Caesars Palace

A brief history of the legendary las vegas hotel, which turns 50 this month.

Jay Sarno changed LAS Vegas forever in August 1966 when he opened its first themed resort: Caesars Palace. Borrowing elements from the Roman Empire, Sarno followed the principle that no amount of excess was enough. In its first 50 years Caesars Palace has expanded from an opulent 14-story hotel with 700 rooms to a small city with six towers, 4,000 rooms, a 636,000-square-foot shopping mall, a 4,300-seat theater and nearly a dozen celebrity-chef restaurants. You can also still do a little gambling there. over its five-decade existence Caesars has changed hands several times; owners have included Hilton, itt and Harrah’s, which paid $9.4 billion in 2005. today the hotel is owned by Caesars entertainment Corp., with minority stakes held by apollo global management and Paulson & Co. although the casino group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2015, sarno’s grand vision still reigns. last year the hotel opened a mr. Chow restaurant, and the Colosseum theater is now headlined by Celine Dion, elton John and mariah Carey. Fifty years on, the bacchanal continues. on Dec. 31 Caesars Palace hosted the first of many spectacles when evel Knievel convinced sarno he could jump his motorcycle over the hotel’s fountains. Knievel, shown above, landed badly, crushing his pelvis and femur, and remained in a coma for a reported 29 days. in 1989 his son robbie Knievel successfully completed the jump.

as part of their bachelor weekend in Bradley Cooper and crew checked in to Caesars Palace, where Zach galifianakis’ alan asked the immortal question: “Did Caesar live here?” He did not.