Caesars Palace Turns 60: The Strip's First Icon

Jay Sarno was the developer behind Caesars Palace, and according to Green, it was really the first luxury themed hotel on the Strip. Before Caesars, Vegas resorts sold rooms and a casino floor. Sarno sold an idea, ancient Rome rebuilt in the desert, complete with togas on the staff and fountains out front, and visitors bought into the fantasy rather than just the gambling.

That theming idea is the direct ancestor of everything from the Luxor's pyramid to the Venetian's canals. Schwartz put it plainly to the Review-Journal: Caesars Palace is the property that originated the whole what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas mentality, and it was the first casino that became a brand rather than just a location.

The resort's history reads like a highlight reel of Vegas itself. It hosted heavyweight championship boxing and Frank Sinatra performances in its early decades, and in 1967 Evel Knievel attempted his famous motorcycle jump over the property's fountains, an attempt that ended in serious injuries and cemented his legend as a daredevil, according to Las Vegas Magazine's anniversary coverage. The property also turns up in film, including Rain Man and The Hangover.

The bigger shift came in 2003, when Caesars opened the Colosseum specifically to host Celine Dion's residency. That venue went on to host more than 1,000 Dion shows and later became the model for the modern superstar residency, the format that now fills theaters across the Strip with acts from Adele to Kelly Clarkson.

Caesars Palace is not coasting on sixty years of history. Sean McBurney, Caesars Entertainment's chief commercial officer, told the Review-Journal the resort has been investing in new Presidential Villas in the Colosseum Tower, renovated hotel towers, and the newly opened OMNIA Dayclub and Skybar. The resort also has staff with more than 50 years of service on property, including valet executive Vicki Lamb, who has worked there for 42 years, the kind of longevity that is rare anywhere on the Strip.

Today's actual anniversary brings commemorative dining, cocktails and other celebrations across the property. If you want the specifics on the anniversary menus, from the $19.66 cocktails to the Nobu tasting menu, that ran as its own story when the promotions launched in July.

You do not need a reason to visit Caesars Palace, it is a Strip fixture whether or not it is a round number birthday. But the history here is a useful lens if you are trying to figure out why the Strip is built the way it is, every themed mega resort from the Bellagio's fountains to the Sphere owes something to what Sarno started in 1966. If you are booking a Strip stay this year, Caesars is worth a look purely on the strength of the recent villa and tower renovations McBurney mentioned, on top of the anniversary flourishes running through the rest of the year.