The photos were taken in 2006 and 2007, and show Caesar’s Palace from the outside and the inside, with quite a few pics taken from the Forum Shops. They complement the review of Caesar’s Palace I’ve just posted as well.

You can find the new Caesar’s Palace photo gallery here.

Just listing the things Caesar’s offers doesn’t do it justice, though – sure it has 120 shops, 3,300 hotel rooms, a 4,100 seat stadium modelled on the Colosseum and live entertainers from Celine Dion to Elton John – but it’s the way Caesar’s is presented in such a lavish, detailed, and, dare one say it, mad style that truly makes it one of the top places to visit in Vegas.

Read on to see the complete Caesar’s Palace review.

When I first went to Vegas, I couldn’t wait to check out Caesar’s. I had no idea what it was like, of course, I’d just heard so much about it before I went that I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. If any casino epitomized Vegas, for me it was Caesar’s.

Well, I was stunned with what I found. I was expecting a reasonably big down and dirty casino with a lot of cheese and maybe a bit of Elvis thrown in. Maybe in the 70s, perhaps, but not now!

Sprawling over 85 acres of prime Las Vegas real estate in the centre of the Strip, Caesar’s Palace is simply huge, and can be completely disorienting when you first enter. Not only is the interior huge, but it’s so sprawling, it can be difficult to know exactly where you are, and certainly which way out is!

None of this matters, though, for you’ll be so gobsmacked by what you see, you won’t care where you are!

The Forum Shops

Let’s start with the Forum Shops. As you walk up the strip from the North, the first thing you come across at Caesar’s is a gigantic heavily-detailed facade with marble columns, arches and a huge sign proudly proclaiming The Forum Shops (see pic, above).

Interestingly, though, this isn’t the entrance – it’s just a shop window! The actual entrance is round the corner, and it’s even bigger and more impressive (see pic, left).

It’s not until you go in, though, that you realise why the entrance is so huge – it opens onto what must be the most lavish, glorious shopping mall entrance you’ll ever see.

In Caesar’s own words, it’s “a grand pedestrian plaza [that] creates a signature entrance for The Forum Shops at Caesars.” Signature is certainly the word for it!

In the centre is a huge winding escalator (below) that winds its way up the various levels of the mall, flanked by gigantic statues of Roman Gods. Beneath is a beautiful water feature, while high above is a stunning domed ceiling.

The glorious opulence, lavish detail and sheer over the top nature of the place will take your breath away – and this is just the entrance!

Surrounding the central escalator are a series of shops, but it’s not until you go inside the main mall that the rest of the 120 shops are on display.

Be warned, though – the shops cover some 634,000 square feet, and with the ever-present fake sky painted onto the ceiling (a feature in virtually all Vegas hotels), and the lighting set low, you can start to feel a little disoriented, particularly if jet lag’s just kicking in!

As you delve deeper into the mall, you’ll come across one or two little features that all add to the bonkers magic. Like the giant wooden horse of Troy that suddenly appears, which is actually just part of a toy shop inside! Or the stunning statues in the middle that at least help you to get your bearings when you’re completely lost.

Best of all though is the Talking Statues at the far end of the mall (below). This is a recreation of the legend of Atlantis (well, Caesar’s version of it anyway!), with two huge statues that vividly come to life every half an hour in an animatronics extravaganza.

Complete with fire and water, the whole show is a must-see, as is the Cheesecake Factory behind the statues, which sells every variant of cheesecake known to man (well, 33 variants anyway)!

From Harry Winston to Jimmy Choo, Burberry to Boss and even Diesel, Victoria’s Secret and Ted Baker thrown in for good measure, there’s a huge range of shops on offer – there’s even the Exotic Cars area, where you can drool over Ferarris, Aston Martins and Porsches.

Trust me, if you’re bored in Vegas (really?!), lose yourself in the Forum Shops…literally!

Oh, and if you get hungry, which you will do, as your body clock will be all over the place and you’ll get so lost it’ll feel like days since you last saw daylight, there are also over 13 restaurants and speciality food stores spread around the mall as well.

Caesar’s Palace Casino

I have no idea whether the casino is good or not, as I don’t gamble, but it, too, is huge and rambling, and is another great way to get lost in Caesar’s! It’s nothing like the image I had of Caesar’s casino though – it’s modern, clean and huge, and you can wander off and see all manner of other great sights, including bars, restaurants and clubs, all fantastically decked out in Roman or Ancient Greek themes (not sure why Caesar’s chose both Roman and Greek – perhaps Roman wasn’t enough on its own?!)

Caesar’s Palace – the building

One of the great things about Las Vegas is that the hotels in which you stay have become the main attractions in their own right. Unlike other resorts, where it’s the beautiful beaches or stunning scenery around which the hotels are built, in Vegas it’s the hotels themselves that every hotel tries to provide a view of. This makes Las Vegas the most narcissistic tourist resort in the world!

So what about Caesar’s Palace, then? How does the Caesar’s Palace building compare with its fabulous neighbours?

Well, not all that well. Oh don’t get me wrong, it’s huge and majestic in a suitably Roman kind of way, and the Forum Shops and Colosseum are extremely impressive. Equally, the two hotel towers are also extremely impressive, and dominate skyline in an imperious way (they’ll also be joined by a third tower in 2009 as well), while the famous Caesar’s Palace fountains do add a bit of colour to the place.

It’s just that, compared to the Bellagio, with its huge pool, the glorious Paris Hotel opposite, or even the Mirage just up the road, Caesar’s Palace is a bit too…well, bland! The detailing is impressive, and the sheer size of the place takes your breath away. There’s just too much concrete everywhere and not enough colour, making the whole place seem like an enormous project that was never quite finished.

There’s also a mess of electricity pylons on the front, which adds to the feeling that most of the work was done to the inside, and the outside aesthetics were kind of forgotten about.

This is a shame as it’s such a huge hotel, and such great fun inside, you feel it doesn’t do itself justice from the outside. Fortunately, you can sit on its terraces, grab a beer and look at the other hotels, such as Paris and the Bellagio, safely immersed in the concrete jungle of Caesar’s, which is much better than sitting outside at Paris, say, and having to look across the way at Caesar’s!

Maybe the name Caesar’s Palace is such a huge draw in its own right that they don’t need to spend as much attention on getting the outside right as somewhere like Paris. Whatever, don’t let its concrete nature put you off – go inside and prepare to be seriously impressed (and lost!)

Caesar’s Palace Reviews across the Web

I’ve not stayed at Caesar’s, so I’ve no idea what the rooms are like, so the best thing is to check out the following reviews from across the Web.

Frommers has a great review of Caesar’s Palace, noting that “from the Roman temples, heroic arches, golden charioteers, and 50-foot Italian cypresses at its entrance, to the impressive interiors, it’s the spectacle a good Vegas hotel should be.” Couldn’t agree more! They also note, though, that “…the hotel is also getting a bit too big for its own britches. The haphazard layout has become ever more confusing and hard to negotiate, and it takes forever to get anywhere — especially out to the Strip. Sometimes you feel like just surrendering and staying in, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”

Vegas4Visitors has a good review of Caesar’s, noting the nightclubs, the great rooms (some of which feature whirlpool baths in the middle of the room!) and also the glorious 4.5 acre pool area, called the Garden of the Gods, which they rate as “…among the most beautiful in town. Lush gardens surround the four pools, one of which has a covered colonnade in the center for cooling off. Adjacent to this is a spa, which among the usual suspects like massages and workout equipment, has a full-service salon, Zen meditation garden, and a rock-climbing wall.”

They also note that it’s easy to get lost in the place, though! Of course, this is deliberate, as if you can’t find your way out the casino, you might as well stay there and keep on gambling!

Sidestep give a pretty matter of fact review of Caesar’s Palace, listing its features without really saying what it’s like. They note that “the hotels 4.5 acre Garden of the Gods continues the Roman style with cypresses, palm trees, marble columns and classical statues. The garden includes four pools and two spa tubs. The 10,000 square foot Palace Pool features a gilded statue of Caesar. The on site Qua Baths & Spa features Roman baths and an Arctic Ice room. The spa provides massage and skin treatments.”

They also give a good detailed summary of the facilities on offer at Caesar’s.

Summary

So there you have it – Caesar’s Palace in all its glory. If you go to Las Vegas, you have to visit Caesar’s Palace for the true Vegas feel. The rest of Vegas may be going upmarket, but Caesar’s will never lose its camp, over the top feel, and is exactly the antidote that’s needed to all the new hotels that are sprouting up that seem to be taking themselves far too seriously!

Caesar’s Palace is like no other hotel on the planet (and that’s saying something given its immediate neighbours!), and you have to visit it simply to see what true decadence on a massively camp scale is really like. Fun, kitsch, fascinating and gloriously grand in equal measure, Las Vegas’s Caesar’s Palace will put a huge smile on your face. Just make sure you take a map and a compass with you!

If you want to see more of the place, check out our new Caesar’s Palace photo gallery.

From the press release:

Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc., (NYSE: HET) today announced an approximately $1 billion expansion of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, a key initiative in the development of the company’s renowned Caesars brand. This expansion is another project in the extensive growth portfolio announced in the past 24 months by Harrah’s, including: London Clubs International, Margaritaville Casino & Resort in Biloxi, Miss., The Pier at Caesars(R) Atlantic City, a new hotel tower at Harrah’s Atlantic City, a new hotel at Harrah’s New Orleans, and a substantial expansion to the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Ind.

The center piece of the expansion is the luxurious new 665-room hotel tower — the Octavius Tower. The Octavius Tower will be located adjacent to a new 263,000-square-foot meeting and convention center. Three new luxurious pool villa suites will be built along the second floor of the new tower and will overlook three new swimming pools that will rim an expanded outdoor whirlpool spa retreat, a poolside cafe and nearby garden wedding venue. This expansion is slated for completion in early 2009.

“This billion dollar investment in our flagship property, Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, is an important part of our comprehensive global growth strategy,” said Gary Loveman, chairman, chief executive officer and president of Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. “From the United Kingdom to Las Vegas and beyond, we will continue to enhance our network of branded properties to deliver unforgettable guest experiences and provide good jobs for our nearly 100,000 team members around the world.”

“With 2006 operating income up 63% over the prior year and impressive increases in customer service scores during the same period, Caesars Palace hasn’t just gotten bigger since the 2005 opening of the Augustus Tower, it’s gotten better,” said Tom Jenkin, president of the Western Division of Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. “Our expansion plans in Las Vegas are a reality thanks to the hard work of a great employee team.”

Octavius Tower

The heart of the Caesars Palace expansion is the Octavius Tower, located along Flamingo Road on the southeast corner of the Caesars property. The new Octavius Tower will include:

• 665-room, 23-story hotel tower rising 350 feet;
• 594 hotel guest rooms (floor plans from 600 square feet);
• 19 1 1/2-bay suites;
• 41 two- or three-bay suites;
• 4 four-bay suites;
• 3 five-bay suites;
• 1 six-bay suite; and
• 3 lavish pool villa suites.

Named for the great-nephew of Julius Caesar, who later changed his name to Augustus, the $375 million Octavius Tower will adjoin and resemble the resort’s Augustus Tower that opened in August 2005 with a new hotel registration lobby and VIP check-in lounges. In addition to convenient access from the hotel lobby and VIP reception areas, Octavius guests also will enjoy panoramic views and direct entry to swimming pools and gardens.

In addition to the new Octavius Tower, the resort’s existing 512-room Forum Tower will undergo a major refurbishment. A regal new front entrance and expanded valet parking will open to expansive new casino interior decor, inviting guests to a remodeled buffet restaurant, redesigned Cypress Street Marketplace casual restaurant and enlarged Race & Sports Book.

Internationally acclaimed designer Wilson & Associates will create Octavius Tower interiors. Spacious guest rooms will offer the finest entertainment amenities, including large, flat-panel televisions and bedside clock radios with iPod(R) docking stations. Beds will be dressed with premium linens and bolster pillows; fashion-forward matlasses (mat lah SAYS) will replace traditional duvets. Luxurious marble bathrooms will feature generous dual-head showers and whirlpool tubs, with televisions above double vanities. Bathrooms will be bathed in natural light through doors that open into the bedrooms. With a nod to the resort’s Greco-Roman heritage, guest room entry doors will be customized with Greek key patterns, where electronic doorbells and electronic “do not disturb” features will ensure guest privacy. Floors 21 through 23 will be comprised exclusively of suites; special key cards will be required to access these levels.

Scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2009, the Octavius Tower will increase the Caesars Palace room/suite offering from 3,348 to 4,013.

“Our guests have been thrilled with the Augustus Tower and its associated upscale services and amenities,” said Gary Selesner, president of Caesars Palace. “This new expansion opens an exciting new chapter in the renaissance that began with opening of The Colosseum, and continues with the February 2008 debut of Bette Midler’s all-new production, which will be presented a minimum of two years. With a spectacular new show, new guest rooms, suites and more, Caesars Palace will be well positioned to continue to welcome the world’s most discriminating clientele.”

Pool Villas – Villa Corridor – Swimming Pools – Wedding

Along the tower’s second floor will be three pool villa suites designed to be the industry’s most coveted hotel accommodations. Each of the palatial residences will span more than 10,000 square feet. These suites will be connected by a new Villa Promenade to the resort’s existing two pool villas (10,000 and 11,000 square feet). New villas will be accessible via a private Octavius Tower entrance at Flamingo Road and by private elevator. Interior decor subtly inspired by the former Roman Empire regions of Spain, France or Greece, will feature exquisite custom furnishings and original works of art. Villa guests will be pampered with private butler service, advanced entertainment systems and private terraces overlooking the resort’s Garden of the Gods swimming pools and gardens.

Three new swimming pools will replace the resort’s Apollo pool and outdoor spas. The three will be elevated to set them apart from the Temple, Venus and Neptune pools. One (1,600 square feet) will be available only to invited guests and will offer premium amenities and services. Two 1,900-square-foot pools will adjoin the new meeting and convention addition. These pools will be created not only for hotel guest use, but also for private pool parties and catered functions.

Lush classically designed landscaping, replete with the resort’s signature fountains and statuary, will surround the pools. Scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2009, the pool expansion will accommodate added cabanas, chaise lounges and daybeds, along with a new poolside cafe, an expanded outdoor whirlpool spa retreat and a picturesque new garden wedding venue.

Meeting and Ballroom Addition

Underscoring Caesars commitment to prized convention and catering clientele, the expansion includes a 263,000-square-foot ballroom and meeting facility, constructed on two levels, and connected to the resort’s Palace Tower meeting and convention center.

The 263,000-square-foot building will feature 110,000 square feet of flexible meeting, ballroom and exhibit space with additional breakout areas, grand promenades, banquet kitchens and support facilities. Included will be two regal ballrooms, each expandable to 52,000 square feet, and two executive boardrooms. The upper tier will offer a large terrace overlooking two new swimming pools.

The addition will provide an ideal environment for product and entertainment productions, with ceiling heights of 26 and 28 feet and industry-leading audio visual and data systems. Direct access to fiber optics hubs and the perfect positioning for satellite transmission will provide efficient broadcast solutions.

Interiors will be designed by Marnell Interiors, a division of Marnell Corrao Associates of Las Vegas. These will complement the Palace Tower meeting center design. The addition will increase the property’s total meeting room offerings from 240,000 square feet to 300,000 square feet.

Site improvements including central electrical plant expansion and relocation of power lines along Flamingo Road will take place near the convention addition and along the south property border.

Forum Tower

The complete remodel of the 24-story Forum Tower will include:

• 452 guest rooms;
• 10 two-story suites, which became widely known after the release of the movie “Rain Man”;
• 60 two-bay suites; and
• 18 executive suites and two penthouses (9,500 and 12,500 square feet).

In-bedroom whirlpool bathtubs will be removed to provide more spacious sleeping and lounging environments. Like the Octavius Tower, guest accommodations will feature blissful bedding, dressed in premium linens and stylish matlasses, as well as large, flat panel televisions, iPod(R) docking stations, electronic doorbells and “do not disturb” messaging. Distinctive in the Forum Tower will be giant, marble, surround showers that can easily accommodate two people. These will be equipped with both rain shower and regular showerhead fixtures and bench seating.

The complete refurbishment of the Forum Tower is scheduled to be completed in January 2008 at a cost of $83 million. The tower’s two penthouses will be remodeled by the first quarter of 2008.

Renowned design firm Hirsch-Bedner Associates is creating all Forum Tower interiors except the two penthouses, which were created by, and will be remodeled by Wilson & Associates.

Front Entrance – Casino Remodel

The existing Caesars Palace front entrance will be expanded in breadth and height, opening to palatial new casino interiors, created by globally renowned design firm Allard & Conversano. The central ellipse will remain, highlighted by new decor and flanked by grand ceiling heights, raised to 20 feet. New interiors will extend to the Casino Cashier and Cleopatra’s Barge corridors, inviting guests to explore new dining, entertainment and gaming offerings. During the transformation of the central front entry, Caesars guests will enter and exit through resort entrances a few steps on either side of the central doors.

The construction team will be led by long-established builders and architects:

• Marnell Architecture, Executive Architect
• Bergman Walls, Architect of Record.
• Marnell – Keating, Joint Venture, Contractor

Read on to see what Caesar’s Palace’s new extension will contain.

For the money, Caesar’s are adding a new 29-storey 1,017 room tower that will rise 350 feet, and which will frame (or dominate!) the existing pool area. As you can see from the renderings, unlike the existing towers, the new one will be less decorative – indeed, bland might be a better word! Hopefully the finished product will look better than this.

Caesar’s are also adding more casino space – 37,000 square feet more in fact – as well as more restaurants, convention centre space and yet more shops.

There will also be a new pedestrian promenade that will feature decorative fountains and landscaping to lure the passing walker into the depths of Caesar’s Palace (well, the casino, anyway!). Underneath this new promenade, a garage will be excavated, with room for 389 valet-parking spaces.

I’ve always liked Caesar’s Palace form the inside, as its combination of themed shops (the Forum Shops) and sprawling casino makes it a really interesting place to be. It’s one of the more extravagant hotels (not that any of them are subtly, you understand!), and contains features that make your jaw drop. The huge wooden replica of the Trojan horse, for example, which stands proudly inside the Forum Shops, but which is actually just an extra bit of shop space for teddy bears for a toy store! Like I say, extravagant!

Outside, though, Caesar’s is a bit of a concrete jungle, with only the fountains breaking up the endless monotony of concrete, which conspires to blind you in the Las Vegas sun. Adding yet another large slab of concrete in the form of the new tower certainly won’t be adding anything to the attractiveness of the Caesar’s complex.

[Source: VegasTodayAndTomorrow]