 Las Vegas Strip
Return of the Empire
What a difference a couple of divas can make. This year, Casino Player readers awarded Caesars Palace top honors as Best Overall Hotel Casino, snatching the crown from Bellagio. While the historic resort’s resurgence can be attributed to a number of factors, there’s no denying that its pair of resident mega-headliners—Celine Dion and Sir Elton John—have done wonders for restoring this property’s buzz.
While retaining its reputation as a luxurious high-roller joint, Caesars has rejuvenated its image and managed to capture the highly sought-after younger demographic. PURE, its 36,000-square-foot, two-story nightclub, has extended the resort’s appeal to the younger party crowd and brought a ton of additional foot traffic into the casino. In addition, the resort completed $376 million worth of expansions last year, including the magnificent 949-room Augustus tower.
Bellagio, still the ultimate symbol of Las Vegas elegance, once again captured Best Overall Hotel. And surely no one was surprised to see it win Must-See Attraction. (Will there ever be a spectacle to top the dancing water fountains of Lake Bellagio?) This year, the winners for Best Gourmet restaurant traded places, with Bellagio’s sublime Picasso beating Bradley Ogden at Caesars Palace.
As in 2005, The Rio pulled off a number of significant wins. This off-Strip resort may not command the spotlight the way other, newer Vegas megaresorts do, but our readers have found many reasons to love this property. This year it scored awards including Best Theme and Best Hotel Rooms and Suites. (Having toured their Palazzo Suites recently, we can confirm that they’re still among the most awe-inspiring high roller spreads in town.) The Rio even came in second in our Best Overall Casino category, topped only by Caesars Palace, which is remarkable considering the competition.
Harrah’s always performs strongly in the categories that involve customer service or promotions. Our readers singled out Harrah’s for their comps, promotions, service and dealers, and once again voted it Luckiest Casino—our most intangible category, but one that makes a world of difference to gamblers.
 Next year, we expect Wynn Las Vegas to strengthen its impact in our polls. At the time of this year’s voting, the $2.7 billion resort had only six months of operation under its belt yet still managed to win Trendiest Casino and Most Innovative Slot Floor over last year’s winner, MGM Grand. Predictably, it also won Best Golf for its magnificent Tom Fazio-designed course. (Naturally, playing here doesn’t come cheap; for those who don’t gamble big enough to rate a comp, greens fees are around $500.) On a side note, it will be interesting to see how long Wynn decides to keep the course; some say this patch of Strip land is simply too valuable to devote to golf, and would generate infinitely more money if used for another casino or high-rise condos. We’ll have to wait and see what Steve Wynn, one of the shrewdest operators in the business, winds up doing with it.
Wynn's impact on this year’s voting was profound. Many Casino Player readers who voted for Bellagio in recent years have switched their allegiances to Wynn, ostensibly, so splitting the vote that Caesars Palace was able to take first place. We’re anxious to see how these Strip titans fare against each another in next year’s survey.
RESORT CATEGORIES
 Best Overall Hotel Casino
1) Caesars Palace
2) Bellagio
3) Rio
Best Overall Hotel
1) Bellagio
2) Wynn Las Vegas
3) Venetian
Best Hotel Rooms
1) Rio
2) Bellagio
3) Venetian
Best Hotel Suites
1) Rio
2) Venetian
3) Bellagio
Best Room Packages
1) Harrah's Las Vegas
2) Rio
3) TI
Best Valet Parking
1) Caesars Palace
2) Harrah's Las Vegas
3) Bellagio
Best Overall Theme
1) Rio
2) Venetian
3) Paris
 CASINO CATEGORIES
Best Overall Casino
1) Caesars Palace
2) Rio
3) Harrah's Las Vegas
Best Players Club
1) Harrah's Las Vegas
2) MGM Grand
3) The Mirage
Best Comps
1) Harrah's Las Vegas
2) Caesars Palace
3) MGM Grand
Best Cashback
1) Harrah's Las Vegas
2) MGM Grand
3) The Mirage
Best Casino Promotions
1) Harrah's Las Vegas
2) Rio
3) Caesars Palace
Best Service
1) Harrah's Las Vegas
2) Bellagio
3) Rio
Best Dealers
1) Harrah's Las Vegas
2) Bellagio
3) Rio
Best Hosts
1) Rio
2) Harrah's Las Vegas
3) Bellagio
Best Race/Sports Book
1) Caesars Palace
2) Las Vegas Hilton
3) The Mirage
Best Poker Room
1) Bellagio
2) The Mirage
3) Wynn Las Vegas
Most Innovative Slot Floor
1) Wynn Las Vegas
2) Rio
3) Bellagio
Best High-Limit Slot Area
1) Bellagio
2) Caesars Palace
3) Wynn Las Vegas
Best High-Limit Players Lounge
1) Bellagio
2) Wynn Las Vegas
3) Caesars Palace
Best Slot Tournaments
1) Harrah's Las Vegas
2) Rio
3) The Mirage
Best Table Game Tournaments
1) Harrah's Las Vegas
2) Rio
3) Las Vegas Hilton
Best Poker Tournaments
1) Harrah's Las Vegas
2) Bellagio
3) Rio
Trendiest Casino
1) Wynn Las Vegas
2) Mandalay Bay
3) Rio
Luckiest Casino
1) Harrah's Las Vegas
2) Caesars Palace
3) Rio
 WHERE TO PLAY…
Best Reel Slots
1) Harrah's Las Vegas
2) MGM Grand
3) Rio
Best Video Slots
1) Rio
2) MGM Grand
3) Caesars Palace
Best Video Poker
1) Harrah's Las Vegas
2) Caesars Palace
3) Wynn Las Vegas
Best Blackjack
1) Harrah's Las Vegas
2) The Mirage
3) MGM Grand
Best Craps
1) Caesars Palace
2) The Mirage
3) MGM Grand
Best Roulette
1) MGM Grand
2) Bellagio
3) Rio
Best Baccarat
1) MGM Grand
2) Bellagio
3) The Mirage
 THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT
Best Overall Entertainment
1) Caesars Palace
2) MGM Grand
3) Rio
Best Concerts
1) MGM Grand
2) Caesars Palace
3) Mandalay Bay
Best Casino Lounge
1) Bellagio, Fontana Bar
2) Rio, VooDoo Lounge
3) Caesars Palace, Terrazza Lounge
Best Nightclub
1) Caesars Palace, PURE
2) MGM Grand, Studio 54
3) Rio, Club Rio
Best Bar
1) Rio, I-Bar
2) Bellagio, Caramel Bar & Lounge
3) Caesars Palace, Cleopatra's Barge
Trendiest Bar
1) Mandalay Bay, rumjungle
2) MGM Grand, Tabú
3) Caesars Palace, Shadow Bar
Best Beach Bar
1) Mandalay Bay, Moorea Ultra Beach Lounge
2) Rio, Bikini's Beach Club
3) Flamingo Las Vegas, The Beach Club
Best Must-See Attraction
1) Bellagio, Fountains of Bellagio
2) TI, Sirens of TI
3) The Mirage, The Volcano
Best Shopping
1) Caesars Palace, The Forum Shops
2) Aladdin, Desert Passage
3) Venetian, Grand Canal Shoppes
Best Comedy Club
1) Harrah's Las Vegas, The Improv
2) Tropicana Las Vegas, The Comedy Stop
3) Riviera, The Riviera Comedy Club
Best Pool
1) Mandalay Bay, The Beach
2) Caesars Palace, Garden of the Gods
3) Flamingo Las Vegas
Best Spa
1) Venetian, Canyon Ranch
2) Mandalay Bay, Spa Mandalay
3) Bellagio, The Spa
Best Golf
1) Wynn Las Vegas, Wynn Golf Club
2) Rio, Rio Secco
3) MGM Mirage, Shadow Creek
 DINING OUT
Best Gourmet
1) Bellagio, Picasso
2) Caesars Palace, Bradley Ogden
3) Wynn Las Vegas, Tableau
Best Steakhouse
1) Harrah's Las Vegas, The Range
2) New York-New York, Gallagher's Steakhouse
3) Venetian, Delmonico Steakhouse
Best Buffet
1) Rio, Carnival World Buffet & Village Seafood Buffet
2) Bellagio, The Buffet
3) The Mirage, Cravings
Best Coffee Shop
1) Harrah's Las Vegas, Café at Harrah's
2) Bellagio, Café Bellagio
3) Venetian, Grand Lux Café
Best Italian
1) Rio, Antonio's Italian Ristorante
2) Bellagio, Circo
3) Venetian, Valentino
Best French
1) Paris, Mon Ami Gabi
2) Wynn, Daniel Boulud Cafe
3) Monte Carlo, Andre's
Best Chinese
1) Mandalay Bay, China Grill
2) Aladdin, P.F. Chang's
3) Bellagio, Jasmine
Best Japanese/Sushi Bar
1) Caesars Palace, Hyakumi
2) Bellagio, Shintaro
3) MGM Grand, Shibuya
Best Mexican
1) Rio, Bamboleo
2) MGM Grand, Diego
3) Mandalay Bay, Border Grill
Best Seafood
1) Rio, Buzio's
2) MGM Grand, Seablue
3) Bellagio, Michael Mina
Best Champagne Brunch
1) Bally's Las Vegas, Sterling Brunch
2) Bellagio, The Buffet
3) The Mirage, Cravings
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