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| - The revitalization of Downtown Las Vegas has included a few casualties along the way. The Western. The former City Hall building (now Zappos corporate office), and more recently, The old Gold Spike. The Gold Spike Hotel and Casino was a true dive, even by old school Downtown Las Vegas standards. Once the CEO of Zappos started aggressively buying up DTLV real estate, he turned his hipster vision into a reality and now a lot of the modern hipsteresque DTLV is the culmination of his vision and of course money.
Now understand, this is not a direct criticism. I highly respect the man for investing so much in an area of Las Vegas that was truly the definition of dilapidated. Creating Container Park, making use of the former City Hall, and revamping many tired areas is all worth praise, but sometimes, things just go to far.
Case in point: The Gold Spike. At one time, a great low brow casino joint that you could get $1 beers and $.50 roulette. Now, the Gold Spike doesn't even offer gambling of any kind. The Gold Spike is now a non-gaming hotel that has turned their once classic dive casino into a hipster's wet dream of a bedroom. Beds everywhere, pool tables with fur covered handcuffs, a patio and courtyard with human Jenga, beer pong with trash cans, and 3 foot tall chess pieces. And of course, a repurposed Jetstream.
This Gold Spike would make Jackie Gaughan turn over in his grave.
It's a hipster hangout of every 19-20 year old Vegas kid with his older brother's ID. I've been there twice and that is two times more than I needed to go.
I miss the old Gold Spike. The revitalization of DTLV is truly a wonderful thing, but even it can go to far. And it certainly has at the old Gold Spike.
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