My friends and I have been traveling to Las Vegas over the course of the last month for work. We are not really into the high dollar casinos and are were just looking for a decent place to play cards. We stumbled upon the Gold Spike by accident…it was the $3 Sexy Blackjack sign that drew us in. What is $3 Sexy Blackjack, basically it is $3 minimum Blackjack dealt by pretty young girls in tight black shorts and white t-shirts. Since that first night we have been going back twice or three times a week and have gotten to know the staff pretty well.

Here is the long and short of it. The dealers are pretty, nice and will talk to you. This is unlike the Asian drones at most of the other casinos in town. There are three Blackjack tables and a roulette table, so talking with and getting to know the dealers and pit bosses is very easy. We have spent some quality time with pit bosses Susan, Peter, and Rita, and the great dealers Nicole, Sasha, Tina, Mimi, and others. Contrary to the one review Rita is very cool. Mark the manager who has been there every night we have, is one of the most professional and patient people that I have come across. Hey it’s a casino people get drunk and obnoxious, but Mark handles them with respect and patience.

I have not stayed at the hotel and don’t plan to…I am a Hilton points snob, but I will continue to go the Spike to gamble with my new found friends. So if you head in and find Susan tell her that Keith, Joe, and Dave sent you.

We stayed there for a couple of nights over the New Years holiday (2009) and enjoyed our stay. We new ahead of time that the place was under renovation and we are very familiar with Downtown. My only complaint then was that our room showed wear and tear from years of use. I wasn't moldy, filthy, bad smelling or infested. Just old. We just finished up another trip to Vegas for July 4th and stopped be to check things out. A lot of progress has been made and it's looking better. They still have work to do but I'm considering staying again for New Years. All I can say about those that complain about the neighborhood is this, The front entrance is only one block away from the south end of The Fremont St Experience! Two trips - pleasant both times.

A friend has a blogsite and also writes for CasinoGuide in Las Vegas. He was impressed with Gold Spike and the upgrades and suggested we all go there for a night of fun on Friday, June 26th. Not only did he okay our large group of 15-20 people but verified it THREE times with management.

We showed up in two limos at approximately 9 p.m. Friday night. Mind you, we are a fun group, tip to excess, and laugh our butts off even while losing. One pit boss RITA found our group to be a little too overwhelming. She went as far as to repirimand our tour guide for not giving HER a heads up that we would show up. In addition, she told one gentleman in our group that she would not have her cocktail waitresses "disrespected". If tipping them $25 per round and making them laugh their butts off is "disrespecting", RITA has more issues than just being a dried up old woman.

It seemed to be common knowledge among the other employees that RITA was a liability and ruining what should have been a very profitable night for them. She actually closed the blackjack pit at midnight!!! I thought I was back in Central City, Colorado!

In closing let me say ALL other employees were great! Peter (one of the other pitbosses), Jamie (a dealer), and everyone else. I will be writing a letter to the owner/management at the Gold Spike regarding RITA's assinine behaviour. In this economy, employees like her are worthless andn a huge liability to aany company.

Karen from Denver

if you dont mind MOLD and FILTY AMOSTPHER this was the worst hotel ever there was MOLD on the walls by the bed and MOLD on the ceiling and in the bathrooms the floors was filty never mopped and called to have room service to clean what a joke the tub lift the tub matt surprize MOLD again then when you see the bedroom you cant even walk on the carpet from taking a bath it was so dirty visit room 507 for yourself no picture wish i did but i didnt want to waste my time its that bad i changed rooms before this 2 time they was the same but smelly really funky