El Cortez Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Version 3, Triblend Tee

Venue History

The El Cortez Hotel & Casino, located at 600 E. Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas, is one of the city’s most enduring landmarks—a living testament to the vintage glitz and grit of classic Las Vegas. Opened on November 7, 1941, The “El Co,” as it is called was built in the Spanish Colonial Revival style by Marion Hicks, John Grayson, and J. Kell Houssels, with an initial complement of 59 rooms. From the start it aspired to be more than a modest downtown hotel—it was one of downtown’s first major resort-style offerings. In 1945, the property was sold to a group including Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky, Moe Sedway, and Gus Greenbaum, who invested in its future and integrated it into the developing fabric of Las Vegas’s mob-era gaming network. Though that ownership shifted again soon thereafter, the associations contributed to El Cortez’s early profile in the city’s formative gambling era. Over the decades El Cortez continued evolving. In 1963, famed local builder and casino operator Jackie Gaughan acquired the property. Under Gaughan’s stewardship, the El Cortez retained a family-business character even as it modernized and adapted to new eras in Las Vegas. In recent years, the hotel has expanded its capacity and offerings: the former Ogden House apartments were converted into Cabana Suites, bringing the total room count to well over 300. The property has also preserved its historic facade and classic neon signage, which date back to its mid-20th-century upgrades. On February 22, 2013, El Cortez achieved a unique distinction: it became the first hotel-casino to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, recognizing both its architectural integrity and its symbolic importance to Las Vegas history. Today, El Cortez continues to operate as a vintage gem amid the modernizing downtown landscape. It retains a focus on slots, table games, race & sports book, and a nostalgic gaming floor experience. The hotel’s “History Hallway” invites guests to stroll through the legacy of Las Vegas legends—Sinatra, Presley, Siegel, and others—while preserving the aura of an old-Vegas institution. Being among the oldest continuously operating hotel-casinos in Las Vegas, El Cortez remains more than a relic: it’s a bridge between past and present, where the roar of slot machines meets whispers of a bygone era, and where the spirit of classic Vegas still pulses in the neon glow.