Hotel Apache to open Monday at Binion’s in downtown Las Vegas

Downtown Las Vegas is adding 81 hotel rooms as the boutique Apache Hotel at Binion’s opens its doors Monday.

The hotel will feature vintage-style furnishings reminiscent of the original Hotel Apache that opened in 1932, with hardwood floors and stained-glass windows.

The property, operated by TLC Casino Enterprises, will open 81 of the more than 350 rooms shuttered at Binion’s in 2009 during the Great Recession.

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman will preside over a ribbon-cutting ceremony that will include cake and champagne Monday at 2 p.m.

Tim Lager, general manager of the property, said the company still is a few weeks away from opening a new 6,500-square-foot, full-service saloon that will have a rotating bar as its centerpiece and will be known as Whiskey Licker Up above the existing Whiskey Licker Bar on Binion’s southwest corner.

The rotating bar at Whiskey Licker Up will orbit once every 15 minutes, Lager said, with one end having a view of the First Street Stage at the Fremont Street Experience. Bar and balcony seating will be behind removable glass at eye level to zipline riders along Fremont Street.

The venue will seat about 25 with standing room for about 50. It will have a dance floor as well as a mechanical bull.

TLC, which also owns and operates downtown’s Four Queens, also has Binion’s Gambling Hall and its attached buildings. Over the years, the property has housed hotels under the names of Hotel Apache, the Mint, the Eldorado and Binion’s Horseshoe.

The company had made initial plans to expand Binion’s in the mid-2000s, but those plans were dashed by the recession. Lager said with Southern Nevada’s rebounding economy it was appropriate to upgrade and launch the revised expansion plan.

The cost of the investment was not disclosed.

The improvements at Binion’s join several other expansion projects in downtown Las Vegas.

The Downtown Grand, in January, announced plans to build a 495-room hotel tower expected to be completed in mid-2020.

Less than a week later, Derek and Greg Stevens announced plans for its new 777-room hotel, Circa, to be completed by the end of 2020.

Downtown’s convention facilities are expected to be enhanced by the summer of 2020 after February’s groundbreaking for the 315,000-square-foot Expo at World Market Center Las Vegas.

Those projects will join downtown’s first permanent outdoor equestrian center, the Core Arena, which opened adjacent to the Plaza in December.

In addition, over several years, Boyd Gaming Corp. has renovated hotel rooms, redesigned and modernized the casino floor and added restaurants and a sportsbook at the California Hotel.

NOTE: A previous version incorrectly reported the ownership history of the Hotel Apache building.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.