Gold Spike Hotel & Casino

The Gold Spike, which opened originally in 1976 under a different name, was known as a no-frills cheap sleep.  In recent years it has been completely renovated, and now includes Oasis at the Gold Spike, an old Travel Inn Motel that they fixed up and added a pool to. We stayed in the main hotel, not Oasis.

We picked Gold Spike because we love staying downtown and hadn't checked out this spot yet. Usually I book through a third party...you know, kayak, hotels.com, whatever. This time I booked through the hotel directly. So you can imagine my surprise when, not only were we not 'greeted by name' at "the friendliest casino in Vegas" as their site suggests, but for the first time EVER, my reservation was lost.

After more than ten minutes of answering questions about the reservation (and worrying that I was going to have to find different accommodations for the night) the woman at the desk finally found it. When I asked why it had been irretrievable, she said she had no idea. That wasn't a great start.

While we're at check-in, it's worth noting that we weren't offered a map or told ANYTHING about the property amenities. I only know there is a pool and workout room because I read it online.

We were then sent to what must have been one of the worst rooms in the hotel. Located in the corner at a weird slant so the main door and bathroom door practically open into each other, we had a view of the trash below, and were right next to a gigantic, loud a/c or generator or something that would have made sleep impossible. They moved us into a different weird corner room, but it was higher up and away from the loud noise, so that was fine.

The room itself was a standard, clean, smallish room with a cheerful, blue accent wall and television nook. They want to remind you that the accommodations are 'modern,' so there is a big picture that literally says that in each of the rooms. Each room also has a nice, flat screen television, and the bed is comfortable enough (if you like very firm mattresses), but there were only two thin, wussy pillows. Sure we could have called to have more sent up, but we were tired and just ended up using sweaters and other clothes to supplement the head and neck support we needed.

Also disappointing was the lack of coffee, refrigerator, and room safe. I think every single cheap-o place I've ever stayed has had at least two out of three of those amenities.  Gold Spike supplies internet, but it was the slowest internet ever. Maybe I was just there at an unlucky time, but they have several networks available, and I tried four of them. It took over three minutes to load pages, and I kept getting kicked off. Impossible to get any work done.

Our shower drain was TERRIBLE. Within 10 seconds of running water, there was a pool around your feet. We also hadn't been supplied with a bar of soap, just a tiny circle of it meant for your face. Again, we could have called someone to fix the drain and bring us soap, but waiting around for things to get fixed cuts into fun time.

They advertise a 24-hour restaurant, but there was nobody there when we came in hungry at 3 AM. In fact, they say on their web site that there are two restaurants, but there was only one as far as we could see.

The thing that annoyed me most was the resort fee. It certainly wasn't exorbitant, but it was there. If I'm paying a resort fee, I expect it to feel like I'm getting something for it. A safe, refrigerator, or working internet, for example.

The casino was clean and lacked the weird smell that a lot of the older casinos have, but was very tiny and we didn't end up gambling there at all.

Overall, while it wasn't a terrible place, I'm in no hurry to stay there again. I've had better experiences (sans resort fee) at other downtown hotels. A big plus for pet owners, though, is you can bring your furry friend to stay for an additional $15 per night.

Gold Spike
217 Las Vegas Boulevard North
Las Vegas, CA 89101
(702) 384-8444