The hotel and casino opened in 1906. No, that's not a typo. About a year after the land auction that basically created the city of Las Vegas, it got its first place to stay and gamble in the form of The Hotel Nevada. With electricity and the city's first phone it was quite the revolution but it still aimed to provide nice accommodations for a reasonable rate - $1 per day got you a room. Of course, they didn't have air conditioning but what do you want for $1 per day?

Over the years the hotel changed names, closed the casino when gambling was outlawed in 1909, reopened it when it was legalized in 1931, added rooms, and practically invented the shrimp cocktail - or at least perfected the 99-cent version of it.

Today the Golden Gate acts as a bit of a time capsule. Sprinkled throughout the building are old slot machines, photographs of the city in its infancy, hotel and gaming registries from the early 1900s, antique furnishings, and more. It's charming and completely unique in this era of bland, streamlined luxury.

So great; it's historic and quaint. But how does it stack up as an actual place to stay in Las Vegas during the era of bland, streamlined luxury?

The hotel is small in just about every measure. The casino is a postage-stamp sized 10,000 square feet. By way of comparison, most Strip casinos are at least ten times that size. There are a handful of gaming tables (blackjack, craps, roulette, three-card poker, etc.) and about 300 slot machines and video poker, most of which have lower limits than what you're used to on The Strip. So the good news here is you can play for less but the bad news is there is less to play. Luckily you are only steps away from a dozen more casinos on or near Fremont Street in case you get bored.

Instead of a dozen restaurants you get two, both from the famed Du-par's family of eateries. The restaurant is open 24 hours serving coffee house fare and the deli serves sandwiches and the famous shrimp cocktail. Note, it's $1.99 now. Yes, time marches on.

Most Strip hotels have thousands of rooms but here at the Golden Gate there are just over 100 of them and the biggest can most generously be described as "cozy." No two are alike but all are small with one queen or two double beds, a leather club chair, and in some a small writing desk. But these are not 1906 accommodations by any means. All of them come with flat screen televisions, pillow top mattresses, wireless Internet access, iPod radios, coffee makers, and a retro-stylish wood, leather, and wrought iron decor scheme that gives them personality despite their size.

Bathrooms are also very small - no Venetian style airplane hangars here - but they have some really cool retro tile work and nice amenities.

Some of the niceties you may have gotten used to are missing in these rooms but things like irons and hair dryers are available upon request.

And that's pretty much the sum of it for the Golden Gate. There is no pool or fitness center; no showroom or roller coaster; no all-you-can-eat buffet or celebrity chef restaurant.

An expansion project is planned to be complete by summer of 2012 but it will only be adding 16 rooms along with a new lobby, deli, and additional casino space. Regardless, it's still going to be a small property.

But the other sum that is probably going to be important to you is the one you pay when you check out. Weekday rates are usually in the $30 a night range while weekends may creep up to $75 or so. Those are the kinds of prices that you would normally pay for a bland, 70's era chain motel that counts a vending machine as its sole dining option and requires you to take a cab to get to the nearest slot machine.

So the answer to question posed above is this: the Golden Gate does not even come close to comparing to the level of amenities, facilities, and luxury that most modern Las Vegas resorts offer. But it's not trying to. Instead what this hotel aims to do is provide nice accommodations at reasonable rates - almost exactly what they were doing back in 1906.

Only, now you get air conditioning.

Recommended for: People on a budget; history buffs.

Not recommended for: People who need their space.

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