise condominium, opened in 2008 by developer Andrew Fonfa. The resort's property was once planned as the site of a second Allure tower, which was cancelled due to poor economic conditions. While selling units in the first tower, Fonfa decided to build a hotel and casino on the adjacent site. The Lucky Dragon was designed by Ed Vance & Associates Architects and was announced in February 2012, with groundbreaking in May 2015. The resort had a soft opening on November 19, 2016. An official grand opening was held on December 3, 2016. The Lucky Dragon was heavily inspired by Asian concepts in an effort to appeal to Asian customers, who were expected to be the resort's primary customer base. With 203 rooms and a 27,500 sq ft (2,550 m2) casino, the Lucky Dragon was considered small in comparison to nearby competitors on the Las Vegas Strip. After experiencing low customer turnout, the Lucky Dragon's casino and restaurants were temporarily closed in January 2018 so the property could reorganize, while the hotel remained open. The hotel subsequently closed on October 2, 2018. It was sold in April 2019, to Don Ahern, who reopened the hotel later that year as Ahern Hotel. Ahern also planned to convert the casino into conference and convention space.

The resort is located on 2.5 acres (1.0 ha) of land at 300 West Sahara Avenue, a block west of the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip, an area that had become known for a number of vacant lots, older resorts, and failed projects. The property is located between the Golden Steer restaurant and the Allure Las Vegas condominium high-rise tower. Developer Andrew Fonfa had initially purchased the property as part of a five-acre parcel in 1987. At the time, Fonfa planned to build a hotel on the property, as he expected Circus Circus Enterprises to construct the Excalibur Hotel and Casino nearby, thus increasing tourism for the northern Las Vegas Strip. The Excalibur was ultimately built at the southern end of the Las Vegas Strip. In May 2002, Fonfa proposed the Hilton Garden Inn, an eight-story Hilton-branded 200-room hotel with an attached 40,000 sq ft (3,700 m2) casino that would be located on the property's east side. Hilton considered Fonfa's property to be a desirable location for one of their hotels, and approached him about a possible deal, although discussions were still preliminary at the time of the project's announcement. Under the partnership, Fonfa would own the hotel and casino, while Hilton would manage the hotel and would have no involvement in the casino operations. Fonfa was in negotiations with GE Capital to finance the project, and hoped to begin construction at the end of the year, with completion scheduled in 15 months. Construction was expected to cost $50 million. Four small commercial buildings located on the property were to be torn down to make room for the new resort. Fonfa changed his mind about the hotel-casino project after speaking with Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman and several city officials, stating that high-rise condominiums "is what the city wanted as part of its plan for residential living". In 2004, Fonfa was approved for plans to construct twin condominium towers on the property. The Allure tower was opened in early 2008. The site of the Lucky Dragon had initially been planned for the second Allure tower, which was later cancelled because of poor sales caused by the Great Recession, and because of an oversupply of condominium high-rises on the Las Vegas Strip. To help sell units

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