Laughlin River Lodge

The Laughlin River Lodge (formerly Sam's Town Gold River, Gold River and River Palms) is a hotel and casino on the banks of the Colorado River in Laughlin, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Richard Craig Estey (Nevada Restaurant Services). The property includes a 41,000 sq ft (3,800 m²) casino and 1,000 hotel rooms in a 25-story tower.^[1] The resort has 653 slot machines and a bingo parlor.^[2]

Laughlin River Lodge
The property as seen from the Colorado River in 2018
Location	Laughlin, Nevada, U.S.
Address	2700 South Casino Drive
Opening date	1984; 40 years ago (1984)
Theme	Rustic lodge
No. of rooms	1,000
Total gaming space	41,000 sq ft (3,800 m^2)
Notable restaurants	None
Owner	Richard Craig Estey (Nevada Restaurant Services)
Previous names	Sam's Town Gold River (1984–1991) Gold River (1991–1998) River Palms (1998–2014)
Renovated in	1990, 1998, 1999, 2014
Website	laughlinriverlodge.com

History

 

The River Palms as seen in 2008

The resort was created by Las Vegas real estate developer John Midby.^[3] It opened in 1984 as Sam's Town Gold River, later shortened to Gold River. A 25-story, 778-room hotel tower was opened in May 1990,^[3] and the gaming facilities were also expanded.^[4] Boyd Gaming operated the property until their contract was ended in March 1991.^[5]

Gold River filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1996.^[3] Businessman Allen Paulson took ownership of the reorganized company a year later, having paid an estimated $28 million for the property's $90 million in debt.^[6][7] It was quietly renamed as the River Palms in June 1998 and held a grand opening that October.^[8] The hotel underwent a major renovation in 1999.

Paulson died in 2000 and Columbia Sussex bought the property from his estate in 2004. After Columbia's gaming businesses went into bankruptcy, Tropicana Entertainment emerged in March 2010 with most of the company's casinos, including the River Palms.

In May 2013, Tropicana agreed to sell the River Palms for $7 million to M1 Gaming, owner of Boomtown Reno,^[9] but the sale never went through.^[10] In September 2014, Tropicana sold the River Palms for $6.75 million to Nevada Restaurant Services, and it was renamed as the Laughlin River Lodge.^[11][12]

References

1. Nonrestricted Square Footage Report (Report). Nevada Gaming Control Board. March 6, 2018. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
2. Nonrestricted Count Report (Report). Nevada Gaming Control Board. June 30, 2018. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
3. Form 10-K (Report). Gold River Hotel & Casino Corp. October 14, 1997. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
4. "Sam's Town strikes it rich with new tower". San Bernardino County Sun. June 22, 1990. Retrieved March 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Laughlin resort may lose permits due to lack of financing". Kingman Daily Miner. Associated Press. January 31, 1991. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
6. . Las Vegas Review-Journal. October 16, 1997. Archived from the original on November 9, 2004. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
7. Berns, Dave (September 11, 1997). . Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on November 9, 2004. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
8. "Gold River now called River Palms". Kingman Daily Miner. July 1, 1998. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
9. O'Driscoll, Bill (May 1, 2013). "Boomtown owner to acquire Laughlin hotel-casino". Reno Gazette-Journal. Retrieved May 1, 2013. (subscription required)
10. O'Driscoll, Bill (March 8, 2014). "$20M boom: Upgrades mark 50 years of gaming at Boomtown". Reno Gazette-Journal. Retrieved March 9, 2014. (subscription required)
11. "Agreement struck to sell River Palms". Laughlin Nevada Times. July 2, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
12. Julie Fairman (September 24, 2014). "It's official: River Palms is now the Laughlin River Lodge". Mohave Daily News. Retrieved September 10, 2018.

External links

• Official website  
•   Media related to Laughlin River Lodge at Wikimedia Commons

35°09′02″N 114°34′29″W / 35.150563°N 114.574844°W / 35.150563; -114.574844