page_title: Ahern Hotel
section_title: Opening
hierarchical_section_title: Ahern Hotel / History / Opening
caption_attribution_description: English: Entrance to the Lucky Dragon casino/hotel in Las Vegas.
context_page_description: Ahern Hotel and Convention Center is a boutique hotel and former casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The resort is located on 2.5 acres of land at 300 West Sahara Avenue, near the Las Vegas Strip.
  The Ahern 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 casino, the Lucky Dragon was considered small in comparison to nearby competitors on the Las Vegas Strip.
context_section_description: On September 6, 2016, company officials announced that the resort would open on December 3, 2016. Lucky Dragon was expected to employ more than 800 people. The resort had a soft opening at 8:00 p.m. on November 19, 2016, with its official grand opening still scheduled for December 3. The Lucky Dragon opened with 203 hotel rooms, including 22 suites. Each room included a wall mural designed to represent the "peace and tranquility of ancient China," according to the hotel. The Lucky Dragon also featured a 4,500 sq ft (420 m²) spa, while the 27,500 sq ft (2,550 m²) casino offered popular Asian games such as baccarat, pai gow, and sic bo. The casino featured 37 table games and 300 slot machines, and was located in a two-story building that connected to the hotel tower through a bridge walkway. It was the first newly constructed hotel-casino to open in Las Vegas since The Cosmopolitan in 2010. The resort – considered small in comparison to nearby competitors – is connected to the adjacent Allure tower.
  The official grand opening took place on the afternoon of December 3, 2016, and was accompanied by a ribbon-cutting ceremony, costumed dancers dressed as Chinese lions and a dragon, and firecrackers. The first direct flights between Beijing and Las Vegas, launched a day before the Lucky Dragon's grand opening, were not expected to bring in additional customers to the resort, although officials welcomed the possibility. Fonfa envisioned some of the area around the Lucky Dragon possibly being redeveloped as a new Chinatown for Las Vegas over the next decade.
  The Lucky Dragon's centerpiece is a 1.25 ton dragon chandelier that hangs over a bar. Work on the chandelier began in May 2015, with nearly 800 people working on it until its completion. Installation of the chandelier was completed in November 2016, after two weeks.
  In February 2017, the resort planned to add an additional VIP gaming area due to the popularity of its VIP club. For its VIP members, the casino also introduced a rolling-chip program, a concept that was common in Macau. In March 2017, Midwest Pro Painting and Penta Building Group claimed in court that they were owed money for their work on the Lucky Dragon during construction. Midwest Pro Painting stated that it was owed $793,300, while Penta Building Group alleged that it only received approximately $76.4 million and was still owed approximately $7.4 million for construction work. Both companies ultimately agreed to dismiss their claims.
caption: The casino entrance in 2017
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