Caesars Palace turns 60: How the iconic Las Vegas resort changed the Strip forever

Sixty years after opening its doors on the Strip, Caesars Palace hotel-casino is celebrating a milestone that few Las Vegas properties have reached while remaining one of the city’s defining destinations.

Opened Aug. 5, 1966, Caesars Palace was the vision of developer Jay Sarno, who helped introduce a new level of spectacle to the Las Vegas Strip.

“Caesars Palace was really the first luxury themed hotel,” said Michael Green, an associate professor of history at UNLV. “Caesars has innovated and changed to keep up and sometimes lead the way in terms of how Las Vegas has changed.”

Over six decades, Caesars Palace has introduced or helped popularize ideas that became staples across the Strip. Green said the opening of The Forum Shops and the arrival of celebrity-chef restaurants helped shift Las Vegas from a place visitors primarily came to gamble into a broader entertainment destination.

Company executives say the resort continues to invest heavily in its future through new luxury villas, renovated hotel towers and the recently opened OMNIA Dayclub & Skybar.

Sean McBurney, chief commercial officer and regional president of Caesars Entertainment, said many defining moments in Las Vegas can be traced back to innovations introduced at Caesars Palace, citing The Forum Shops, destination dining, celebrity residencies and luxury villas among concepts that helped reshape the city’s tourism economy.

“The offerings of the property have never been more compelling than what they are today,” McBurney said.

The only constant in Las Vegas is change

The property’s evolution mirrors that of Las Vegas itself.

When Vicki Lamb joined the valet department in February 1984, The Mirage had yet to open, much of the surrounding area was still undeveloped, and Caesars Palace looked dramatically different than it does today.

Now executive lead of valet parking, Lamb has spent more than four decades welcoming guests to the resort.

“This property is the most fabulous place to work in the world,” she said.

Lamb remembers when today’s landscaped entrance included a driveway from Las Vegas Boulevard, an IMAX theater was part of the property and boxing matches on Caesars’ tennis courts attracted worldwide audiences.

She also remembers how the property never stopped changing.

“Every time something comes on, it’s always a big production,” said the Las Vegas native.

For Lamb, one constant has been the role valet attendants play in shaping guests’ experiences.

“We’re the first ones who meet people and greet people when they come in, and we’re the last ones who see them when they leave,” she said.

From casino to casino brand

The resort’s ability to evolve while preserving its identity has helped distinguish it from many iconic properties that have disappeared from the Strip.

“It’s interesting that I do not recall ever hearing talk of imploding Caesars,” Green said. “When I’m in Caesars, I’m not conscious that it’s one of the older hotels, and that’s important. That’s one of the secrets of its success, I’d say.”

David Schwartz, a casino historian and former director of UNLV’s Center for Gaming Research, said Caesars Palace also changed how visitors viewed a Las Vegas vacation.

“Caesars Palace is the property that originated the whole ‘What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas’ mentality,” said Schwartz. “The first place to really treat a Vegas vacation like it’s a fantasy adventure.”

Schwartz also credited Caesars with becoming something more than a typical casino.

“Caesars really being the first casino that became a brand rather than just a location,” he said.

More than just slots and cards

Its influence extended beyond gaming.

Heavyweight championship boxing, Evel Knievel’s famous fountain jump, Frank Sinatra, blockbuster films such as “Rain Man” and “The Hangover,” and the launch of modern superstar residencies such as Celine Dion all helped cement Caesars Palace as one of the world’s most recognizable casino resorts.

For McBurney, however, the property’s greatest asset isn’t its Roman architecture or decades of celebrity history.

It is the people.

He said Caesars Palace has numerous team members with more than 50 years of service, a level of longevity he believes sets the resort apart.

Lamb, now in her 43rd summer at Caesars Palace, doesn’t see herself slowing down.

“I love what I do,” she said. “I’m just gonna wait and keep doing it until I don’t feel like doing it anymore.”

As Caesars Palace marks its 60th anniversary Wednesday with commemorative dining, cocktails and other celebrations, the resort remains one of the few original Strip icons that has survived not by standing still, but by continually redefining what a Las Vegas resort can be.

Lamb will continue welcoming guests from the valet stand, serving as a familiar face at a resort that has spent six decades reinventing itself.