Las Vegas NowA First Look Inside the New Rush Tower

A First Look Inside the New Rush Tower

The first new hotel tower built downtown since the 1980's opened Friday. The brand new 500-room Rush Tower accepted guests at the Golden Nugget.

The head of Landry's, which owns the Golden Nugget, thinks this will be the first step to what Mayor Oscar Goodman has been talking about since he was elected -- a revitalized Downtown Las Vegas.

From the moment you walk inside the Rush Tower, the rough image of downtown becomes a distant memory. The lobby could be in any new hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. “It's more of a boutique hotel where people can get in and out a lot easier and quicker. I can tell you our pool is second to none. Our restaurants are second to none,” said Landry's founder Tilman Fertitta.

Landry's grew into a billion dollar restaurant empire. In 2005, the company bought the Golden Nugget.

A 75,000 gallon fish tank flanks the new front desk. It's also the centerpiece to the newest Landry's restaurant called Chart House. “All of our Chart Houses have great scenic views. So we said if we want to put one of those in here we better create a scenic view. That is why we did the tank,” said Fertitta.

There is a new gaming area. The rooms carry the same color scheme as the rest of the new tower. They also offer more space with a focus on the bathrooms.

Fertitta believes this will be the start to a new Downtown Las Vegas. “It happens in any city. When there is one major icon everything around it starts getting nicer,” he said.

You can see that with renovations done next door at the Golden Gate. Mark Brandenburg is one of the co-owners. “I think that we are about to take off to another wave of growth downtown. This is where Las Vegas started. This is where the spirit of Las Vegas started,” he said.

New televisions hang throughout the casino and a new bar opens up onto Fremont Street.

As the Golden Nugget hopes to draw people from the Las Vegas Strip to downtown, the Golden Gate hopes the visitors will start exploring here.

The Golden Nugget now has a total of 2,400 rooms, more than any other downtown casino. The Rush Tower is already sold out for the weekend.