Kings Castle Hotel and Casino was a hotel and casino owned and operated by Nathan "Nate" Jacobson on the north shore of Lake Tahoe in Incline Village, Nevada.[1] It opened in 1970 and closed after Jacobson filed for bankruptcy in 1972.[2]

History

Nathan Jacobson was a Baltimore insurance executive who became the president and part owner of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada during the 1960s.[3] He had come under federal investigation because he had hired Jerome Zarowitz, who had organized crime connections, as director of casino operations.[4] Jacobson faced charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to the sale of Caesars Palace in 1969.[5][6]

In 1969, Jacobson purchased the property of the former Incline Village Casino and Lake Tahoe Hotel. He invested $20 million into the property and renovated it into a Camelot-themed hotel and casino.[3] It reopened as the 470-room Kings Castle Hotel and Casino in July 1970. The casino floor included five craps tables, a roulette wheel, 15 blackjack tables, a 35-seat Keno lounge, slot machines and a baccarat table.[3] Hotel room rates ran from $24 to $32, or $45 to $110 for a suite.[3] The Chicago Tribune wrote: "The new Kings Castle has to be seen to be believed, and even then you'll have problems. It's an 11-story neo-Tudor structure crowned by a battlemented parapet from which medieval pennants wave in the mountain breezes....[Jacobson] predicted that it would become a hotel and entertainment complex to rival Las Vegas, a forecast that very well might please the boomsters but will drive conservationists even closer to suicide."[3]

Kings Castle was the first major hotel/casino operation on the north shore devoted to top name entertainment.[1] The hotel opened with Buddy Hackett in the main 800-seat Camelot Room, and Bobby Stevens and the new Checkmates with the revue "Flash" in the 300-seat Jesters Court lounge.[1] Booked performers for the rest of 1970 included Line Renaud, Ike & Tina Turner, Sam & Dave, B.B. King, Don Adams, Don Rickles, Tony Bennett, Shecky Greene, and Pearl Bailey.[7]

In 1971, the casino did more than $5‐million in gambling volume, but the hotel had suffered "considerable financial losses" since it was opened.[2] In November 1971, Jacobson and his other minority stockholders agreed to sell the hotel casino to August T. Marra and Dr. Joseph Barkett.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Tiegel, Elliot (July 18, 1970). "Kings Castle Making Bid for Vegas' Silver Circuit Gold" (PDF). Billboard. p. 26.
  2. 1 2 3 "Casino in Nevada Closes; World Money Crisis Cited". The New York Times. February 6, 1972. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-01-12.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Bender, Alison (2016-08-10). "A Castle in the Pines". Tahoe Quarterly. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  4. ↑ Burbank, Jeff (2008). Las Vegas Babylon: The True Tales of Glitter, Glamour, and Greed. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 52–53. ISBN 978-1-59077-136-5.
  5. ↑ SEC News Digest 1971
  6. ↑ SEC News Digest 1975
  7. ↑ Geller, Harvey (July 11, 1970). "Insight & Sound" (PDF). Cash Box.
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