Las Vegas has some of the biggest hotels in the world and I spent 5 nights at Caesars Palace, location of iconic Vegas movie - The Hangover. Caesars makes you feel as if you are walking into Ancient Greece with its opulent sculptures, art, and architecture but also has all the modern upgrades. The hotel is made up for six, yes six towers of guest rooms on its property! So it will be confusing to find your room when you first arrive since they don't give you a map. Plus multiple restaurants, seven pools, a Roman bath house, a huge shopping complex, and a nightclub. I'm going to give you the full run down of my experience staying there. This is was my third visit to Vegas, the last two times I stayed at Treasure Island and Mandalay Bay. Make sure you also check out my post What's New in Las Vegas.
Ocean's 14
In September Caesars paid a $15 million ransom to hackers, so the following week the hackers hit MGM. They did so by looking up an employee on LinkedIn, calling the Help Desk and in a 10 minute conversation said person accidently gave them an in to the network. This happened just weeks after two major hacker conventions in Las Vegas - BlackHat and DEFCON (don't use public wifi while those conventions are happening lol). Both hotel conglomerates own about 10 hotels each in Las Vegas. So at all the MGM hotels they had to do check-in manually with writing down credit card numbers in pencil like in 1980, so the line to check in was 3 hours long! But they gave out free wine to ease the tension. lol Electronic room keys weren't working so staff with master keys let guests into their rooms. Elevators were getting stuck, their website was down so you could only book rooms through 3rd party sites, restaurants only took cash, the slot machines were down, and ATMs didn't work. Not sure if they were able to do payroll on time for employees? Curious how a hacker is paid - crypto currency which is laundered, then they withdraw tens of thousands at a time from numerous places all over the world with mules.
The hackers released a message saying they could have but didn't "tamper with MGM's slot machines to spit out money because doing so would not be to our benefit and would decrease the chances of any sort of deal....If a deal is not reached, we shall carry out additional attacks. We continue to wait for MGM to grow a pair and reach out."
Tipping
Las Vegas is a tipping city, so bring cash with you so you can tip everyone. Bring enough cash with you on the plane because if you need an ATM you will get ripped off as the ATM fees in the casinos are $10! Or look for the ATMs in CVS or Walgreens. The front desk agents at hotels are allowed to take tips so you don't have to be sneaky about giving it to them, it's a common practice. Politely ask them if they have any upgrades available, if they say yes, then afterwards give them a $20 bill with your ID. This won't work everywhere, but it can get you a room near an elevator, get a corner room, get a more recently renovated room, have a bathtub/jacuzzi, a nice view, etc. In Vegas you do a lot of walking down long hallways to the elevator to get out of your hotel. So always ask for a free upgrade. I left money on my nightstand for housekeeping but she never took it, I was told to either put it in an envelope (which they don't provide), write a note, or leave it the end of my bed.
I have a Wyndham Rewards credit card through Barclays whose points afforded me a free hotel stay in Charleston. I have platinum status on the card and you can match status on your Wyndham Rewards account to your Caesars Rewards card (players card). You can read more about it here. You can sign up online to become a Caesars Rewards member and download the app. Before you check into the hotel, go to the Rewards desk and pick up your card. Then when you check in present your card when paying for your room. Show it every time you eat or play on a Caesars property in Las Vegas (Paris, Flamingo, Rio, Harrah's, Planet Hollywood, Horseshoe, The Cromwell, Nobu) and you will earn points on everything but they expire at the end of the calendar year. FYI Caesars rewards was hacked and all the names sold on the dark web.
Costs
You'll get the best rate by booking directly with the hotel and as far in advance as you can. Check the rates later and if the rate has gone down, call the hotel and ask for an adjustment. Sometimes there are additional perks with booking directly with the hotel like a food and beverage credit. Depending on when you go rates can be from $80-$300 a night. They charge more if you want a room with a bathtub (with jets). If you look at the calendar, they show you prices for everyday of the month and they vary quite a bit from day to day.
Summer is the cheapest time to stay in Vegas because of the heat outside, fall brings a lot of conferences to the city so the price goes up on rooms. January and February are also affordable times to visit. Weekends are more expensive than weekdays. All the major hotels in Vegas have resort fees, Caesars charges $52.10 per night, this is in additional to taxes on the room. They also put a security deposit hold of $100 on your credit card daily.
If you want an empty fridge that's an additional rental fee. I tried to use the ice bucket to keep my water cold but had to refill it multiple times a day! Don't touch anything inside your fridge, they are on weighted sensors that will charge you immediately if you pick it up. There's a sign on the fridge that you will be charged $75 if you remove anything from the fridge to put your own stuff inside.
Those Fiji waters are $20!
What you ask are the resort fees are for:
Fitness center access (hardly anyone uses since you're on vacation)
Internet access (Wifi that isn't great and only for 2 devices)
Local Phone calls (who needs that?)
Pool access (Even when the pool is closed in the winter.)
Caesars official check-in time is 4pm. You have to pay $50-85 to check in early. Don't get surprised with this showing up on your bill later. You can leave your bags with the bellmen but tip in and tip out $2.There is also a kiosk you can use to check-in. You'll get an email the day you're leaving with a button to check out, be sure to do that.
Rooms
Caesars has six buildings and 4000 rooms! I stayed in the Julius tower and supposedly had a "strip view" but had buildings in the way. The room was big and clean, had a modern design with a neutral palette, a custom-upholstered headboard with mirrored panels. The stone and glass bathroom had a double sink vanity and hand-held showerhead but no bathtub. The sheets felt like sandpaper, probably from too much bleach. The closet was spacious but the door was hard to open. I paid $205 a night plus tax and resort fee for this room. The Julius Tower is located in the center of the property with easy access to the casino. I wanted a bathtub with jets but they said I would have to pay more to upgrade to another tower for that.
Here are the six buildings that make up Caesars Palace resort. Which tower you stay in is extremely important. For instance if you're going to be spending all your time at the pool, you want to stay in a tower that is near the pool, otherwise you will be walking forever to get there.
1. Julius: Built in 1966, expanded 1974, last renovated in 2015 is located in the center of the hotel with easy access to the casino.
2. Nobu : Built 1970, last renovated in 2022 and is a luxury boutique hotel that features Japanese-inspired décor mixed with sleek, modern touches, rooms are significantly more expensive here.
3. Forum: Built in 1979, last renovated in 2009 and is just considered a basic room.
4. Palace: Built in 1998, last renovated in 2017 has an oversized spa tub and is located near the Garden of the Gods Pool and the Conference Center.
5. Augustus: Built in 2005, last renovated in 2016 to a contemporary style and has a spa tub and marble bathroom. Located on the Southern end of the property near the Garden of the Gods Pool and hotel lobby. It has the best views of the Bellagio fountains.
6. Octavius: Built in 2012 has the largest rooms with exclusive amenities and state-of-the-art electronics. It is located on the Southern end of the property near the Garden of the Gods Pool and hotel lobby. It has the best views of the Bellagio fountains.
Beverages
Never buy anything in the hotel's convenience store, everything is overpriced. A bottle of water will cost you $8. There's a liquor store at baggage claim in the airport where I bought 4 bottles of water. Later I walked 10 minutes across the Las Vegas Blvd to CVS, there's an overpass to safely cross the street. CVS is open late with all the cashiers open. There you can buy water and alcohol. Be very careful of the minibar in the room. The minibar is equipped with sensors that detect which items have been removed. If you even pick anything up to look at it, or throw your water on top of the items inside, it will disrupt the weight and you will automatically be charged. The best thing to do is to never open the door! I like to drink cold water first thing in the morning and this was the first time I used a hotel's ice bucket to get ice to use as a cooler for my water bottle. Most hotels in Vegas do not offer coffee in the room, but at Caesars they have Keurig machines but each pod is $3. They are counting on all their guests to go to the coffee place in the hotel so you can expect long lines at that place in the morning. I'm not a coffee drinker, but if you are I recommend to bring a foldable kettle so you can boil hot water and a portable coffee press and you'll save money and time. The sportsbook is the cheapest place to buy coffee in the hotel with no line in the morning. There are two Starbucks in Caesars palace.
Restaurants
Dominique Ansel is a famous New York French bakery that I always visit when I'm in NYC. They are famous for their signature cronut which is a donut croissant hybrid with a custard filling that has a different monthly flavor. There's also their cookie shot which is a cookie baked into the shape of a shot glass and milk poured into it. In Vegas they have a robot vending machine that pours the milk for you! I love their "DKA" -a Kouign Amann which has layer after layer of buttery, flaky pastry on the inside with a caramelized crust. They don't look interesting at all but taste amazing! One cronut, pictured below, with taxes will set you back $10. The shop is open from 6am-11pm.
Pronto by Giada is a fast casual spot where you can either sit down or buy food to go, they offer breakfast, lunch, and dinner, think paninis and mini pizza.
Amalfi by Bobby Flay is open for dinner only and put the prices on the online menu which you don't see everywhere in Vegas. I ate dinner at the bar and ending up having a great conversation with the two other single folks on either side of me.
Gordon Ramsay's Hells Kitchen I love the fact that they have a separate vegetarian menu! Their sticky toffee pudding is delicious. Open for lunch and dinner.
Caesars hides the price of the Bacchanal Buffet, it's $65 breakfast, $80 lunch, $85 dinner. There was always a line outside.
Cafe Lola inside the forum shops, is a beautifully pink decorated cafe with lots of flowers that serves pastries and pink lattes.
Nightlife
Vanderpump cocktail garden Even though I've never watched Vanderpump rules, I did watch the Housewives and had to come here. She has a second location in the Paris hotel with a much expanded menu.
Caesars has 6 other bars and the Omnia Nightclub.
Pools
They have seven pools and a swim up black jack table. At the end of October, the sun was still not over the pool at 11:30am because the towers were blocking the sun. They never have all four pools open at once, they rotate opening pools based on where the sun hits. The Venus pool is adult only and has night swim from 6pm - 2am Friday through Sunday. Not all pools are free to guests, some require that you purchase a rental chair in advance. A chair at the Neptune pool pictured below is $50. A chair is $25 at the Apollo pool. Note I'm talking about a basic chair here, not a daybed, cabana, canopy, or couch, those cost extra. I ordered a Dole Whip at the pool and topped it off with alcohol ($40). Cocktails are $20-35 poolside. It's $30 for a hummus and pita chip snack plate. So hit up CVS to pregame. lol
So basically not all pools are free to hotel guests who paid a resort fee, the rest are filled with paying outside guests. Most Vegas pools are only open from 9am to 5pm because they want you spend your time/money in the evening on the rest of their property. Don't expect too much sunlight because the tall buildings block the sun. Pools are open from March to October.
There was a fair amount of people in the pool at the end of October but I thought the music wasn't a vibe poolside. They had lifeguards on duty and checked IDs to enter.
Shopping
The Forum Shops have a two level H&M store with a DJ. There's also an Aritzia, Creed, Club Monaco, Diptyque, Fendi, Lululemon, Maison Margiela, Nike, Saint Laurent, Sephora, Sunglass Hut, Tom Ford, Tory Burch, Valentino, and Van Cleef. The Atlantis Show is an 11-minute animatronic and pyrotechnics show that plays Thursday - Monday on the hour, beginning at 12:00noon through 8:00pm.
Two DC restaurants that I enjoy are in the Forum Shops: RPM Italian and José Andrés will open a Zaytinya restaurant in early 2024. Solcocina is a Mexican restaurant with good happy hour specials.
Qua Baths & Spa
They have Roman baths and an Arctic Ice room. You can either buy a three hour pass to use the pools or get facials/massage services. The costs for guests is $85 and for non-hotel guests is $110 for just use of the pools for 3 hours. When I went 10 years ago it was $45 which I think is more reasonable. I had an amazing time here just sitting in the different pools. All the women were wearing swimsuits even though the website says clothing optional. They provide tea and a few snacks.
Shows
The Weekends With Adele residency at Caesars Palace was supposed to start January 21, 2022 but she cancelled it on Jan 20 saying she wasn't ready which caused a lot of controversary as some fans had already flown in. So then the show didn't start until November 2022 and lasted til March 2023, Then she announced more dates and she performed again from June 16, 2023 through Nov. 4, 2023 but tickets sold out immediately. Now she has extended again from January 19, 2024 and will run through Saturday June 15, 2024. Tickets went on sale on October 23 and immediately closed the same day. The hotel has an Adele store where some of her dresses are on display.
Garth Brooks and Rod Stewart have residencies right now at Caesars. Jerry Seinfeld performed 6 shows at Caesars this summer and is coming back next year for more shows. Loud Luxury had 4 shows at Omnia Nightclub this summer and three more this year at Marquee.
Some concerts allow phones and some do not so check the website, it's up to the artist. Your phone is put in a pouch that you retain possession of. It’s unlocked as you leave the venue. Your purse can be the size of a piece of paper (8 1/2 x 11), it doesn’t have to be clear.
Absinthe is part circus, burlesque & vulgar comedy, remixed & reimagined for grown-up thrill-seekers. The show is located in a tent in front of Caesars Palace. On Tuesday night I saw online that half the seats were empty for the 10pm show, so I went to the box office as online fees are $40, and was told tickets were $170! No thanks.
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