Caesars Palace celebrates its 50th anniversary in Las Vegas

Opened on Aug. 5, 1966, by Jay Sarno and his partners, Caesars was “the most lavish and flamboyant and luxurious hotel that one could stay at in the United States,” said Caesars Palace president Gary Selesner. “It was wrapped around the theme of excess,” a concept communicated through ornate decor, toga-clad staff and the Bacchanal gourmet room, where goddess-servers poured wine into goblets and might offer their charges a quick massage. Every guest was meant to feel like a Caesar, hence the plurality of the resort’s name. Caesars Palace helped introduce the era of the grand hotel in Las Vegas. Everything was bigger, flashier, more audacious. “It all stemmed from this idea that Caesars Palace had to be an impressive place where every step of the customer journey through [the resort] you were entertained and of course provided with world-class service and quality,” Selesner said.

What that has meant for guests visiting the resort has evolved over the decades as Caesars has adapted to changing styles and tastes. The Roman theme has been dialed back, emphasized in the exteriors with more subtle nods when you step inside. Hotel towers have been added and renovated. The resort has grown, expanding to accommodate new amenities and features that new generations of customers demand. In 1992, Caesars Palace opened the Forum Shops, Las Vegas’ first high-end shopping mall. “No one believed that people came to Las Vegas to shop,” recalled Selesner, but almost 25 years later the Forum Shops is still home to more than 100 stores, including boutiques from Gucci, Canali and Balenciaga. Today, nearly all the Strip’s top-end resorts boast luxury shopping. In 2003, the Colosseum theater opened with Celine Dion booked for 170 dates per year.

Skeptics abounded, but resident headliners have spread up and down the Strip, with artists like Britney Spears, JLo, Elton John and George Strait all scheduled to play multiple runs in Vegas venues. Pure nightclub, which debuted in 2004, helped prove that megaclubs could be moneymakers for casinos, and numerous celebrity chefs have followed Wolfgang Puck’s Forum Shops lead and set up Strip outposts.

Perhaps no casino boasts more A-list names above restaurant doorways than Caesars Palace. Reinvention and relevancy is a constant theme at the Roman resort. Earlier this year, Caesars unveiled the US$ 75 million renovation of the hotel’s original Roman Tower — now dubbed the Julius Tower — part of a US$ 1 billion investment to maintain the resort’s status as a premier Strip destination. For 50 years, the resort has succeeded in doing just that, and Selesner believes that the Caesars Palace brand will continue, in some form or another, for 50 more. To honor its 50th anniversary, Caesars is offering special room packages, on-site walking tours, historic photo exhibits, commemorative merchandise and special giveaways and sweepstakes. The celebration will culminate in an anniversary weekend Aug. 5 and 6 with special events and a gala for invited guests.