Caesars Entertainment Las Vegas: What’s New in the Empire

As Las Vegas rebounds and tourism takes off toward pre-pandemic climbs, Caesars Entertainment is busy introducing a range of new offerings to elevate the visitor experience among its nine hotels located along the Las Vegas Strip corridor. Just in time for Super Bowl 2024 in Las Vegas, the resort and entertainment company with some 23,000 rooms across the city is bringing on revitalized culinary adventures and new reasons to book these prominent and oft-historic properties.

Topping the list of what’s new and noteworthy at Caesars Entertainment are the latest developments in real estate – namely the rebranding of the venerable Bally’s Las Vegas into The Horseshoe. 

In name only, The Horseshoe harks back to what many may remember as Binion’s Horseshoe — an iconic piece of Las Vegas history. That Downtown Las Vegas hotel and gambling hall helped put Las Vegas on the map in the early 1950s with cheap gaming tables, affordable steak cafes, and a million-dollar horseshoe attraction. But the new Horseshoe Las Vegas on the Las Vegas Strip is quintessentially Caesars all the way. 

“At Horseshoe, it’s all about the gambler. Since 1951 Horseshoe Casinos have been home to the best odds, highest limits, and biggest jackpots. So, it’s fitting that we bring Horseshoe back to Las Vegas, and right on the Las Vegas Strip,” said Horseshoe General Manager Jason Gregorec. The Downtown Binion’s Horseshoe property finally closed for good in 2009.

The new Horseshoe at Center Strip intends to retain that serious gamer’s edge but with all the trimmings that make Vegas, well, Vegas. That means, among other things, plans to integrate the structure, design, and feel of the new Horseshoe into adjacent Paris Las Vegas — starting with the Jubilee Tower at Horseshoe that is in the process of becoming the Versailles Tower at Paris.

The 756 redesigned luxury accommodations at Versailles Tower, connected to Paris by a new pedestrian bridge, will debut as some of the largest standard rooms on the Las Vegas Strip, starting at 436 square feet. Upgraded guestrooms will offer an unusual extra: 55-square-foot balconies with stunning views over the lights of Las Vegas. The renovation is expected to top $100 million and open in the next few months.

Meanwhile, while opened in 1966, Caesars Palace continues to keep Rome alive with new upgrades and re-dos. The latest of these came online at the end of 2023 with the opening of the renovated Colosseum Tower. This section of the resort was formerly known as the Forum Tower, and now the redesigned tower offers those 440 guest rooms and suites as enhanced products with classically inspired contemporary décor. That means rooms now contain beds with upholstered headboard panels adorned with inset mirrors; new dresser units feature a premium glass-front mini bar; convenient round tables double as desk surfaces and guests can relax on Roman-style chaise lounges. The renovated bathrooms now bring Marmara Striato marble floors and white quartz vanity tops along with glass-enclosed showers and separate water closets.

Vegas Victus
When in Rome – Or Las Vegas – do as the others do, namely, sampling the famous restaurants that are making headlines, Instagram splashes, and celebrity news flashes. None of these are in short supply throughout Caesars Entertainment’s top properties in Las Vegas.

Out are the buffets of yesteryear (although the revamped Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace will not disappoint – especially when it comes to its Crab Brunch — and runs $65-$80 for adults) and in are the monikers from TMZ and People Magazine opening up new dining spots faster than you can pull rolling cherries on a one-armed bandit.

Of particular note might be a new name in dining in Las Vegas. That attention goes to the acclaimed tastes and deft hand of one Martha Stewart – better known, perhaps, for lopping fruit with a saber in the comfort of her New England farmhouse kitchen. The Bedford by Martha Stewart is her signature on the Strip and is found at Paris Las Vegas. The venue is sedated by Las Vegas standards in beige hues and stylish appointments and specializes in Stewart’s farmhouse favorites, such as Salad Niçoise, Oysters Rockefeller with Pernod cream, Roast Herb Chicken carved tableside, and her Smashed Baked Potato — smashed tableside and served with crème fraiche, chives and thick bacon pieces. The venue can be found along the interior Paris pedestrian corridor and is small and intimate enough with 194 seats for impressive group buy-outs or light bite soirees.

In other hot new dining developments, Real Housewives and Vanderpump Rules bombshell, Lisa Vanderpump, is busy imprinting her personality on the Strip with three venues: Vanderpump’s at Paris, Vanderpump’s Cocktail Garden at Caesars Palace, and soon, Pinky’s at Flamingo Las Vegas. Both current venues bring an ornate fantasy of unusual beverage choices and surroundings. The Paris spot offers highly stylized decor featuring a bounty of flora and foliage, a waterfall, bird’s nest chandeliers, and cool, shabby chic furnishings. Pinky’s will open next summer with a similar avalanche of visuals as well as Vanderpump’s wild handcrafted cocktails and small plates.

Other upcoming dining highlights include the debut of Gordon Ramsay Burger at Flamingo Las Vegas. It is the celebrated chef’s seventh restaurant at a Caesars Entertainment property in Las Vegas – the first one opened at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in 2012. More recently, the multi-Michelin-starred chef and television personality opened Ramsay’s Kitchen at Harrah’s. The concept was inspired by his travels abroad and marked his sixth Las Vegas location.

As for other big names in dining, Bobby Flay’s Brasserie B opens this month for brunch, lunch, and dinner at Caesars Palace. Menus bring an intersection of French cuisine with Flay’s creative inspiration starting with traditional frites, which he pairs with raw bar selections, lobster, and piquant rib eye. Find France-focused wines there, by the glass.

Peter Luger Steak House opened at Caesars Palace last Fall, delivering a bit of Brooklyn’s finest (plus Great Neck, N.Y., and Tokyo) to Las Vegas. Décor is quintessential Brooklyn with exposed brick walls, triple-height ceilings, large contemporary bronze chandeliers, original wood paneling, oak floors and tabletops, and industrial windows.

For after-dinner indulgences, visitors can head across the street to the opposite of Brooklyn – namely Paris — as Montecristo Cigar Bar took over the former Napoleon’s Lounge and packed it with 300 industry-leading brands, including Romeo Y Julieta, H. Upmann, Padrón, La Flor Dominicana, and Arturo Fuente, among others. Guilt-free puffing can be paired with perfect cocktails, such as the Rolling Smoke, which features Maker’s Mark 46 Bourbon, Laphroaig Islay Scotch whisky, coffee bean-infused Caprano Antica Formula vermouth and vanilla.

And after all that, glasses will clink to toasts made for planning the perfect Las Vegas vacation.