LAS VEGAS — In this town where the big, the
spectacular and the over-the-top are commonplace, genuine new
benchmarks are rare.
That's why the debut this weekend of The Palazzo Resort-Hotel-Casino,
complete with fireworks, a Diana Ross concert and a private
dinner cooked up by the likes of Emeril Lagasse, Wolfgang Puck
and Mario Batali, is a moment to behold.
The $1.9 billion resort — the first hotel to make its debut
on the Strip in nearly three years — is the blonder, taller,
slightly more elegant sister to the iconic 9-year-old Venetian
Resort. Together, they boast 7,100 suites (3,066 for The Palazzo).
Because the entire hotel end of the complex is run by a central
reservation system and other behind-the-scenes operations, the
combined property is now the world's largest hotel by room count.
In fact, the addition of The Palazzo — now the tallest hotel
tower in Vegas, too — makes the total package of The Palazzo,
The Venetian and the Sands Expo and Convention Center the world's
biggest indoor structure at 19 million square feet, the company
says.
As enormous and intimidating as that is, the property offers
enough intimate spaces to somewhat mitigate the potential for
guests to be overwhelmed. The striking 60-story glass atrium
and 25-foot waterfall that serves as the transitional area between
The Venetian and The Palazzo is among such spaces — a tranquil
area of trickling water with a gourmet Illy coffee bar.
The goal, says Las Vegas Sands COO William Weidner, was to
offer visitors choices between "chocolate — that is The Venetian
— or vanilla — that is The Palazzo," while providing similar
amenities. Indeed, both resorts have Canyon Ranch SpaClubs and
restaurants from Puck, Batali and Lagasse. By spring, when Jersey
Boys opens for a permanent run, both also will have best-musical
Tony Award winners. (The Venetian has a Vegas-sized version
of Phantom of the Opera.)
But there also are differences. The Palazzo offers the most
hotly anticipated addition to Las Vegas' already Paris-worthy
shopping with the debut of Vegas' first Barneys New York, complete
with its own valet and entrance on the Strip. The 450,000 square
feet of retail space also boasts such Vegas firsts as boutiques
by Christian Louboutin, Diane Von Furstenberg, Catherine Malandrino
and Project Runway judge Michael Kors.
The ambience is decidedly different, too. Both The Venetian
and Palazzo casinos are about 100,000 square feet, but The Palazzo's
feels bigger and airier because it's brighter and wide open.
Palazzo rooms, too, use sleeker, more modern colors and textures.
As CEO Sheldon Adelson puts it, "There are people who may not
have liked the spectacle style of The Venetian with the old,
embroidered fancy fabric. They might like something more modern,
something cleaner."
The hotel's debut comes at a time when the economy and Vegas'
visitor growth rate are both slowing.
Adelson shrugs off concerns of media and business naysayers
that the city, with about 137,000 hotel rooms, could be overbuilt,
pointing to a 1955 Life magazine cover framed in his office
with a headline asking, "Las Vegas: Is The Boom Overextended?"
"We think 96% or 97% occupancy is like scraping the bottom
of the barrel," Adelson says. "If we don't have 98% to 100%,
we think something's gone wrong. Other guys here, they achieve
98%, they think something's gone right."
Rates start at $199; 866-263-3001 or palazzolasvegas.com
