Ahern Luxury Boutique Hotel is adjacent to the Allure Las Vegas high-rise condominium, opened in 2008 by developer Andrew Fonfa.

With 203 rooms and a 27,500 sq ft (2,550 m2) casino, the Lucky Dragon was considered small in comparison to nearby competitors on the Las Vegas Strip.

After experiencing low customer turnout, the Lucky Dragon's casino and restaurants were temporarily closed in January 2018 so the property could reorganize, while the hotel remained open.

[2] In May 2002, Fonfa proposed the Hilton Garden Inn, an eight-story Hilton-branded 200-room hotel with an attached 40,000 sq ft (3,700 m2) casino that would be located on the property's east side.

Hilton considered Fonfa's property to be a desirable location for one of their hotels, and approached him about a possible deal, although discussions were still preliminary at the time of the project's announcement.

Fonfa was in negotiations with GE Capital to finance the project, and hoped to begin construction at the end of the year, with completion scheduled in 15 months.

[4] The site of the Lucky Dragon had initially been planned for the second Allure tower, which was later cancelled because of poor sales caused by the Great Recession, and because of an oversupply of condominium high-rises on the Las Vegas Strip.

[5] The Lucky Dragon project was later announced for the property in February 2012, as a 10-story hotel tower with 201 rooms and an 18,900 sq ft (1,760 m2) casino, with 478 slot machines and a 446-space parking garage.

To avoid the heat, several concrete pours were completed during early morning hours, which resulted in noisy equipment for nearby businesses and residents directly north of the property.

[13] On November 16, 2015, Fonfa and development partner William Weidner – the former president and chief operating officer of Las Vegas Sands, and one of the Lucky Dragon's backers[14] – requested approval for tax increment financing from the Las Vegas Redevelopment Agency, in order to receive a bank loan to continue construction on the project, which had already raised $60 million through the EB-5 program.

James Weidner stated that the project "presented an opportunity to do something here [in Las Vegas] that really respects the culture directly and approaches the Asian market, which is really powerful.

[24] David Jacoby, chief operating officer for the resort, said during construction that, "This whole place has been very specifically feng shui'd, from the color patterns, to the carpets, to where the seats are, to where the cash is.

[31] The casino featured 37 table games and 300 slot machines,[31][32] and was located in a two-story building that connected to the hotel tower through a bridge walkway.

[4] The official grand opening took place on the afternoon of December 3, 2016, and was accompanied by a ribbon-cutting ceremony, costumed dancers dressed as Chinese lions and a dragon, and firecrackers.

[34][35][36] The first direct flights between Beijing and Las Vegas, launched a day before the Lucky Dragon's grand opening,[25] were not expected to bring in additional customers to the resort, although officials welcomed the possibility.

[40][41] In March 2017, Midwest Pro Painting and Penta Building Group claimed in court that they were owed money for their work on the Lucky Dragon during construction.

[20] Approximately 100 employees – including top managers, and bar and wait staff – had been fired by late March 2017, as the result of poor customer turnout.

[21] In December 2017, the Las Vegas Review-Journal visited the Lucky Dragon on several occasions and noted that the property appeared to be struggling, as its casino and restaurants were mostly empty of customers.

The newspaper also interviewed local Chinese gamblers, who indicated that "the problem did not lie so much with Lucky Dragon's offering of entertainment or food as with its comparatively stingy gaming and comp policy".

[25] The Lucky Dragon was also considered to be in a poor location near the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip, an area that was lacking in development and had little vehicle and pedestrian traffic.

[44] On the morning of January 4, 2018, the casino and restaurants were temporarily closed and the property announced plans to reorganize itself by hiring new firms to operate those aspects of the resort.

[50][51] On February 16, 2018, the Lucky Dragon entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy to preserve the jobs of its 98 employees, as well as to pay its creditors and to "provide certainty to the market", according to court documents.

[54] During July 2018, a letter of intent was signed between Fonfa's group and two companies – DeBartolo Development and Achieved Management – for a joint venture, at a bid price of $53 million.

[22] Three days after the auction, lawyers for the resort filed a motion to close the hotel immediately and end payments to employees and vendors, with the closure intended to ensure an efficient transition of ownership to Snow Covered Capital.

In April 2019, Snow Covered Capital sued Fonfa, Weidner and Jacoby, alleging that they were required to reimburse the company for the cost of purchasing the Lucky Dragon.

[64] It eventually reopened as the Ahern Hotel and Convention Center in late 2019, with redecorated rooms and new signage, while retaining the red exterior of its predecessor.

[74][75] Las Vegas city officials and local police arrived to shut down the event over pandemic concerns, but they allowed it to resume after family members and audiences were removed from the premises.

[78] Ahern is a Republican supporter,[72] and the hotel's manager believed that the pageant shutdown was politically motivated as retaliation for the earlier Trump event.

[79][80] Two days later, the Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a fine of $10,930 to the hotel, citing four violations of Sisolak's orders during the Trump event and pageant.

[82][83] In August 2016, officials announced a contest to create a name for the Lucky Dragon's night market restaurant – the resort's last unnamed eatery – with the winner receiving a weekend stay package.