Lucky Dragon Hotel Casino Las Vegas: Uniqueness
Unfortunately this hotel and casino closed down in late 2018. Now it’s supposed to be auctioned (after an initial failed attempt) again this year. Let’s see what happens. I hope something positive happens in that 1) we need something unique very soon in Las Vegas (the MGM group have practically killed any uniqueness in Vegas in the last few years) and 2) we need something else besides Stratosphere in that North Strip area. Stay tuned!
Previous: The Lucky Dragon hotel and casino is brand new and is located near the Stratosphere resort, adding much-needed life to the North Strip area, especially being a themed property (a welcome breath of fresh air after the emergence of so many plain new resorts). The property has a 27,500-square-foot casino with 37 table games and 300 slot machines.
When I entered I thought I could still smell the fresh paint, which was rather exciting, in a way. The atmosphere is truly Chinese, with Chinese music being played and all slot machines being Chinese-themed or supposedly the favored ones among Asian communities.
The Lucky Dragon hotel and casino, located on 300 W Sahara Avenue, opened earlier than expected and offers a very pleasant Asian experience.
Being so close to the Stratosphere guests at the Lucky Dragon Hotel & Casino enjoy the same transportation facilities that the Stratosphere location offers (24 hours bus service along the Strip and to Downtown Vegas – more on this on our Getting Around Vegas page).
The theme is Asian-based, from games to food: it provides an authentic Asian gaming, dining and entertainment experience, perhaps as precursor to the much-awaited Resorts World.
The food at the Lucky Dragon Vegas
It aims to provide an authentic Asian culinary experience, serving anything from Boba tea, popular street foods to exotic seafood flown in from all over the world. Almost at the entrance there’s an open restaurant station where you can watch how food is prepared and cooked, and a high-end market-type dining area similar to a small buffet, where you will be lured by the scents of perfectly prepared Asian cuisine (mainly Chinese). I had read somewhere that there would be giant fish tanks on display (food ready to be ‘ordered’) but I did not see it on my visit, thankfully (I find it distasteful).
The night market
It aims to provide an alternative to standard casino buffets in Vegas; here you will be able to order a la carte from an ever-changing lineup of small-plate options including dim sum, barbecue, seafood and specialty dishes from all across Asia. The description reminds me of what all-Asian buffets are like in Thailand, with tiny, filled plates moving along a conveyor belt, which you can select as you sit at your table: we’ll see how this concept is translated at the Lucky Dragon Hotel in Vegas. Personally, we think there is nothing that substitutes Vegas buffets in their ‘plentiful’ style, but introducing some variety is certainly interesting. Having said this, I really enjoyed the smells of perfectly prepared Chinese cuisine, which emanated from every station here. Chinese food as it should be.
The tea garden
Lucky Dragon has a small but very elegant an indoor-outdoor tea garden accessed from the lobby. The space provides, among other things, ‘a rotating prayer wheel that holds rare teas in ornate urns and custom-built Gongfu tea tables for traditional tea ceremony services’ (from Las Vegas Review Journal).
The products of the tea garden include traditional, popular teas from generations-old tea farms throughout Asia. Offering a spin on the traditional pool & alcohol concept, the Lucky Dragon Hotel provides their tea poolside in tea huts, surrounded by rich foliage. If they maintain this concept well after its opening, we think it’s a nice change from the usual; it may even attract a different clientele, perhaps rendering the pool area more ‘sophisticated’. For those seeking alcohol, there is a large central bar right at the core of the casino area.
The Jewel Kitchen
The Lucky Dragon hotel boasts a show kitchen extending directly onto the casino floor, something to distract you from spending too much money gambling 😉 You can just stand by its huge glass windows and see how the food is prepared.
The one thing I found odd was that I had to walk out of the casino in order to reach the lobby and the tea garden; on the other hand, maybe some guests will appreciate the separation.
Gaming at the Lucky Dragon Vegas
Lucky Dragon Hotel & Casino focuses on casino games popular throughout Asia, including baccarat and Pai Gow, without sacrificing the most popular general slot machines (but even those are generally Asian-theme based). So it’s probably worth a visit for, at least, a change. I enjoyed the Chinese music being played everywhere; it made a nice change.
As stated on Las Vegas Review Journal: ‘gaming environments include a feng shui-designed high-limit lounge, emerald-clad baccarat room & main gaming floor that surrounds a dramatic 1.25-ton custom-glass dragon sculpture’.
VIP services at Lucky Dragon Hotel & Casino
This new resort seeks to attract VIP guests by focusing on providing VIP services extensively and ‘with a twist’: these include a high-limit gaming area extending off the main gaming floor, where guests can dine at the gaming table surrounded by a the ever-popular (in Asia) emerald interior; a luxurious VIP gaming lounge inspired by high-end gaming lounges in Macau and throughout Asia. Finally, VIPs here will be wooed by private banquet dining, special event options, private spa access, 24-7 butler service. We have a video review of this resort, see below:
Video review of the Lucky Dragon – Which Vegas Resort is Better for you? – Best 5 Buffets in Vegas – Best Seafood Buffets in Las Vegas – Best Desserts Buffets in Las Vegas – Best Meat & Steak Buffets in Vegas – Las Vegas Deals of the Week
As you know we aim to provide ‘real reviews’ of Vegas buffets, resorts, areas, attractions (etc), as well as Real Vegas Videos that ‘tell it like it is’.