The 500-room Rush Tower at the Golden Nugget opened last month.

The Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas thinks it now has the weapon to compete with the mega-casino hotels on the Strip. Late last month, owners Landry’s Restaurants, Inc. opened Rush Tower, a 25-story, 500-room upper upscale addition that’s the final piece in a four-year, $300-million renovation and upgrading of the Fremont Street property.

“With the addition of Rush Tower, we now offer a product that helps us attract additional group business, as well as individual business travelers,” said Amy Chasey, the property’s advertising and marketing director, at a press event last week during the Vantage Hospitality convention. “We provide a luxury product in a casino-hotel setting that’s also convenient and affordable.”

Indeed, unlike most large Strip hotels, the front desk of Rush Tower is only a few steps away from guestroom elevators, eliminating a major gripe Vegas visitors (particularly business travelers) have with the monster-sized Strip properties. Also, the Rush rooms are large (439 square feet is the smallest), comfortably furnished in a contemporary desert palette and equipped with guest-friendly technology and amenities. Many rooms have views of the Strip, while others overlook the Fremont Street Experience, the covered pedestrian mall fronting the major downtown hotels and casinos.

Rate is another advantage for Golden Nugget. Next weekend, for example, rooms in Rush Tower are available for $89 a night. The rest of the Golden Nugget is selling for between $60 and $70 per night, while Bellagio on the Strip is offering rooms starting at $169.

Landry’s bought the Golden Nuggets in Las Vegas and Laughlin, NV in 2005 from MGM Grand and immediately launched a three-phase renovation and expansion of the Las Vegas property. The first phase cost about $100 million and included three new restaurants, an updated showroom and improvements to the gaming and recreation areas. Two years later, another $60-million project was complete. It included a new events center, a Japanese restaurant and a new nightclub with balcony seating overlooking Fremont St.