Caesars Palace

Caesars Palace
Location	Paradise, Nevada
Address	3570 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Opening date	August 5, 1966
Theme	Roman Empire
No. of rooms	3,960
Total gaming space	166,000 ft2 (15,442 m2)
Permanent shows	Absinthe
Signature attractions	Forum Shops, replica ancient Roman, Greek and renaissance art, The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
Notable restaurants	Restaurant Guy Savoy Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill Old Homestead Steakhouse Nobu Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill Beijing Noodle No. 9 Rao's Searsucker Las Vegas Serendipity 3 Payard Pâtisserie & Bistro Spago Central Michel Richard Mr. Chow
Casino type	Land-Based
Owner	Caesars Entertainment Corporation
Renovated in	1974, 1979, 1992, 2001, 2005
Public transit access	Flamingo/Caesars Palace Station, Las Vegas Monorail
Website	www.caesarspalace.com

Caesars Palace is a AAA Four Diamond luxury hotel and casino in Paradise, Nevada, United States, situated on the west side of the Las Vegas Strip, between the Bellagio and the Mirage. Opened in 1966 after four years of planning and construction, it was the brainchild of Jay Sarno, who sought to create an opulent facility that gave guests a sense of life during the Roman Empire. It contains many statues and iconography typical of Hollywood Roman period productions, including a 20 foot (6.1 m) statue of Julius Caesar near the entrance. Caesars Palace is now owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment Corporation. As of 2015, the hotel has 3,960 rooms and suites in six towers and a convention facility of over 300,000 square feet (28,000 m²). The hotel has a very large range of restaurants, including several serving authentic Chinese cuisine to cater to the wealthy East Asian gamblers.

Caesars Palace is one of the most prestigious casino hotels in the world and one of Las Vegas's largest and best known landmarks. It is closely associated with the entertainment industry and has served as a venue for boxing since the 1980s, and hosted the Caesars Palace Grand Prix from 1981–2. Notable performers who have performed at Caesars Palace include Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Rod Stewart, Celine Dion, Cher, Bette Midler, Liberace, Liza Minnelli, Elton John, Julio Iglesias, Judy Garland, David Copperfield, Tony Bennett, Gloria Estefan, Luis Miguel, Janet Jackson, Jerry Seinfeld, Mariah Carey, Matt Goss and Deana Martin. The main performance venue is The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, a 4,296-seat stadium with a 22,450 square feet (2,086 m²)stage, which was originally built at a cost of $95-million for Celine Dion's show A New Day... in 2003. After a departure in 2007, Dion returned to The Colosseum with her new show entitled "Celine" in March 2011, which is under contract for 70 shows per year, through 2017.

History

Early history

Caesars Palace fountains in 1970

In 1962, cabana motel owner Jay Sarno applied for a $10.6 million loan from the Teamsters Central States Pension Fund. He began plans to build a hotel on land owned by Kirk Kerkorian. Sarno would later act as designer of the hotel he planned to construct. He wanted to emulate life under the Roman Empire, to literally come up with a palace in which everybody staying at the hotel would feel like a Caesar. Caesars Palace was instrumental in beginning a new era of lavish casinos from the late 1960s onward. Architectural writer Alan Hess stated: "Caesars Palace needed only a sumptuous array of Classical statuary and a host of marble-white columns to establish its theme. The visitor's imagination, in league with well-placed publicity, filled in the opulence". Jefferson Graham wrote that the result was "the gaudiest, weirdest, most elaborate, and most talked about resort Vegas had ever seen. [Its] emblem was a chesty female dipping grapes into the waiting mouth of a recumbent Roman, fitted out in toga, laurel wreath, and phallic dagger".

At the inauguration ceremony of the hotel on August 5 1966, Sarno and his partner Nate Jacobsen spent one million dollars, with the "largest order of Ukrainian caviar ever placed by a private organization", with two tons of filet mignon, 300 pounds of Maryland crabmeat and 50,000 glasses of champagne. Cocktail waitress in Greco-Roman wigs would greet guests and say "Welcome to Caesars Palace, I am your slave". Among the performers at the opening were Andy Williams and Phil Richards. According to author Ovid Demaris, Caesars Palace was "a mob-controlled casino from the day it opened its doors". By the time it opened, the significant publicity of the new hotel had generated $42 million in advanced bookings.

On December 31, 1967, stunt performer Evel Knievel arrived at the hotel to watch a boxing match and was convinced Sarno that he could jump over the distance of 140 feet (43 m) over the fountains. ABC came in to film the jump, in which Knievel hit the top of the safety ramp after the jump and flew over his handlebars into the parking lot of neigbouring Dunes. Fracturing his pelvis, several bones and suffering concussion, he lay in hospital unconscious for 29 days in a coma before recovering. On April 14, 1989, Knievel's son Robbie successfully completed the jump.

The first casino at the hotel was named Circus Circus, was intended to be the world's liveliest and most expensive casino, attracting elite gamblers from around the world. In 1969, a Federal Organized Crime Task Force accused the casino's financial manager, Jerome Zarowitz, of having ties with organized-crime figures in New York and New England. Although Zarowitz was never tried, the task force pressured Sarno and his other investors to sell the casino, which led to it being acquired by Lum's restaurant chain owners Stuart and Clifford S. Perlman for $60 million. The company soon shed its restaurant operations and changed its name to Caesars World. On July 15 of that year, executives lay ground on an expansion area of the hotel, and they buried a time capsule in the area.

Caesars Palace in 1970

Frank Sinatra began performing at Caesars Palace in 1967, after a fallout with Howard Hughes and Carl Cohen at The Sands. He signed a three-year contract. In the early morning hours of September 6, 1970, Sinatra was playing a high stakes baccarat at the casino, where he was performing at the time. Normal limits for the game are US$2,000 per hand; Sinatra had been playing for US$8,000 and wanted the stakes to be raised to US$16,000. When Sinatra began shouting, hotel executive Sanford Waterman came to talk with him. Witnesses to the incident said the two men both made threats, with Waterman producing a gun and pointing it at Sinatra. Sinatra walked out of the casino and returned to his Palm Springs home without fulfilling the rest of his three week engagement there. Waterman was booked on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon, but was released without bail. The local district attorney's office declined to file charges against Waterman for pulling the gun, stating that Sinatra had refused to make a statement regarding the incident. Despite swearing to never perform at Caesars again, Sinatra returned after his retirement in January 1974, and became a frequent performer at Caesars Palace throughout the decade. He was performing at Caesars when his mother Dolly died in a plane crash in January 1977, and in 1979 he was awarded the Grammy Trustees Award in a party at the hotel, while celebrating 40 years in show business and his 64th birthday. When Sinatra was given back his gaming license by the Nevada Gaming Commission in 1981, he became an entertainment-public relations consultant at the casino for $20,000 a week.

In 1971, some 1500 African American rights activists stormed the hotel in a protest. The National Welfare Rights Organization was involved with a "coalition of welfare mothers, Legal Services lawyers, radical priests and nuns, civil rights leaders, movie stars and housewives". Five years later in the spring of 1976, hundreds of African American workers went on strike at the hotel in the first major strike in Las Vegas history. The entrances to the hotel and casino were blocked, and the hotel lost several million dollars from the strike, including one cancellation worth $500,000. In 1973, the Del Webb corporation was contracted to build a $8 million 16-story building adjacent to the Palace.

In 1981, a fire broke out at the hotel, hospitalizing 16 people. The Perlmans sold their shares in Caesars World that year after trying to get a gaming license for a casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The New Jersey Casino Control Commission accused the brothers of doing business with people who had organized-crime connections.

Later history

In the 1986, the annual Teamsters convention was held at Caesars with a $650,000 party. The lavish feast included caviar, crab claws, roast beef and a range of 15 different desserts. In 1991, Sheila King won a $250,000 jackpot in the casino at Caesars Palace on a $500 machine, and won $50,000 twice soon afterwards. Over three years she won $200 million on the machines but kept pumping the money back into the machines. Despite her luck, in 1994 her winnings fell to $500,000, and she spent much of her time over the next four years in the law courts claiming that the casino operators had tampered with her machines and deceived her to keep her winning.

In the 1990s, the hotel's management sought to create more elaborate features to compete with the other modern Las Vegas developments. The Forum Shops at Caesars opened in 1992; it was one of the first venues in the city where shopping, particularly at high-end fashion house stores, was an attraction in itself. A new redevelopment opened on October 22, 2004.

In June 2005, Harrah's Entertainment acquired Caesars Entertainment, Inc. and became the owner of Caesars Palace. In 2010, Caesars Palace was fined $250,000 by the Nevada Gaming Comission for permitting a high-limit baccarat player to dance on the card table while the game was underway. In 2013, Forbes Travel Guide named The Laurel Collection by Caesars Palace and Restaurant Guy Savoy on its "55th annual listing of Star Award-winning hospitality establishments worldwide". In September 2015, Caesars Palace agreed to pay the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) an $8 million civil money penalty for violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA).

Architecture

Exterior

Jeff Campbell of Lonely Planet refers to the hotel as "quintessentially Las Vegas", a "Greco-Roman fantasyland featuring marble reproductions of classical statuary". The art deco style with clear influences from Hollywood epic productions dominates. Construction of the 14-story Caesars Palace hotel on the 34-acre (14 ha) site began in 1962, and it opened in 1966. It lay next to Dunes Hotel and opposite the Desert Inn. The original hotel featured lanes of cypresses and marble columns as part of a 900 feet (270 m) frontage, with the hotel set back 475 feet (145 m) feet. The car park could accommodate up to 1300 cars. Water is heavily used for at least 18 fountains throughout—the casino resort uses over 240 million gallons a year. A 20 feet (6.1 m) high statue of Julius Caesar hailing a cab lies in the driveway leading to the entrance, and there are replicas of Rape of the Sabine Women and statues of Venus and David which greet guests as they arrive. Near the entrance is a four-faced, eight-handed 4-ton Brahma shrine, which was made in Bangkok, Thailand with a casting ceremony on November 25, 1983, according to the inscription on it.

Exterior

Julius Tower (Roman Tower)

The front of Caesars Palace

A $75 million renovation of the hotel's original Roman Tower, built in 1966, is slated for completion in January 2016. The 14-story Tower, last renovated in 2001, will have 20 rooms added for a total of 587 rooms and suites, and will be renamed the Julius Tower. Entertainment Close-Up wrote that the Julius Tower is the "latest piece of a $1 billion investment to cement Caesars Palace as the premier resort at the center of the Las Vegas Strip".

Palace Tower

The 29-story Palace Tower, adjacent to the Garden of the Gods pool oasis, mirrors the Greco-Roman theme of the hotel with fluted columns and Corinthian columns and pediments on its facade and fountains and statues scattered around its interior space. Its 1,134 rooms and suites range from 500–750 square feet (46–70 m²) in size, each with 9 feet (2.7 m) high ceilings, a sitting area, a writing desk and chair, and spa tub. The lower levels of the Palace Tower house the spa and fitness center, and 110,000 square feet (10,000 m²) of banquet and meeting space, including a 30,000 square feet (2,800 m²) ballroom.

Forum Tower

Rooms in the Forum Tower are furnished with queen- or king-size beds, a writing desk with a leather chair, and armchairs. There are two LCD televisions in each room, one in the sitting area and one in the bathroom. A two-floor Emperors Suite includes two master bedrooms and a dining area.

Nobu Tower (Centurion Tower)

The Centurion Tower and pool in 1970

The 14-story Centurion Tower was completed in 1970 at a cost of $4.2 million. In 2011 it was announced that the tower would be renovated and be renamed to Nobu, and to operate as the first Nobu Hotel with a restaurant. The concept was that the tower was to be a boutique hotel within the resort. Because the exterior was unchanged, the interior with only 181 rooms, small by Vegas standards, is more spacious with bigger rooms than the standard hotel. The motif is Asian luxury with high end amenities, including a sake bar and strict security which uses optical scanners. Each room has a sitting area, a spacious bedroom with black lacquered furniture and artworks. The bathroom contains a double-sized stall with a teak shower stall, black tiles and a large rain-style showerhead. Luxury toiletries like razors and shaving cream, dental kit and other high-end products exceed the usual offerings at US hotels. Electronics include charging devices and flat screen TVs with multiple outlets throughout the room.

At check-in a dedicated bellhop staff will retrieve a customer's luggage from their prior hotel, airport, etc. so that the customer is not left waiting for luggage arrival. A complimentary Japanese tea service greets each guest upon check-in, featuring green tea and special rice crackers. As a security feature, the elevators must be operated from the outside with a room key. There are no buttons inside the elevators themselves. Other services include 24-hour in-room dining and access to the spa. WIFI access and shoeshine services are available for an additional charge.

Augustus Tower

Augustus Tower

Plans for the the Augustus Tower began in 2003 and were consolidated in 2004 with the architects Bergman Walls Associates. The expansion at a cost of $289 million US included a 26-story, 345-foot-tall tower, as well as an addition of new convention and meeting facilities at the resort. A restaurant located on the ground floor, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner features the first restaurant located outside of Paris for Michelin starred chef Guy Savoy. The tower also includes terraces overlooking the Roman plaza, night clubs and three wedding chapels.

The Augustus opened in 2005 with 949 rooms, which were designed for more upscale luxury and service than the other parts of the resort. It is accessed through a private small lobby separate from the main Caesars' entrance. The rooms feature 9-foot ceilings with hotel chambers beginning at about 650 square feet (60 m²), and going up to 2470 square feet for the largest suites. All feature spa tubs and televisions in the bathrooms. One of the highlights of the space is that the rooms view the Garden of the Gods pool area. On the second floor of the tower is a spa containing Roman baths of hot, cold and tepid pools; relaxing chaise longues sculpted of stone, which are underwater in the heated pool; and 51 separate therapy rooms.

Octavius Tower

Garden of the Gods Pool Oasis

The Octavius Tower opened in January 2012. The 668-room tower was added as part of a $860-million expansion. The tower shares a lobby with the Augustus Tower. The smallest rooms in the tower start at 550 square feet (51 m²). According to Forbes they "feel modern and spacious, with an earthy palette of brown, taupe and gray accented by splashes of lime green and bright red. Bathrooms are spacious and loaded with marble floors, whirlpool tubs and double sinks, along with flatscreen TVs." The tower has been installed with Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, manufactured by VTech, the world's largest cordless phone producer.

Pools

The Temple Pool

The pools at Caesars Palace are unlike others in Las Vegas and are modeled after the Roman baths. The main pool facility is the Garden of the Gods, an oasis that the Palace website describes as a "collection of exclusive watering holes, decadent cabanas and lavish sunbathing spots". The Temple Pool is known for its central statuary and columns, while the Neptune Pool features eight cabanas and 12 day beds and chaise lounge chairs. The Apollo Pool in the southwest is one of the most exposed pools to the sun and has five cabanas and four day and the Bacchus Pool with eight daybeds and eight cabanas, named after the Roman God of Wine. The most exclusive pool is the Venus Pool, a 10,000 square feet (930 m²) retreat with 14 cabanas, 16 day beds, 10 couches and numerous lounge chairs.

The Forum Shops

Main article: The Forum Shops at Caesars

The Forum Shops

The Forum Shops at Caesars, also known as "The Forum" is a 636,000-square-foot (59,100 m²) shopping mall, built as an extension wing of the main hotel and casino in 1992. With many high-end boutiques including Cartier, Chanel, Calvin Klein, Dior, Emporio Armani, Gucci, Ted Baker, Tiffany and Co, Valentino and Versace, it is the highest grossing mall in the United States, with higher sales per square foot than Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, California.

Interior

Forum Shop statues

The original hotel tower had 680 rooms, and each featured a room with one wall which was fully mirrored from floor to ceiling. The hotel featured an 800-seat theatre restaurant and three public dining areas, two health clubs, an epicurean room, a convention hall of up to 2000 people and 20 separate halls and committee rooms, accommodating up to 5000 people in total. Marble was imported from Italy, rosewood from Brazil, with gold leafing throughout the place.

The hallway between the casino and The Forum Shops

As of 2015, the hotel has 3,960 rooms and suites in six towers and a convention facility of over 300,000 square feet (28,000 m²). In addition to its regular rooms and suites, Caesars Palace offers penthouse suites, with a living room, dining room, and up to four bedrooms, and 14 villa suites named after notable Romans. Amenities include "billiard tables, Yamaha pianos, DirecTV, XM satellite radio, and JBL surround stereo systems". Villa suites, encompassing more than 9,000 square feet (840 m²) of floor space, include luxurious furnishings, private swimming pools, and butler service. Each villa has its own theme, including "a Spanish villa, a Greek palace, and a villa decorated to look like an expensive Paris apartment". Notwithstanding the $35,000 per night tariff, the villas are in high demand during peak season.

A number of Roman statues were imported from Florence, Italy, valued at over $150,000. Statues of Julius Caesar and other emperors such as Augustus and Nero, are particularly common at the Palace. There are many variations of Augustus throughout, including two copies of the Prima Porta Augustus. Author Margaret Malamud notes the contrast between his "sober and pious figure" in the Olympic Lounge and the "statue of Nero and his lyre with which it is paired". There is a 25 feet (7.6 m) statue of the goddess Fortuna. One statue of David in the interior is an exact replica of an early 16th century Michelangelo masterpiece, standing 18 feet (5.5 m) high and weighing over nine tons.

Caesars Forum and gambling facilities

File:Caesars Palace (2140771023).jpg

Slot machines

Caesars Forum is the original casino of the hotel which opened in 1966 with 30 gaming tables and 250 slot machines. It contains 20 black Italian marble columns with white marble and gold leaf trimmings. Friezes and statues depict Roman conquests, and women motifs are prevalent. In the centre is a flat ornate dome with an "enormous chandelier in the shape of a Roman medallion, made of 100,000 handmade and handpolished crystals" on the ceiling. It reportedly held the world record at the time for the world's largest crystal ceiling fixture. The cocktail waitresses, as of 2005, still wear the same uniform which was designed by Jay Sarno: white, off-the-shoulder mini-tunics with high-heeled Roman sandals.

Looking towards the Race & Sports Book

From the outset, Caesars Palace has been oriented towards attracting the high rollers, and like many of the other top Las Vegas casinos attracts the elite of the elite who stop in on weekends with hundreds of thousands of dollars at their disposal. The modern casino facilities include table games such as Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Baccarat, Spanish 21, Mini-Baccarat, Pai Gow and Pai Gow poker. Caesars Palace's 4,500 square feet (420 m²) 24-hour poker room currently lies in heart of the gaming floor between The Colosseum and the Race & Sports Book, where racing and sports bets are put on. It moved there in June 2014, when Pure nightclub underwent an expansion and annexed its space. As of December 2015 it contains 16 tables with free Wi-Fi and USB charging ports. There are a large number of traditional reel-type slot machines, video reels machine, video poker games,video blackjack or keno, in which participants can play from 1¢ to $500. One author noted that due to the combination of darkness and enclosure of the gambling room, never being lit with light from the outside, it "disorients the occupant in space and time", and one "looses track of where he is and when it is".

"The new [Poker] room makes quite a first impression. It is bright and has a welcoming feel to it. There is ample space between the tables. Many tables have a great view of the sports book. There are 20 TVs located throughout the new room. One of the highlights of the new room is the lower rake structure. Up until today, all Las Vegas Caesars Entertainment poker rooms raked 10% up to $5. Caesars Palace now has a $4 rake cap on no limit games and a $3 cap on fixed limit games. There is a $1 jackpot drop. This goes towards high hands. Players that make quads with a pocket pair will win $100. A straight flush using both hole cards pays $200. A royal flush using both hole cards pays $500. Caesars Palace poker players will be paid $2 an hour in comps. Players must clock in with their Total Rewards card at the table to receive credit".

—Uspoker.com on the new Poker Room at Caesars Palace.

Restaurants

Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill

Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill

Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill is an upscale English pub environment featuring casual dining and sporting events aired on state-of-the-art satellite equipment. The 290 cover retaurant opened in December 2012 next to the Colosseum, replacing a restaurant by chef Bradley Ogden. Ramsay said of the decision to launch the pub and grill and his BurGR restaurant at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino: "The two things missing on the strip were a great burger restaurant and an authentic pub & grill, so we're very excited to offer these two very different, but equally vibrant new restaurants in Vegas for guests to enjoy". There are approximately 100 different beers served and the cuisine is designed to pair well with beer. Classic pub-style dishes favored by Ramsay include fish and chips, bangers and mash, English ale onion soup, shepherd’s pie, as well as grilled offerings including aged beef rib eye, brick pressed Cornish chicken, lamb T-bone, and Scottish salmon. The featured desert is spotted dog.

Bacchanal Buffet

The Bacchanal restaurant is intended to evoke a Roman orgy, held at a garden of a luxurious Roman villa in Pompeii. The walls are adorned with frescoes of the Meditterranean and bucolic scenes, with a statue of a nude Vestal Virgin pouring water in the middle. The ceiling emulates that of a blue sky. Seven-course meals are served by Middle Eastern belly dancing waitresses dressed as Roman centurions, and two people dressed as Caesar and Cleopatra enter the restaurant daily.

Nobu Restaurant

The Nobu Restaurant features an Asian motif and is spaciously arranged with only round tables, granting larger aisles than square tables would. Large paper lamps in jellyfish images hang from the ceiling. Seating is available in the main dining area, the sushi bar, along a couple of high kitchen tables, or in a private dining area. There are also two teppanyaki grill tables, which serve as either a traditional grill or in combination with the menu and dishes from the main kitchen. In addition to chef Nobu Matsuhisa's signature dishes featuring black cod in miso sauce, rock shrimp tempura, and yellowtail sashimi the menu has variations on the dishes which are not available at other Nobu restaurants, as well as an exclusive list of sakes available nowhere else in the U.S.

Old Homestead Steakhouse

The Old Homestead Steakhouse is the first west-coast location of a New York institution which has been open for 140 years. Designed by San Francisco architects, EDG Interior Architecture + Design 250 to reflect its original roots in the Meatpacking District of New York City. The iconic spotted cow, Annabelle, which greets customers in New York, has also been replicated. Dark woods and leather booths set the ambiance of the 250 seats in the dining room, private dining area, lounge and bar in a space of approximately 6000 square feet. Signature dishes from New York, including a 32-ounce Gotham rib steak, a dry-aged porterhouse, filet mignon and an 18-ounce empire cut of prime rib, are featured, as well as a raw bar with an assortment of seafood dishes. Just-for-Vegas entrees include Kobe meatballs and a prime short rib in wine sauce. Sides feature duck fat fries, mashed potatoes with truffles or lobster meat, tater tots with Fat Boy sauce (sour cream mixed with cheese and bacon bits) and desserts like doughnut bread pudding, chocolate cake, or a chocolate chip cookie "baked in a cast iron skillet". The restaurant also has a full wine bar with over 15,000 bottles to choose from as well as cocktails.

Rao's

Rao's opened in 2006, the second branch of the restaurant after New York City to open. The New York institution which is practically a private club in New York City, is available to the public at Caesars. Rao's in Vegas is owned by the same cousins who own the New York establishment and is not a franchise. The food is traditional Italian fare, hearty, reliably good, and fresh. Signature dishes include orange-sized, "lighter than air" meatballs in tomato sauce, lemon chicken, a veal chop with spicy cherry peppers, a roasted red-pepper and raisin salad and a seafood salad that won on the television program Throwdown! with Bobby Flay.

Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill

The exterior of Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill from the casino floor

Flay's first restaurant venture outside New York, Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill was opened at Caesars in 2004 and features bold, southwestern cuisine. Serving lunch and dinner, the menu includes shrimp and roasted corn or sweet potato and pecan tamales, spice-rubbed pork tenderloin with ancho chili sauce and a variety of steak, seafood and duck dishes. It has room for 200 covers in the main dining room, with an additional 50 seats in a private dining room. The entire space, including the kitchen area comprises of 9,000 square feet (840 m²). The interior of the main dining room is designed by David Rockwell and features a rotisserie reaching a height of 20 feet (6.1 m) above the diners.

Since first opening, the menu at the restaurant has continued to be tweaked and updated. Following the 10 year anniversary of the opening of the restaurant, Flay explained that he hadn't simply copied his New York based restaurant and placed it in Caesars Palace but instead sought to create a "sort of Las Vegas version of the concept" featuring more luxury items on the menus and with more unusual combinations of food as he feels that diners in Vegas expect more.

Searsucker Las Vegas

Chef Brian Malarkey opened Searsucker Las Vegas – the fourth branch of the restaurant after San Diego, Del Mar, California, and Austin, Texas – in March 2015. The 7,500 square feet (700 m²) dining area has a "retro Americana" theme, with "cowboy culture" motifs reflected throughout the furnishings and paintings designed by Thomas Schoos. With signature dishes such as "green eggs and ham" ("braised pork belly with a soft-poached egg on brioche with a brown butter hollandaise"), "38-ounce bone-in ribeye tomahawk steak", "beer-braised short rib", and "shrimp and grits", the restaurant stresses a social dining atmosphere with dishes that are meant to be shared. Located next to the Omnia nightclub, the restaurant is also taking reservations until 2:00–2:30 AM on weekends and developing a late-night menu with smaller portions, including "hamachi tostada", "cucumber jalapeno ceviche", and "shrimp ceviche". There is seating for 170, including a private dining room and bar.

Beijing Noodle No. 9

Due to a significant wealthy East Asian clientele of gamblers which the casino attracts, it is a restaurant with Chinese chefs serving authentic Chinese cuisine. The bright and luminous interior contains no direct lighting; rather, an overhead metal-cut white screen and large aquariums filled with goldfish are all backlit by LED bulbs. Halogen track lighting spotlights each table. The lighting system won a commendation from Architectural Lighting magazine in its 2009 AL Design Awards. The authors of Eating Las Vegas 2012 wrote: "Combining classic Chinese peasant and street food with a super-cool design, the place looks like it's been draped in a gigantic white, transparent metal doily, and is meant to resemble either inverted Chinese lace cut into an arabesque pattern or the inside of an inverted bird's nest – all very symbolic and all very Chinese. The food is fabulous, especially the Imperial seafood-soup dumplings (which everyone comes for) and the Chef's Special beef pancake".

Serendipity 3

Serendipity 3 is a 1950s style diner, featuring burgers, fries and ice cream delicacies. Portions are extremely large. The ice cream parlor themed restaurant, which is a branch of the New York City Serendipity 3 establishment, opened in 2009. In addition to seating in the dining area and counter seating, there is a patio with views of the Strip and the Caesars Palace fountains. Besides its giant hamburger, the restaurant is known for its Triple Decker Grilled Cheese sandwich and a The Hangover omelet made with bacon, cheese, French fries, and mushrooms. Ice cream sundaes feature a choice of toppings including butterscotch sauce, chocolate sauce, hot fudge, marshmallow sauce, Oreo kisses, peanut butter sauce, rainbow sprinkles, raspberry sauce, etc. Other options include Fried Twinkies, brownies, and the Golden Opulence sundae, an indulgent $1,000 US sundae, which holds the Guinness World Record for the Most Expensive Ice Cream Sundae in the World.

Restaurant Guy Savoy

A table inside Restaurant Guy Savoy

The "culinary jewel" of the Augustus Tower is the Restaurant Guy Savoy, namesake of the three-star Michelin chef, whose restaurant in Paris has been ranked as one of the finest dining establishments in the world. When Savoy was approached to open a second restaurant in Vegas, he initially said no, until Caesars told him they wanted him to recreate what he had done in Paris with the same ambiance, quality and cuisine. His request was that to maintain quality, the restaurant must be limited to service five days a week, to which Caesars agreed. The restaurant opened in 2006 and in 2008, Savoy brought his executive chef from the Paris restaurant to Vegas. The establishment is managed by Savoy's son, Franck Savoy. The menu features signature dishes including artichoke and black truffle soup; buttered, roasted veal sweetbreads; crispy sea bass; and pan-seared quail, as main courses and dessert of chocolate ganache served with tonka beans. The wine cellar features 15,000 bottles from which to select and it is the only Champagne Krug Chef's Table restaurant in the United States.

By Vegas standards, the 75-seat restaurant is small, and the decor is understated, keeping the focus on the food. No flowers are allowed nor are the staff permitted to wear perfumes to eliminate competition with the aromas of the cuisine. The restaurant is open Wednesday through Sunday and closed on Monday and Tuesday. It has been rated with two Michelin stars, ranked as one of the best 101 Hotel Restaurants, been voted Restaurant of the year, and in 2015 was ranked by Gayot in its Top 40 Restaurants.

Payard Pâtisserie & Bistro

Interior of Payard Pâtisserie & Bistro with chocolate clock in foreground

Under the direction of pastry chef and chocolatier François Payard, Payard Pâtisserie & Bistro at Caesars Palace encompasses a pastry shop, chocolate shop, and restaurant serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The interior of the 46-seat bistro was designed by the Rockwell Group with "hand-crafted woodwork, crystal, blown glass and leather banquettes"; in 2008 the bistro installed a 16 feet (4.9 m) high "chocolate clock" that releases three chocolate truffles every quarter-hour. Signature dishes include "croque monsieur, croque madame, chocolate French toast with Nutella and banana, Black Angus beef burger with green peppercorn sauce, [and] house-made kettle chips and mixed greens". Custom-made crepes, sandwiches, cookies, and gelato may also be ordered for take away or to eat in a green area adjoining the pastry shop. The bistro was listed in Eating Las Vegas 2013: The 50 Essential Restaurants and its croque madame was named one of the 10 Best Sandwiches in Las Vegas by Las Vegas Weekly in 2012.

Spago

Spago

In December 1992 Wolfgang Puck was the first celebrity chef to open an upscale restaurant in a Las Vegas gambling resort with Spago at Caesars Palace. Located in The Forum Shops arcade, the restaurant is divided into a cafe facing the shopping mall serving lighter, lower-cost dishes, and a more formal dining room to the rear. Under the direction of Executive Chef Eric Klein, the menu changes daily with seasonal American fare, such as "Roasted Organic Baby Beet and Goat Cheese Salad, Handmade Agnolotti, and Kobe Flat Iron Steak 'Hunan Style'". The restaurant has long been lauded for its pizzas, pastas, homemade sausages, burgers and braised ribs.

Central Michel Richard

Central Michel Richard was a 24-hour restaurant situated in the hotel lobby from 2011 to 2014. In addition to a bar, it featured indoor and outdoor dining, with menu offerings varying by the time of day. Established in 2011, it cost US$4.5 million to build-out and measured 10,000 square feet (930 m²) in size. Todd Harrington, executive chef, was chosen by Michel Richard, himself a James Beard Foundation Award-winning chef, to run the kitchen. Harrington had been the executive chef of Augustus Café, the restaurant which had previously operated in that location. Harrington left in December 2013, and in July 2014, the restaurant filed for bankruptcy protection. The restaurant closed in late 2014.

Café Americano

Café Americano occupies the former premises of Central Michel Richard. It was launched without an announcement or any mention on the hotel website in May 2015, in partnership with the V&E Restaurant Group of Miami. The 3,585 square feet (333.1 m²) restaurant and bar in the hotel lobby, open 24 hours, serves seven kinds of pizza, including the Whole Hog pizza made with "pork belly, andouille, pulled pork, pecan-smoked bacon, house-pickled jalapeños, mozzarella, cheddar and a lightly sweet guava barbecue sauce", an octopus-inspired pizza made with "octopus cured in olive oil, pesto, mozzarella, arugula, Grana Pedano and roasted cipollini onions", and a meat and cheese creation with "San Marzano tomatoes, hand-cut pepperoni, andouille sausage, braised short ribs, vinegar peppers, whiskey onions, mozzarella and a fried egg". The "diverse" menu also includes soups, sandwiches, burgers, and a "skinny menu" with under-500-calorie entrées.

Mr. Chow

A Mr. Chow restaurant opens at the hotel on December 15, 2015. The 277-seat Chinese fine dining establishment, which accommodates diners in a main room, two private rooms, and terrace seating, occupies the second floor of the hotel and has a view of the Garden of the Gods pool area. It features living room-style furnishings and a "suspended kinetic sculpture" design element beneath a 60 feet (18 m) high domed ceiling. The food, prepared by chefs native to Hong Kong, is served communal-style in the pattern of a traditional family banquet, with one person placing the orders for everyone. Signature dishes include "Beijing duck, fried Gambei seaweed, and Mr. Chow Noodles".

Entertainment

Music and showmanship

Caesars Palace stars: Top from left: Judy Garland and Frank Sinatra, David Copperfield, Celine Dion. Middle from left: Mariah Carey, George Burns, Paul Anka. Middle from left: Diana Ross, Liberace, Dolly Parton. Middle from left: Janet Jackson, Sammy Davis, Jr., Bette Midler. Bottom from left: Harry Belafonte, Elton John, Cher.

Many top international performers, such as Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Rod Stewart, Celine Dion, Cher, Bette Midler, Liberace, Liza Minnelli, Elton John, George Burns, Pilita Corrales, Pat Cooper, Diana Ross, Paul Anka and Odia Coates, Julio Iglesias, Judy Garland, David Copperfield, Stevie Nicks, Dolly Parton, Tony Bennett, Gloria Estefan, Phyllis Diller, Luis Miguel, Janet Jackson, Shania Twain, Jerry Seinfeld, Harry Belafonte, Eric Tsang, Hins Cheung, Louie Anderson, Mariah Carey, Deana Martin and B.B. King have performed at the hotel.

Caesars Magical Empire

In mid-1996, a new venue known as "Caesars Magical Empire" was created on the property, showcasing major magicians such as Michael Ammar, Jon Armstrong, Lee Asher, Whit Haydn, and Jeff "Magnus" McBride. The "Empire" was an extravagantly themed immersive dining and entertainment experience, housed in a 66,000 sq ft (6,100 m²) specially built building, designed to serve 2400 people daily. The interior of the entire complex was decorated in a combination of pseudo cave-and-classic architecture, with faux rock-work and stone, passageways and real marble floors. It closed on November 30, 2002, after which the structure was razed to make room for a large concert hall created for singer Celine Dion.

The Colosseum at Caesars

Main article: The Colosseum at Caesars Palace

Exterior

Outside of the theatre

The Colosseum at Caesars Palace is a 4,296-seat entertainment venue with a 22,450 square feet (2,086 m²)stage, which was originally built at a cost of $95-million for Celine Dion's show A New Day... in 2003. An enormous success, the Colosseum show was soon earning almost $175,000 on average per night and grossed $500 million in four years. The venue has since hosted performances by numerous other artists. Gloria Estefan performed a special seven-day concert in October 2003 for the launch of her album Unwrapped, titled Live & Unwrapped. In May 2007, Bette Midler was announced as Dion's formal replacement, performing 100 shows a year, with Elton John continuing to perform his popular Red Piano show 50 nights a year while Midler was on hiatus. After taking a three-year hiatus, Cher, following her Farewell Tour, returned to Caesars Palace with a three-year contract, performing 200 shows beginning May 6, 2008.

On May 26, 2009, U.S President Barack Obama performed in the Colosseum in the one-night show A Good Fight alongside Sheryl Crow, Bette Midler and Rita Rudner to fundraise for Nevada's senator Harry Reid re-election campaign. Several streets were closed and the Augustus tower was blocked as security precautions by the Secret Service during the visit. In March 2011, Celine Dion returned to The Colosseum with her new show entitled "Celine", which is under contract for 70 shows per year, through 2017.

Absinthe

Main article: Absinthe (show)

Absinthe is a live show that premiered in 2006 in the forecourt of the hotel. after opening on April 1, 2011. The show is hosted by The Gazillionaire, played by actor and former Cirque du Soleil clown Voki Kalfayan and his assistant, Penny Pibbets, portrayed by actress Anais Thomassian. A contemporary circus, the show is described by Stage and Cinema as "an uneasy cross between terrific variety acts and a stag party."

The Pussycat Dolls Lounge

The Pussycat Dolls Lounge, an adjunct of the Pure Nightclub, existed at Caesars Palace from 2005 until early 2015 when all Pussycat Dolls items where removed for rebranding and the $107 million night club Omnia opened.

Omnia nightclub

The Omnia (Latin for "[the sum of] all things") nightclub, opened in March 2015, replaces the Pure nightclub which operated here for over a decade. The $107 million expansion and redesign incorporates both the 34,000 square feet (3,200 m²) Pure facility and the adjacent World of Poker tournament room to create a 75,000 square feet (7,000 m²) space that can accommodate 3,500 people. Designed by the Rockwell Group, the club is outfitted with high-tech theatrical lighting, sound, and climate-control systems, along with extensive rigging and catwalks for aerial performers. Two bars overlook the dance floor, while the terrace affords views of the Las Vegas Strip. The nightclub-within-a-nightclub concept has "super DJs" performing on their own stages while "special DJs" perform in a mini-nightclub called the "Heart of Omnia". The top DJs performing in 2015 included Afrojack, Armin van Buuren, Chuckie, Nicky Romero, Krewella, Calvin Harris, and Steve Angello.

Sport

Motor racing

The Caesars Palace Grand Prix car race (a Formula One World Championship event) was held at the car park of Caesars Palace in 1981 and 1982. The new race proved to be a financial disaster, and was not popular among the drivers, primarily because of the desert heat and its counter-clockwise direction, which put a tremendous strain on the drivers' necks. When Nelson Piquet clinched his first World Championship by finishing fifth in 1981, it took him fifteen minutes to recover from heat exhaustion. The 1982 race was won by Michele Alboreto in a Tyrrell, but the race was not renewed for the following season due to poor attendance. On November 7, 2013 it hosted a round of the Stadium Super Trucks.

Boxing

Sugar Ray Leonard in 1984

The New Yorker writes that Caesars Palace was "dubbed the Home of Champions after hosting decades of events like boxing matches, auto races, and volleyball tournaments". Several championship boxing matches were held in Caesars Outdoor Arena in the 1980s. In April 1987, the 15,356-seat arena at Caesars Palace hosted "The Super Fight" boxing match between Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler. It also hosted fights with boxers such as Thomas Hearns, Roberto Durán, Larry Holmes, Muhammad Ali and Gerry Cooney. Two bouts between Evander Holyfield and Riddick Bowe were contested here, one of which included the infamous "Fan Man" incident which saw a parachuter with a fan attached to his back parachute down to the ring in the middle of the fight. Michael Moorer also won the Undisputed Heavyweight Championship of the World when he defeated Holyfield. Oscar De La Hoya also headlined several boxing cards here during the mid-to-late '90s, as did Shane Mosley. Wilfredo Gomez fought there 5 times, including his defeat against Salvador Sanchez and a win over Juan Antonio Lopez at the Holmes-Cooney undercard. On October 2, 2004, big-time boxing returned to the Palace, as Wladimir Klitschko and former Olympian Jeff Lacy headlined a card televised on Showtime.

Wrestling

Caesars Palace has played host to a number of professional wrestling events throughout the 1990s, the most notable of which is WWE's WrestleMania IX in April 1993 which capitalised on the Roman theme of the venue. Billed as the "Worlds Largest Toga Party" it remains to this day the only WrestleMania with a particular theme. WCW also held a series of events at Caesars Palace, including Clash of the Champions XXX in January 1995 as well as COTC XXXII and an episode of WCW Monday Nitro, each in January 1996.

Ice hockey

The arena also held one of its more interesting events during the summer of 1991: a pre-season game between the New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League. A rink was laid out over the parking lot and held firm despite 95-degree temperatures. Behind a goal from Wayne Gretzky, the Kings came back from a 2–0 deficit to win 5–2 before a crowd of over 13,000. The game served as a predecessor to both the Frozen Fury (the Kings' annual preseason game in Las Vegas that began in 1997) and the Winter Classic (the annual regular season game played outdoors on New Year's Day that began in 2008).

In popular culture

Caesars Palace has been a location in numerous films. It has appeared in films such as Hells Angels on Wheels (1967), Where It's At (1969), The Only Game in Town (1970), The Electric Horseman (1979), Rocky III (1982), Oh, God! You Devil (1984), You Ruined My Life (1987), Rain Man (1988), Hearts Are Wild (1992), Fools Rush In (1997), The Strip (1999), Ocean's Eleven (2001), Intolerable Cruelty (2003), Dreamgirls (2006), and Iron Man (2008), The Hangover (2009) and The Hangover Part III (2013). In television it has appeared in series such as The Partridge Family, the Viva Ned Flanders episode of The Simpsons, The Sopranos, Friends and Keeping Up With the Kardashians.

See also

• Caesars Atlantic City
• Caesars Windsor
• Caesars Entertainment

References

Sources

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External links

• Official website
• History of Caesars Palace