Casinos don’t come much bigger and better than Caesars Palace. This is one of the original big Vegas casinos, and it has a fearsome reputation that even the mightiest casinos on the Las Vegas Strip can only dream of. But what it is about Caesars Palace that is so alluring? In this article, we will take a closer look at the global goliath that is Caesars Palace, and see just why it holds such a special place in every Las Vegas gambler’s heart.
Before we do that, though, we need to look at the history of Caesars Palace, and see just why it became so big.
The History of Caesars Palace
Caesars Palace was founded in 1966 by Jay Sarno. He wanted to showcase the glory and beauty of the Roman Empire, whilst at the same time offering an amazing casino. To get his design across, huge columns, statues, and temple-like buildings and interiors were constructed, and they are still a pivotal part of the look and feel of Caesars today.
Built with a $10.6 million loan, the initial idea behind the casino was that everybody would feel like Caesar playing there. It was the first of the really lavish casinos to be built, and it is a model that all of the other major casinos in the vicinity (and indeed, across the world) have tried to copy and emulate.
The casino opened in 1966, with a $1 million feast, including Ukranian caviar, two tons of filet mignon, 140 kg of crab meat, and 50,000 glasses of champagne. One year later, Evel Knievel turned up to watch boxing, only to end up performing. The stage was set for Caesars Palace to play host to some of the most watched events in entertainment history. Frank Sinatra, and many others have followed in his footsteps.
In 1971, African American rights protesters storm the hotel, and in 1981 a fire broke out injuring 16 people. By the 1990s, more luxury was planned, with a range of Forum Shops opening. In 2005, Harrah’s Entertainment bought out Caesars Entertainment, and the casino took on new ownership. It was fined in 2010 for allowing a baccarat player to dance on the table during a game, and just last year it was fined $8 million for violating banking laws in the US. None of that has had any impact on the reputation of this gorgeous, glamorous, and world famous casino, though.
The Towers
Caesars Palace is made up several towers. The Roman Tower (now known as the Julius Tower) was the first to be built in 1966. Extended in ‘74 and remodelled in 2016, this 14-story tower is the original Caesars Casino. In 1970, the Centurion Tower (now known as the Nobu Tower) was built for $4.2 million. This is the most luxurious hotel in the complex. The Forum Tower opened up in 1979 offering more places to stay, including Emperor’s Suites. Built in 1998, the Palace Tower is more along the lines of Greco-Romano in architecture than the rest, and contains office space, as well as 1,134 rooms, including a ballroom, banquet room and spa underneath its Corinthian structure.
The two newest towers are the Augustus Tower, and the Octavius Tower. The former is now known as the Laurel Collection Tower. It contains a flurry of world-class restaurants, lavish suites, Roman baths, therapy rooms, and other luxuries. It was built in 2003. Meanwhile, the Octavius Tower was only completed in 2012, and contains 668 rooms. This is a more modern hotel, for players who don’t like to be away from their modern amenities too much.
Facilities
Caesars Palace features The Forum Shops, which is basically a fancy name for a absolutely astonishing 636,000 square foot shopping mall. There are spiralling escalators, and boutiques for all of your leading luxury brands, such as Cartier, Chanel, Calvin Klein, Dior, Emporio Armani, Gucci, Tiffany, and Versace, amongst others. It is the most expensive mall in the USA.
Aside from the mall, there are plenty of other facilities such as spas, entertainment rooms, and the like spread over the various towers throughout the complex. The basic premise is that there are so many facilities at Caesars Palace that you shouldn’t really need to venture out of the hotel.
Of course, the gaming facilities are the most important to many players. The casino originally opened with just 30 gaming tables and 250 slots. Today there are thousands more. Underneath the crystal ceiling, there are baccarat, blackjack, craps, Pai Gow poker, roulette, and many poker games to be played. There is even a bookie, race club, nightclub, and video poker games to be played, as well as less conventional casino games such as keno. New features include Wi-Fi games, but these only work inside the complex.
Music, Entertainment and Sports
Few casinos are as famous for their array of musicians and showmen. Over the years, such names as Bette Midler, Celine Dion, Cher, David Copperfield, Diana Ross, Dolly Parton, Elton John, Frank Sinatra, Gloria Estefan, Janet Jackson, Jerry Seinfeld, Judy Garland, Julio Iglesias, Liberace, Liza Minelli, Mariah Carey, Ricky Martin, Rod Stewart, Sammy Davis Jr, Shania Twain, Stevie Nicks, Tony Bennett, and more have performed at the venue. Today, David Copperfield and Celine Dion are still performing at Caesars.
Most performances take place in The Colosseum, which is a purpose-built 4,296-seat venue. It was originally constructed in 2003 for Celine Dion’s Vegas debut. Her latest show “Celine” is being performed there until 2017. It started in 2011, and she does 70 shows per year.
Formula One, boxing, ice hockey, and WWE wrestling have all taken place at Caesars Palace. These events are far and far between in the modern era, though, with many of the events hosted at Caesars today being magic shows, performances, and concerts.
Good Grub
Food and drink are top notch at Caesars Palace. If you’re looking for a good night out, the casino offers up their Pussycat Dolls Lounge nightclub, or the Omnia Latin nightclub, or the Cleopatra’s barge bar and lounges.
As far as food goes, restaurants don’t come much bigger than Gordon Ramsay’s Pub & Grill. They are one of the few places where you can get traditional pub grub, and solid burgers on the Vegas Strip. Bacchanal Buffet, Nobu Restaurant, OId Homestead Steakhouse, Rao’s, Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill, Searsucker Las Vegas, Beijing Noodle No. 9, Serendipity 3, Guy Savoy, Payard Pâtisserie & Bistro, Spago, Central Michel Richard, Café Americano, and Mr Chow are all top, world-class restaurants for you to eat at, too.
No matter what your reason is for visiting Las Vegas, you will find that Caesars Palace can cater to all of your needs. There simply isn’t anything to rival this all-in, super-size, world-famous casino hotel and resort.
