 Caesars Palace 40th -
Evolution of an Empire
Caesars Palace celebrates four decades as Las Vegas’s most iconic resort
by Rob Wiser
For the past 40 years, no resort has epitomized the luxury, spectacle and star power of Las Vegas like Caesars Palace. It’s been the locale for some of the most memorable events in sporting history, from Grand Prix auto races to Mohammed Ali bouts. It’s been a second home for the world’s most famous entertainers and highest rollers, and has been immortalized in Hollywood movies. (To this day, guests inquire about the Rain Man suite, the lavish spread that upstaged even Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise in their 1988 box office smash.)
If you’re a regular reader of Casino Player, you know that the mighty Caesars has added cause for celebration as it marks its 40th year. In our recent annual Best of Gaming issue, the resort claimed the award for “Best Overall Hotel Casino”, ending Bellagio’s seven-year winning streak. And its resurgence as the most elite Vegas hotel-casino is no coincidence; it’s the result of a brilliantly executed campaign, one in which no expenses were spared and enormous risks were taken.
 The epic saga of Caesars Palace—a tale that tells, in many ways, the rise of modern Las Vegas—could fill a book on its own. In our upcoming issues we’re going to explore aspects of this legendary property in greater depth, such as its amazing Forum Shops and its significance as a culinary destination. Here, we present an overview of the resort—tracing its origins as Vegas’ original high roller joint, its dramatic evolution through the decades, and examining its present-day status as the King of the Strip.
A palace for the people
Fittingly, the creator of Caesars Palace was himself a larger-than-life, famously extravagant figure. Jay Sarno was born in Missouri in 1921 during the Great Depression. As a student at the University of Missouri he met Stanley Mallin, who became his lifelong friend and business partner.
Sarno was a natural born wheeler-dealer, constantly hustling and plotting new schemes for generating money. Sarno and Mallin served together in the South Pacific during World War II, then moved to Miami and went into business as tile contractors. After this venture (and others) failed, they relocated to Atlanta and finally struck paydirt by building the Atlanta Cabana Motel. Combining drive-up convenience with luxurious accommodations and service, the motel opened in 1958 and became a huge success, enabling Sarno and Mallin to turn it into a franchise which they expanded into other states.
It was during a trip to Las Vegas in 1961 that Sarno started dreaming on a far grander scale At the time, the city had a population of around 60,000 and the Strip only contained about 10 resorts, most of which were essentially large motels with casinos and showrooms added on. Sarno envisioned building a giant, lavishly-themed property that would tower above them all in every sense. Sarno, Mallin and a third partner, Nathan Jacobson, raised some financing from private investors and then qualified for a $10-million construction loan from Jimmy Hoffa, president of the Teamsters Union, which was then the primary lending institution for Vegas casino operators.
 Sarno set his sights on a 34-acre tract of land on the Strip, directly across the highway from the Flamingo. It was owned by a Los Angeles entrepreneur named Kirk Kerkorian, who would one day become a gaming mogul and one of the world’s richest men. Kerkorian agreed to rent the land to Sarno and his partners for $190,000 a year, plus 15 percent of the casino’s future gross.
Sarno set out to build the most ambitious casino-hotel the world had ever seen. The first true “themed” resort in Las Vegas, he designed it to transport its guests back to the glory of ancient Rome. It would outclass even the Tropicana, which was known as the “Tiffany’s of the Strip” and had been built at a then-staggering cost of $15 million. Sarno’s original title for the project was Desert Palace, but by the time it was completed nearly four years later he’d changed the name to Caesars Palace—an homage to the legendary Roman general, evoking an era of grandeur and excess.
“I’m not going to put an apostrophe before the ‘s’ in Caesars,” Sarno declared to reporters, “because this is going to be a palace for all the Caesars—a palace for the people. I’m going to create a feeling that everybody in the hotel is a Caesar.”
 Caesars Palace opened on August 5, 1966 with 680 luxury suites in its crescent-shaped tower. Out front, the driveway was lined with cypress trees imported from Italy, as fountains launched 350,000 gallons of water per minute into the air. The hotel’s interior boasted $150,000 worth of marble statues imported from Italy, soaring columns, and golf leaf flourishes. “Caesars Palace has established a new standard of elegance and luxury for the Nevada hotel industry and perhaps the world,” reported the Las Vegas Sun.
Guests would relax around a giant swimming pool shaped like a Roman shield, and gamble in a lavish casino underneath the world’s largest ceiling fixture, made of the finest crystal. Sarno insisted that all employees wear costumes, in keeping with the Roman spirit; waitresses wore sexy, bare shouldered togas, while desk clerks wore tunics. Even the notepaper in the rooms was designed to look like parchment upon which Caesar himself might sign a decree.
While this was all fabulously alluring, the resort was also tremendously innovative from a design standpoint. All of its amenities—the showrooms, shops, restaurants, even the pool entrance—branched off from the casino, requiring guests to pass through the gambling action in order to reach them. This would serve as the template for all future Vegas gaming resorts.
But Sarno’s fantasy resort didn’t come cheap. By opening day, the original $10 million budget had ballooned to $25 million (which had forced him to return to Hoffa for numerous additional loans). His partners implored him to scale back his plans for the grand opening, and to lower the maximum bets at the table games; funds were so tight that a few lucky high rollers could have wiped them out completely. But Sarno stuck to his vision. The opening celebration cost an astronomical $1 million and lasted three days, as 1,800 invited guests and celebrities dined on two tons of filet mignon and quaffed 50,000 glasses of champagne.
 Andy Williams, one of the top singers and TV stars of the day, performed in the 800-seat Circus Maximus theater. Two days later, Latin musician Xavier Cugat and salsa dancer Charo became the first couple to marry on the premises. Amid the revelry, the casino did indeed get hammered by several high rollers, which sent Sarno racing back to Hoffa (who was staying in the hotel’s grandest suite) for yet another influx of cash.
But Sarno’s whale-sized bet paid off in spades. By the end of its first month of operation, Caesars was raking in cash at a phenomenal rate. The money was pouring in so fast that instead of counting the cash after each shift, employees would simply separate it by denomination and weigh it. (A million dollars in hundred-dollar bills weighed a little over 20 pounds.)
The biggest high roller of them all was Sarno himself. The newly crowned King of the Strip had a prodigious appetite for women, food and gambling. In the morning, he was known to bet up to $15,000 per hole on the golf course; at night, he played craps for $10,000 a roll.
In 1969, Sarno and his partners sold Caesars Palace for $60 million to the Lums restaurant chain of Miami. Sarno, the high-living visionary behind it all, spent his final years plotting a new hotel venture called the Grandissimo. But securing financing for the project proved impossible. In 1984, he died of a heart attack at age 62 while staying in his favorite suite at Caesars.
 In the years that followed, ownership of Caesars Palace changed hands between a number of companies. In 1999, Park Place Entertainment purchased the company that controlled the property, Caesars World, Inc., for $3 billion. With the “megaresort” era of the Vegas Strip now in full bloom, Park Place poured a fortune into improvements and expansions. Multi-million dollar penthouse suites were added, as were new hotel towers (including the $495-million Palace Tower in 1997).
In 1992, The Forum Shops at Caesars opened. This was the first venue in the city where high-end shopping became an attraction unto itself. The mall, set alongside the Strip and containing more than 160 shops and boutiques, featured an ancient Roman atmosphere replete with fountains, statues and a ceiling painted to resemble a sky, which cycled between morning, afternoon and night every hour. The Forum Shops became the most profitable shopping mall in the country, which sparked a series of expansions that added not only more ritzy stores, but also numerous high-end restaurants.
In 2005, Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. acquired Caesars Entertainment Inc. in a blockbuster deal valued at more than $5 billion. This combined the two largest casino companies in the world, creating an entity even larger than the recently completed merger between MGM Mirage and Mandalay Resort Group. By that time, the Caesars portfolio included 27 casino properties in five countries.
But even with these expansions, the new, billion-dollar behemoths on the Strip—including Bellagio, Venetian and Mandalay Bay—cast a shadow over Caesars Palace. (Bellagio and Mirage, both created by Steve Wynn, now sat on either side of it). Though it was more luxurious than ever, its image was dated. Affluent tourists flocked to the newer, trendier resorts, which now boasted restaurants run by celebrity chefs, massive nightclubs, and superstar concerts. The lavish amenities and grand scale that Caesars had originated had now become fairly commonplace.
 Caesars was still a first-class hotel-casino. What it needed was a way to restore the buzz, to refocus the world’s attention on this somewhat faded icon and re-establish its eminence. Fortunately, a team of savvy executives had some grandiose ideas in mind—and were willing to bet a fortune on them. It was time for the Strip’s original champion to mount its comeback.
Reclaiming the throne
June, 2006. I’m sitting before the king-sized desk of Gary Selesner, who occupies a king-sized office befitting the recently appointed president of Caesars Palace. Weeks ago, the resort’s Best of Gaming win was announced—further confirmation that it had indeed, at last, reclaimed its position as the top property in town.
Selesner traveled a circuitous path to reach his coveted position. After a career in journalism he entered the gaming industry 22 years ago as an advertising manager for two of Harrah’s Atlantic City properties. He then worked at a variety of gaming resorts around the country. In Las Vegas, he served as general manager of the Hard Rock, the Rio, and then Caesars Palace before being promoted to the property’s top position and replacing former president Mark Juliano.
I mention how Caesars’ resurgence is particularly interesting since it did so under the corporate umbrella of Harrah’s Entertainment. When Harrah’s acquired the resort, one industry wag predicted it would become "Harrah's in a toga.” The quip suggested that this legendary high roller haven would be toned down to fit the Harrah’s image, which is geared towards lower and mid-range players—with an emphasis on slots—rather than the celebrities and whale-sized gamblers Caesars Palace has traditionally been linked with.
“Harrah’s has great respect for the differences in this operation from a traditional Harrah’s casino,” Selesner tells me. “We’ve stayed in the high end gaming business and have begun efforts to expand our presence there. At the same time, Harrah’s has very strong marketing capabilities, particularly in the middle market. Because of its database, and its strengths in direct mailing and special events, we’ve applied those disciplines to Caesars Palace.
 “Our high end is clearly growing at this point, but so is the middle part of the business…part of why it feels busier here than it’s ever been is because the acquisition of Caesars by Harrah’s has allowed us to plug into their database of over 40 million customers. We’ve gone out to them and invited them to come and experience Caesars Palace, and they’re responded in droves.”
If anything, Caesars seems to have gone even more upscale. Harrah's is so enthused about the iconic Caesars brand, and all that it signifies, that it will be the flagship for its expansions into international markets. Harrah’s has plans to build Caesars-branded resorts in Spain, Slovania (an emerging Eastern European country only an hour from Venice, Italy), and the Bahamas. There’s even a possible Caesars Singapore in the works.
“We’re clearly a luxury property; that’s the niche we operate in,” Selesner states. “The other casinos along with us are Bellagio, Wynn and Venetian, primarily. But because of its name, reputation, and its scale and size, Caesars Palace does appeal to people from a wide range of economic backgrounds. Certainly the Forum Shops are one of the top tourist draws in Las Vegas, for people who just want to see it, or want to spend thousands of dollars at one of its great shops. If you look around, you’ll see affluent people and large gamblers enjoying themselves, but you’ll also see middle-class folks enjoying the slot machines table games and any of our casual restaurants. I think we cover the whole span here.”
As for the reasons why Caesars is back on top, he tells me he attributes it primarily to “the tremendous experience of our employees, some of whom have been here 10, 20, even 30 years. They’ve got fierce pride in the Caesars Palace brand. When we asked our employees to step up to the plate and improve the level of customer service, they met that challenge.
“The rest of the story is one of renovation and renewal,” he continues. “I’ve got to tip my hat to my predecessor (Mark Juliano) and the previous management team. That team decided to reinvest in Caesars Palace. They made some very smart decisions and moves, including the construction of the Coloseum, the deals with Celine Dion and later Elton John, the business arrangements with Bradley Ogden and Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill…those types of decisions and strategies will continue well into the future. The idea is to continue to make sure that Caesars equals, if not exceeds, the stature and experience of customers in places like Bellagio, Wynn and Venetian.”
 Celine Dion. Elton John. The construction of PURE, a colossal, celebrity-heavy nightclub that catapulted Caesars to the forefront of Vegas’ ultra-competitive nightlife scene. New gourmet restaurants, powered by elite celebrity chefs such as Parisian legend Guy Savoy. Was this series of moves an orchestrated campaign that began several years ago with the signing of Celine Dion?
“There’s no question it was a conscious decision—a process to put Caesars back on top,” Selesner answers. “Now we’re cementing that position and building up the brand so that its stature can be utilized across the world.”
As for the daily demands of running this self-contained empire on the Vegas Strip, Selesner says, “I try to balance a lot of meetings where we take care of the strategic side, with trying to spend as much time on the floor so I can stay in touch with our employees and our customers to make sure their experience is going fine. It’s a tug-of-war every day, trying to spend as much time away from the meetings and office to spend the requisite time on the floor.
“At the end of the day, the experience that customers have here is the result of a whole bunch of things going right—from being picked up at the airport on time by a friendly limo driver, being greeted upon arrival, having a smooth check-in, a great meal, and playing opposite truly friendly, enthusiastic dealers. It’s important [for me] to get out there and make sure it’s all happening.”
As for the rumors that the ageless superstar Cher will replace Celine once she finally concludes her run at Caesars, Selesner says, “I can’t confirm that at this point, nor have we confirmed that Celine won’t be here after the end of 2007. No one can replace Celine Dion. She has been a tremendous ambassador for Caesars Palace and a tremendous draw for our casino. We are grateful every day that she performs here.”
 Selesner mentions a number of other new enhancements. In the fall, the resort will introduce a new 45,000-square-foot spa, which he says will contain “amenities and features never seen in Las Vegas.”
In addition, Caesars recently unveiled a magnificent new poker room to capitalize on America’s hottest game. (The last time the casino offered a poker room was in 1988.) This luxuriously appointed facility features 30 live tables offering all of the most popular poker variations. The walls are adorned by 11 paintings by artist Leroy Neiman, showcasing the history of Caesars Palace, and more than 20 large-screen high-definition TV sets. Massage therapists are on hand to give players back and neck treatments, and in addition to the 8,500-square-foot main poker room, there is an adjoining tournament area with 6,000 square feet and another 33 tournament tables. This area will host daily and weekly tournaments as well as international tournaments, some of which will offer players the chance to win entries into World Series of Poker events. In addition, the NBC National Heads-Up Championship will be held at Caesars Palace through 2009.
The resort’s 3,348 rooms are now spread out over five towers: Augustus, Centurion, Forum, Palace, and Roman. The Augustus Tower, the most recent, offers some of the finest “standard” rooms in town, measuring 650 square feet. “It’s allowed us to appeal to the part of the market that’s willing to spend $300 or $400 a weekend on a room, in addition to a couple hundred dollars on a meal at Mesa Grill or Gay Savoy,” Selesner observes. “It’s a marriage between [Harrah’s] middle marketing capabilities and the high end quality orientation of Caesars Palace.”
 The responsibilities are awesome, and the challenges run 24/7. But Selesner clearly relishes his job and is enormously proud of the way his resort has reclaimed its reputation.
“I’m an old ad guy who’s been very lucky to get one of the prestige jobs in the industry,” he smiles. “It’s an honor to be the president of Caesars Palace.”
The Home of Champions
The ancient Romans loved their entertainment, and an integral part of the Caesars Palace legend has been its signature sporting events and world-class entertainers.
“You can go anywhere in the world and mention Caesars Palace, and people think not only about Vegas and entertainment, but about the 40 years of champions,” says Chuck Esposito, assistant vice president of Race & Sports Book operations. “They remember all of the historic sporting events that have taken place on these grounds.”
Over the decades, Caesars has showcased some of the most beloved athletes of all time, competing in one-of-a-kind contests. From boxing, to gymnastics, to auto racing, Caesars’ roster of stars has included Muhammad Ali, Jimmy Connors, Mary Lou Retton, Wayne Gretzy and Mario Andretti.
The first spectacular Caesars event that most sports fans recall occurred on December 31, 1967, when motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel attempted to jump the fountains. Knievel managed to clear the fountains but botched the landing, shattering numerous bones in one of the worst crashes ever caught on tape. He emerged from a coma after a month to find himself an international celebrity. (In 1989, Robbie Knievel pulled off the same stunt that had nearly killed his father.)
 In 1972, the first of 13 annual Alan King/Caesars Palace Tennis Classics was held. (A longhaired teenager named Andre Agassi, a Las Vegas native, was a wild card entry.) In another internationally famous tennis event, Caesars staged its “Battle of the Champions” in 1992. Jimmy Connors battled Martina Navratilova in a match that recalled the controversy of the Billie Jean King/Bobby Riggs match a generation earlier. The Connors/Navratilova match generated more wagers in the resort’s sports book than all of that year’s Wimbledon bets combined.
“When you thought about boxing in the 1980s, you automatically thought about Caesars Palace,” says Esposito. “Boxing and Caesars were synonymous with each other.” It all started on October 2, 1980, when Caesars Palace became the first resort casino to host a mega boxing event: Larry Holmes and Mohammed Ali, in an outdoor arena that sat 24,000 people. (Ali, well past his prime, was unable to answer the bell for the 11th round and Holmes held onto his World Championship title.) The following year, it was Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas “Hitman” Hearns in the biggest grossing fight to date, generating $38 million.
Joe Louis, the former world heavyweight champion, worked at Caesars Palace as a greeter until his death in 1981. (A statue of him would be erected soon after inside the hotel.) In 1982, in one of the sport’s most infamous episodes, Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini battled Duk Koo Kim for 14 rounds before the South Korean fighter collapsed in a coma and died. This tragedy caused the sport to reduce the number of rounds in title matches to 12. Other Caesars super fights during this decade included Marvin Hagler versus Thomas Hearns, Hagler versus Sugar Ray Leonard, and a 20-year-old Mike Tyson knocking out Trevor Berbick to become world heavyweight champion.
 These events, and many others, were held for 13 years in Caesars Palace’s outdoor arena. Basically, the facility consisted of four sets of giant bleachers surrounding a sporting event, with the competitors squaring off underneath a starry sky. Yet this became one of the most celebrated venues in all of sports. Believe it or not, there was a time when Caesars Palace even hosted Formula One racing events. In the early 1980s, the resort had a 2.2 mile, 14-turn course in its parking lot (near where the Forum Shops now stands). In 1981, the Grand Prix was held there and drew 38,000 fans. The following year, around 32,000 showed up to watch a World Championship showdown between Nelson Piquet and Carlos Reutemann. The event, however, did not return the following year. The track hosted only two more races sanctioned by Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) before calling it quits. (In 2000, the immense Indianapolis Motor Speedway—also known as “The Brickyard”—created a permanent home where the United States Grand Prix is now held annually, drawing crowds of over 150,000.)
In 1991, the NHL held its first outdoor event in nearly 60 years at Caesars Palace, as Wayne Gretzky led the Los Angeles Kings to a win over the New York Rangers. Three hundred tons of refrigeration were required in order to make enough ice for the rink in the 95-degree heat. For other ice skating events, an outdoor rink was created on top of the row of fountains; Brian Boitano, Scott Hamilton, Tara Lipinski and Katrina Witt are among the sport’s luminaries who came to compete.
The resort has also hosted several Women’s Gymnastics Invitationals featuring Olympic gold medalists such as Mary Lou Retton. And in 1993, Caesars Palace provided the venue for WrestleMania IX; the theme of this internationally-televised, body-slamming spectacle was "The World's largest Toga Party.”
The outdoor arena was eventually removed to clear room for a swimming pool and garden. In 2004, a much-improved outdoor venue called the Roman Plaza amphitheatre was constructed, replete with Roman columns and marble facades.
 Headliners & Legends
Beginning on opening day in 1966, the Circus Maximum showroom hosted the top stars of music, comedy and magic. The roster included Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis Jr., Woody Allen, Paul Anka, Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland, Ann-Margret, Richard Pryor, David Copperfield, Tom Jones and George Burns. Film and stage star Tony Randall performed in a production of The Odd Couple; other famed shows included Sweet Charity and Fiddler on the Roof. Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme performed together at Caesars for the first time in 1971, and were the final headliners at the Circus Maximum theatre when it closed on September 3, 2000.
On March 25, 2003, Ceasars came roaring back to the forefront of Vegas entertainment when it unveiled A New Day, starring Celine Dion. There were skeptics when the deal was first announced back in 2001. Caesars had spent an enormous sum to have the French-Canadian chanteuse perform five nights a week, 40 weeks per year, over a three-year period.
“When it comes to entertainment, everyone’s got an opinion as far as what will work, and what won’t work,” says Scott Schecter, the property’s vice president of entertainment. “It was an ambitious undertaking, with Caesars spending $95 million to build the custom venue (the Colosseum showroom), and making an investment equal to or greater than that for the show itself.”
The show, assembled by Franco Dragone (who directed and introduced the cutting-edge Cirque Du Soleil productions Mystère and O), features Dion performing her biggest hits on an immense stage along with a huge cast of dancers. Each song is choreographed as its own dazzling production, with an enormous video screen providing mesmerizing visuals and changing landscapes and Dragone incorporating plenty of surrealistic Cirque-style imagery. The effect of the Coloseum’s state-of-the-art sound system—combined with Celine’s phenomenal voice and a fleet of world-class musicians—is magical. From the poignant Sinatra medley (in which Ol’ Blue Eyes appears on the giant video screen to sing a “duet” with her), to her soaring rendition of gorgeous “Titanic” theme, A New Day is more than a great Vegas show: it’s an inspiring, uplifting artistic triumph.
The audiences clearly agree. Celine turned out to be the perfect choice to headline Caesars’ comeback, selling out most of her performances. According to Pollstar, in just the first half of 2005, Dion sold 322,000 tickets and grossed $43.9 million. (Her contract has since since been extended, keeping her at Caesars until at least October 2007.)
In retrospect, Celine may have been the only performer in the world who possessed all the elements to make this unique extravaganza a success. Not only does she have a massive international fan base, having sold over 175 million records worldwide, but she’s proven to be extremely durable. The mental and physical demands of the show are surely enormous, and with millions of dollars riding on every performance, there’s no room for superstar egos. According to Caesars execs, Celine has exceeded all expectations.
The design of the Coloseum, which is located just off the casino floor, has ensured a huge additional amount of foot traffic through the property. “All 4,148 people who enter the building on a nightly basis come out those doors into the middle of Caesars Palace,” says Schecter. A good percentage of those Celine fans are then heading for the restaurants, or the slot machines and tables.
“Celine, as an artist, has done something that has never been done at this level,” he adds. “She’s got over 500 shows under her belt. It’s so tight, and she sounds great each night. I still get goose bumps when I watch the show.”
Caesars doubled down on that winning bet by striking another mega-deal with Elton John, creating what Schecter calls a “one-two punch.” The flamboyant Rocket Man performs for several weeks at a time while Celine takes her breaks. His deal, which runs through 2008, is worth an estimated $50 million. Every bit as impressive as A New Day, Elton’s show, The Red Piano, was designed by famed photographer David LaChapelle and uses giant video screens and sets to marry eye-popping visuals to Elton’s most famous songs.
“We didn’t want to be in the one-off concert business,” Schecter explains. “That’s not our philosophy. Caesars has always been about forging relationships.” The property has another ongoing relationship with a third superstar—Jerry Seinfeld. Two months after the Coloseum opened in March 2003, the comedian became the first performer other than Celine to grace its stage. Since then, he’s typically spent three weekends a year performing at Caesars.
“Beyond that, truthfully, there aren’t that many dates available to fill in the building—which is a good thing for us,” says Schecter. “We’ve had the odd [open] week here or there, and had artists step up and want to play the building.” The Coloseum has hosted limited runs by stars such as Gloria Estefan, Mariah Carey, Stevie Nicks, Dolly Parton, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, and Luciano Pavarotti (who was accompanied by a 66-piece orchestra).
As the property celebrates its 40th anniversary, Schecter says “we’re looking back at the events that defined us as a market leader, and celebrating our heritage that way with events throughout the course of the year.”
One such headline-grabbing event was motocross star Mike Metzger jumping over the fountains on his motorcycle (and adding a back flip for good measure). Back in May, a crowd of more than 15,000 watched Metzger perform the death-defying stunt as a promotion for the movie Mission Impossible: III. It earned him a spot in the Guinness World Records for the longest recorded jump (125 feet).
“Each property adopts its own philosophy as far as entertainment; some of our competitors have staked a claim with Cirque du Soleil,” Schecter notes. “You need something that’s going to cut through the clutter. In Las Vegas, there are almost a hundred different shows on any given day, ranging from $7 to $250. The moment you step off the plane, then in the baggage claim and during the taxi ride to your hotel, it’s an overwhelming barrage of advertisements saying ‘Come see our show.’ There’s great value in having a signature entertainer like Celine Dion, Elton John or Jerry Seinfeld. They’re household names. Their fan bases are international. If you’re only going to see one or two shows while you’re in Las Vegas, you’re going to have to make a decision—and having our headliners helps close the deal.”
Furthermore, Celine Dion and Elton John don’t merely perform concerts—they’re the stars of their own epic productions which can only be seen in Vegas. “Touring shows come through town all the time,” says Schecter. “The difference with Celine and Elton’s shows is that they’re designed for our building and our city.”
Caesars’ Restaurant Revolution
Fine dining, served with a side dish of spectacle, has been a tradition at Caesars Palace since Jay Sarno introduced the Bacchanal, a Vegas spin on the decadent feasts the Romans once indulged in. The Bacchanal treated guests to six-course spreads while performers dressed as Caesar and Cleopatra moved throughout the room, along with belly dancers and “vestal virgins” feeding guests grapes and ensuring their wine glasses stayed filled. Beautiful “hand maidens” would give guests massages after the main course.
Today, dining at Caesars Palace is extravagant in a different sense. The resort is credited with sparking Las Vegas’ evolution into one of the world’s top cities for fine dining, dating back to 1992 when Wolfgang Puck brought his famed Los Angeles restaurant Spago’s to Caesars’ Forum Shops. In recent years the resort has elevated its selection to new heights, creating one of the city’s finest culinary destinations.
In May, the culinary world took notice when legendary chef Guy Savoy opened his self-titled restaurant at the resort. A critical darling in his native France, Savoy is a winner of the coveted Michelin three stars, signifying the pinnacle of culinary achievement. Restaurant Guy Savoy is the chef’s only restaurant outside of France.
“It wasn’t easy; there was a long courtship before he decided to leave Paris and bring a restaurant to America,” says Greg Waldron, Caesars’ VP of food and beverage. “He’s so highly regarded over there and was concerned about his image. What helped us was that Alain Ducasse opened Mix at Mandalay Bay and Joel Rubuchon opened [a restaurant] at MGM. (Both are world-renowned French chefs.) He heard the rumors and thought it must not be that bad—and I can’t get a better address than Caesars Palace.”
Waldron says that Guy Savoy is “probably one of the best restaurants in the country, and a phenomenal achievement for our food and beverage team, the resort, and for the company. He’s one of the highest-regarded chefs in the world.”
In addition, the resort opened Bradley Ogden, serving seasonal, farm-fresh American cuisine using the finest wild and organic ingredients, with a menu that changes daily. Since its debut in March 2003, Bradley Ogden has been showered with accolades. In 2004, the James Beard Foundation named it the Best New Restaurant in the country. “Bradley Ogden has a bunch of restaurants around northern and southern California and he prides himself on farm-fresh American cuisine,” says Waldron. “The quality level of the food is absolutely fantastic. We get the various fish and vegetables flown in on an almost daily basis, and the menu is changed so frequently—it could be changed while you’re having dinner.”
Another stellar option is Mesa Grill, the creation of chef Bobby Flay, who brought his famous brand of Southwestern cuisine to Caesars. In March 2005, Bon Appetit magazine named Mesa Grill at Caesars Palace one of the hottest 50 restaurants in the nation.
Coming soon is Rao’s, considered by New Yorkers to be one of the ultimate “insider” restaurants. For over a century, the cozy, 10-table Italian restaurant, located in East Harlem, has been drawing acclaim for its authentic, southern Neapolitan cooking and family ambience. Now, a Las Vegas edition is scheduled to open at Caesars in December 2006. “It’s an iconic New York restaurant,” says Caesars president Gary Selesner. “You can’t even get a reservation. Everyone would have liked to have Rao’s in their property in Las Vegas. It’s going to be such a complement to our dining offerings—not only in terms of the quality of food, but it’s a comfortable, gracious style of restaurant that I think our customers are going to love.”
“Dining is a huge component of what casinos are now offering,” Waldron explains. “The old philosophy of ‘feed ‘em quick, and get ‘em back out to the tables’ is still in play at some places. But the customers who come here these days enjoy seeing a show, having a great dinner, and then going out and gaming. Caesars has a wide variety of different venues so they don’t have to leave the property to go somewhere else. You can spend three or four days here and not leave the property. We have it all. Just like in the big food cities of the world—Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco—Vegas is right up there with them. Personally, I think Vegas now has more great-name restaurants and celebrity chefs than any other city in the country.”
Caesars Palace is a larger-than-life resort that invites hyperbole. Its history is epic; its luxuries are legendary; its headliners are the biggest stars in the world. Yet after 40 years of change and evolution, it remains a palace for a people—and one that will continue thrilling us for decades to come.
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