Lucky Dragon Gets Its Funding, Plans End of 2016 Debut

Under construction Lucky Dragon Hotel & Casino has been struggling for months to find the final $55 million they say they need to finish their visually enticing, Asian-themed resort. Now the Las Vegas Economic Impact Regional Center steps in to take over the project with the "Fonfa and Weidner families" guaranteeing the project will be completed on schedule in late 2016 at 300 W. Sahara Ave.

Lucky Dragon plans to be the "first casino resort to deliver an authentic Asian lifestyle experience" in Las Vegas. That means signs written in Chinese first and English second, a multilingual staff and the city’s only indoor/outdoor high-end tea garden and lounge, designed by architects Ed Vance & Associates, with an interior created by Lee Cagley Design, who consulted with Feng Shui master Lin Huang at Qi Gallery.

The 240,199-square-foot, 204-room, 10-story hotel plans to feature a 27,500 square-foot casino with Asian favorites such as Baccarat and Pai Gow. A pagoda-shaped bar anchored by a 1.25 ton glass dragon sculpture suspended from the ceiling sits on the casino floor. A high-limit gaming area called the Emerald Room and another VIP gaming lounge on the second level are meant for high rollers.

The restaurants here focus on Pan-Asian dining, with Jewel Kitchen becoming "the only show kitchen in the city that extends directly onto the casino floor. Also on tap, a night market that serves "regional delicacies, fresh and live seafood, dim sum, barbecue, boba tea and more for breakfast, lunch and dinner." Seafood flow in daily highlights the dim sum restaurant, while a 60-seat fine dining restaurant features a private balcony.

That indoor/outdoor tea garden plans to have a tea sommelier offering "teas sourced directly from generations-old farms throughout Asia, as well as varietals sold nowhere else in the city." Guests can sit at custom-built Gongfu tables, while the decor includes a waterfall, oak trees and a "shoreline swimming pool."