Las Vegas Loses One of Its Two Gay Boutique Hotels

Posted on: September 30, 2024, 08:39h. 

Last updated on: October 1, 2024, 09:34h.

Corey Levitan Read More

Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Restaurants, Las Vegas Myths.

The Bent Inn, an LGBTQ+-owned and operated boutique hotel that catered to the Las Vegas gay community, has closed after barely a year. Sam Novak of Vegas411 broke this story on social media.

The Bent Inn opened in October 2023 at 207 N. 11th St. downtown, steps from the Fremont Street Experience. It featured 33 rooms.

It is with profound sadness that we announce the closing of Bent Inn & Pub,” read an Instagram note from its co-founders and owners, Mark Hunter and Greg Kafka, who previously owned the Palm Springs resorts Escape and Desert Paradise.

Pandemic-related problems delayed the hotel’s opening from early 2021, enabling Queen Las Vegas — another boutique hotel and restaurant targeting the community — to beat it to opening day by a month. Queen Las Vegas also features the added bonus of a gaming lounge.

Queen Las Vegas, advertising itself as “the gayest destination on the Strip,” also operates downtown, in 28 rooms of the Thunderbird at 1215 S. Las Vegas Blvd. It is owned and operated by Q Group Hospitality.

The note from Hunter and Kafka didn’t blame the Bent Inn’s closure on the competition. It cited legal problems.

“As many of you are aware, we have had ongoing battles with our general contractor, which are now the subject of two pending lawsuits,” the note read. “These battles have taken their toll financially, forcing Bent Inn to close.”

Before Las Vegas had two gay hotels vying for the community’s business, it had none since 2014. That’s when the Blue Moon Hotel shut its doors.

Hunter and Kafka’s note concluded: “We appreciate all of you and your support and truly wish we could continue on.”

Moonlight Shadow

The building that housed the Bent Inn was purchased in 2020 by Hunter and Kafka for $1.9 million, according to Redfin. It opened in 1963 as the Moonlight Motel, whose biggest claim to fame was inspiring the 1984 Gun Club song, “Moonlight Motel,” which was written from the viewpoint of a downtown Las Vegas prostitute.

In the early aughts, the rundown Moonlight switched hands and became known as the Cheyenne before being converted into the low-rent Cerrito Apartments.