The hotel rooms at the ageing Binion's Downtown Hotel in Las Vegas have been closed since 2009. However, both Access Vegas and Vegas Chatter reported this past week that the casino was in the process of renovating their hotel rooms in hopes of a summer re-opening.

Along with the hotel room renovations, a second new restaurant has been added to the Binion's resurrection - Velvet Margarita - which will join the Whiskey Licker as one of two brand new nightlife options at Binion's.

Vegas Chatter first reported rumblings of Binion's Hotel renovations back in December, but confirmed this past week that the project is now fully on and could become a reality before the fall of 2012. This is welcome news to the Downtown area, which took a large brunt of the recession in Las Vegas. (Not that any hotel or casino was exempt or unscathed.)

As for the Velvet Margarita, the Hollywood-based Mexican restaurant will take over the space previously occupied by the Binion's Coffee Shop.

There's no word yet on when the restaurant will open, however Vegas partrons will notice the construction mural featured outside of Binion's as a sign that both the Whiskey Licker and Velvet Margarita are very much in the works.