Las Vegas Hotels - Caesars Palace

One of the most impressive and famous hotels on the Las Vegas Strip is the Caesars Palace. A brief history of this stupendous hotel.

Caesars Palace is a hotel and casino complex which has a prime location on the west side Las Vegas Strip, between the Bellagio and the Mirage. Caesars Palace is owned and operated by the internationally recognized Harrah's Entertainment. This impressive complex has five towers Augustus, Centurion, Forum, Palace, and Roman, which make up a total of 3348 rooms.

In August this year Caesars Palace will be celebrating 40 years of ongoing top class activity in the hospitality, entertainment and gaming industries. This huge complex has undergone some significant changes and renovations since its humble beginnings in 1962 when Jay Sarno, a cabana motel owner, used ten million dollars to begin plans for a hotel on land owned by Kirk Kerkorian. Construction of the 14-story Caesars Palace hotel began in 1962 for the initial tower that would include 680 rooms.

The name of the hotel was chosen by Sarno because of the wish to invoke feelings of power and royalty among guests. Sarno's dream was that every guest would feel that they were in their own palace and were a Caesar for the duration of their stay. Unique architectural features were added to the hotel's landscape such as specially-designed water fountains and Roman pillars. In 1966, Caesars Palace was inaugurated and the celebrations included a reenactment of Shakespeare's play "Julius Caesar".

The first major renovation plans took place not too long after the hotel's inauguration when it became clear that the demand for top-class hotel and casino facilities was high. In 1973, Del Webb company was contracted to construct a 16-story building adjacent to Caesars Palace which was completed in 1974.

The 1980s saw the influx of boxing and gambling fans to the hotel's facilities. Some top class matches were held in the hotel's complex with world-renowned boxers ensuring the hotel was jam-packed. Historic fighters and matches included South Korean Duk Koo Kim, Ray Mancini, the Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns fight, the Larry Holmes vs. Gerry Cooney battle, Marvin Hagler versus Thomas Hearns, and the fight in which Mike Tyson became world Heavyweight champion by knocking out Trevor Berbick. 1980s also saw the introduction of the hotel's Atari Games room, featuring over 60 Atari video game arcade machines.

In the 1990s, following a trend of other major hotels on the Strip, Caesars decided to move towards a more family-orientated image. Las Vegas wanted to create the image of an all – inclusive family holiday destination, offering more children's facilities and to move the focus from a solely gambling vacation destination. Big league boxing was one of the first items to be removed from Caesar's entertainment list.

Today, 40 years on, Caesar still manages to impress its newcomers. It has recently opened the Roman Plaza, an open-air quarter with a cafe on the corner, and the Colosseum theater, where C?line Dion and Elton John are habitual performers. Caesars Palace has just opened its fifth tower called the Augustus Tower in August 2005 which stands 45 floors high. This phenomenal hotel complex is definitely a must-stay, or at least a must-see, if ever visiting the Strip.

Fancy a trip to Las Vegas? Hotel Hippo provide fantastic discounts of up to 50% off a huge selection of hotels in the hippest and hottest destinations in UK, Europe and worldwide - including Vegas! The price you see is the price you pay, no hidden extras.