A Trip to the Gold Spike Social Club

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Gennadius takes us on a stroll through Gold Spike Social Club…

This past January, I made my second trip downtown within the past two years. This is notable because, before those trips, it had been over ten years since the last time I had made it downtown. On this trip to Vegas, it was always the plan to hang out downtown for a night. We had even talked about riding Slotzilla, and later that night, we actually did as I wrote about in a previous article. However, the first stop that night was a place that one of our friends had been to before and really enjoyed, the Gold Spike Social Club.

I, and many of the others in our group who had not been to Gold Spike before, really didn’t know what to expect. The sign as we were walking in stated “Gimmicks, Games, & Goodtimes”, which seemed like an intriguing combination to me, so I was eager to check the place out.

Right as we walked in, I could immediately see that this was not your typical bar or lounge. There was a large main bar with TVs, as well as a couple of dart boards against the wall, which was all fairly standard except for the fact that the dart boards were much larger than your normal boards. What was distinctly different was that immediately next to that area; there was also a huge bed with a ton of pillows that were part of a bedroom-type setup. This area also included some furniture that was set up to allow people to hang out by the bed and an indoor game of bags that also has equipment that is way bigger than the standard versions of that game.

 

We grabbed some drinks and proceeded to look around further. The rest of the interior past the main bar and the bedroom area was themed very much like a living room and game room. There were foosball tables, shuffleboard and pool tables for the gaming side of things. All of these games were set up with tables and bar stools around them, to provide for a very social environment centered on the games themselves.

The other parts of the interior utilized various kinds of furniture like couches, bean bags, small chairs, and tables to create various sized areas to hang out and have conversations or play games. It came across as a much more casual type of lounge, with a distinctly living room type feel, which was what I later learned they were going for. There was even a library that contained many different types of board games and card games on display that people could check out and bring back to their group to play.

I spent some time talking to a couple of the bartenders, and I learned that this was originally the casino area for what was formerly Gold Spike Hotel & Casino. I did not know this, as it was a property that, in my previous two visits downtown, I did not have the chance to visit. I learned that when they decided to convert it from a casino into a bar and lounge, they were completely going for a social and casual atmosphere indoors; hence the living room type feel with the format set up to promote socialization and conversation around activities.

The main bar is a holdover from the original casino. However, it was completely refurnished and had some other touch ups. Another major element that was kept from the original layout was the café. It has been renamed (I believe) Grill and given a minor facelift as well. It is open 24/7 along with the main bar.

After hanging out inside and drinking for a bit, our group wandered outside to what was previously a courtyard area, and which has since been transformed into a backyard and playground themed space. There was quite a lot to take in here, as it was a fairly large area. Right away, what caught all of our attention as we walked outside, was a large, over-sized beer-pong setup on the far side.

The large containers were very cleverly painted and slightly tweaked to make them look like the more traditional red solo cups that the game is played with. Instead of ping pong balls, what seemed to be size four soccer balls or something similar were used. Keeping with the socializing theme inside, there were seats and tables set up nearby to allow for spectators to alternately talk trash and cheer while waiting for their turn to play. It was a lot of fun, and even in the cold January weather in Vegas, it was easy to stay warm while playing this version of the game.

 

The rest of the central playground area was a big concrete space that had markings on the ground for various games. Things like Four Square and Twister, which could take anyone back to being a kid again, were the main ones that I saw. I learned, after talking to a waitress that had come outside, that the playground area is actually very multi-purpose. It is often turned into a roller rink for what they call down and derby events. Additionally, it is used as a dance floor when DJs or bands are playing. Finally, for special events, it could be set up with almost any type of special equipment or furniture.

Since we were there at an odd time, a Sunday night in January to be exact, the place was largely empty, and we had almost everything to ourselves. The backyard portion of the outside had several areas that were designed for groups to congregate around and socialize, very much like the inside, except perhaps at a slightly larger scale.

The rest of the backyard portion consisted of games with seats and tables set up around them, once again, making it easy for a group to stay together, have some drinks, and socialize while playing a game. There was a set of the oversized bags game again, as well as a couple normal sized ones, a large chess set if you were inclined to a more strategic battle, and the typical oversized Jenga that is made out of material one would otherwise only see if one was doing some carpentry work.

Additionally, there was this game which looked to be an oversized pool-table like setup located on the ground, probably designed to kick the balls around as there were no oversized pool-cues. However, instead of something that made sense to kick like soccer balls, they appeared to be using bowling balls, or at least balls which were made out of a similar type of material and hardness as bowling balls. We tried it out and were able to either carefully kick, or actually use our hands and roll the balls, to play what was something approximating pool. It was pretty amusing except for the fact that some of the balls were severely chipped, and there were chunks of the broken off material all over the ground.

There was a trailer parked essentially right outside as one walked out from the indoor bar and living room area into the outdoor space. I was told it served as part of a unique beer garden setup at times, as a bar at other times, and as a backdrop for the stage where live bands play more recently.

There were a couple of additional areas in the backyard that were fairly interesting. There was a small house with a matching small yard which I didn’t really look into. There was also a fenced off area that had lawn chairs, seats, a traditional two team beer pong table, and an impressive eight team beer pong table that called itself octo-pong.

This table was pretty impressive, and I don’t recall having seen anything like it before. Unfortunately, it was so empty, and relatively chilly, that no one was outside playing it, and we were about to move on and didn’t give it a whirl. That specific area looked like a nice area for a decent sized group to rent out or take over to provide what would be a very entertaining and social atmosphere. I could see it being great for teambuilding events, or just a straight up party, providing a little bit of separation while still giving easy access to the rest of the outside environment and the inside as well.

As we wrapped up our time at Gold Spike, we hung out inside again, chatted for a bit about the space and how much fun we had, did a few shots, and then exited out the front door. We walked half a block and turned south onto 4^th Street, as we were heading back towards Fremont and our date with SlotZilla. I looked up and saw the Stratosphere off in the distance, but almost directly in line with us, it was a pretty sweet view. I later looked it up, since I was curious, and found that we were indeed only a block off Las Vegas Boulevard, and more interestingly, that the Gold Spike Hotel & Casino had the distinction of being the only hotel downtown with a Las Vegas Boulevard address. The current Gold Spike Social Club retains that address.

 

Overall, it was a very fun and unique experience. It is something I probably would have looked at doing, but without actually being prodded to go, I may have continued to put it off, so I’m very glad that we had it on our agenda. It was a very slow night and time of year to go, so I’d love to go back with a group sometime when it is warmer and busier. I guess that means I should probably schedule my next trip to Vegas!

[Images: Gennadius, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and the Gold Spike website]