Caesars Palace

Restaurants

If you're a burger aficionado as I am, then you'll definitely want to check out Bradley Ogden. The burgers are ground from lean sirloin and fire grilled to perfection, charred on the outside and succulent in the inside. The hand cut fries are freshly made and non-greasy. The experience will set you back $25 or so but in my view, it is well worth it.

Another favorite is The Palm, which is located just as you enter the Forum Shops from the casino. Their steaks are great, as is everything they serve; I’d recommend their crabmeat cocktail to start and hash browns to accompany the steak. If you travel as I do occasionally, you may weary of experimentation; in that case, you’d definitely appreciate The Palm’s old school style. There are ten other restaurants to try in the Forum Shops adjacent to the casino including Spago, Il Mulino and Joe’s Stone Crab, all of which we’ve tried and liked in their various incarnations in other cities.

In terms of the casino property itself, we liked the all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet at Café Lago. I can only say to get there early, say nine or so, because when we left at ten there was a huge line. There’s anything you can imagine for breakfast, from eggs and bacon to pancakes and waffles to smoked salmon and fresh fruit. It’s not inexpensive at $18 per person (we saw that the dinner buffet was $27), but well worth it if you can move afterwards.

Also, the Augustus Café is not bad in a pinch. Especially if it's 3 am and you've been gambling most of the night and too wired to sleep; it’s open all night. Another relatively inexpensive option is Beijing Noodle No. 9, whose look is better than the actual food. Its bright orange décor and floor to ceiling goldfish tanks that line the entrance make for a good lure. The food is okay but certainly not special; a light dinner for two runs about $45.

Payard, a take-out and snack bar, is also popular for gelato, sandwiches, and almost too-perfect looking desserts. Other restaurants that we didn’t get to but would want to try was the Mesa Grill, Rao’s and Hyakumi, all of which looked good. There are several other places to try as well.

In sum, going to both high end and reasonably priced restaurants is likely a sane way to try engage different culinary experiences while sanely navigating one’s credit card limit as well as one’s caloric intake. We were able just to walk in wherever we liked; for most restaurants, reservations aren’t necessary unless it’s a weekend night.

Bars / Clubs

PURE Nightclub is Caesars famous nightclub destination. At 36,000 square feet, it is a large club and one of Vegas’ best known. An attractive young lady friend I know and I recently went there on a Thursday night. As it was after the summer, it wasn’t too crowded and though that sometimes suggests dull in the night club world, we had a pretty decent time.

The club itself has an all-white interior, accented purple lighting, and a highly modern look and feel. The dance area is surprisingly small but the outside areas afford great views of the Strip. The crowd is a mix of tourists with a few locals, all perhaps with the idea of drinking a little too much and stirring up trouble in a What Happens in Vegas mentality. I understand that sometimes celebrities show up (i.e. are paid to show up) to lend glamour to the club and others like it. Clubs have also been known to comp big groups of girls and give them tables and free bottle service so as to attract a bigger crowd — but then I learned that here are a lot of things clubs do to create hype.

PURE wasn’t very wild when we went, but my young lady friend assured me that it can get like that. The vibe at PURE is pretty much the same as in all the clubs, and lots of people go with the same goal, to have a good time and hope to have a story to tell about it.

In terms of a script, if the club is crowded, the best strategy is to get a table, which will run you $500 for three people. This can be reserved ahead of time. Otherwise, unless you're on their guest list, you'll end up waiting an hour or so in line. The line starts at ten or so and the admission cost is $30 for men and $20 for women, except for certain holidays and special events. There is a separate line for Harrah’s Total Rewards VIP Seven Star and Diamond card holders. All guests must be over 21 with a valid ID and they seem to check everyone.

The Pussycats Doll Lounge is located inside the PURE Nightclub and offers two shows nightly, at 10:45 pm and 11:45 pm. It’s only open on Tuesdays and Thursday through Saturday. Other bars include the Shadow Bar, the Seahorse Lounge, all of which I found fairly generic and lackluster, and Cleopatra’s Barge, with its moving ship, which was nothing short of ridiculous.

Entertainment

There are plenty of restaurants and great shopping (see below) available on the property but just walking through the property can serve as entertainment as well. As indicated, there is a bevy of statues, architecture and Roman era design mimicry that permeate the property. One statue of special note is a replica of Michelangelo’s statue of David which stands more than 18 feet high and weighs more than nine tons and is situated in a kind of pathway rotunda along the Appian Way shops.

Caesars’ version of the David statue is almost an exact replica of the statue in the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence (the original stands 17 feet) and the plaque states that it is constructed from the same materials of white Carrara-marble. However, the ‘75% off’ sale signs on nearby objet d’art stores somewhat detracts from the experience but the constricted space in which to look straight up at this figure makes it look that much more immense.

There is an animatronic show at the Festival Fountain where statues of Bacchus, Apollo, Plutus and Venus come to life for a seven-minute revel with dancing waters and lasers; it takes place every hour on the hour. A 50,000 gallon aquarium, and yet another fountain with another show, awaits just around the corner where Atlantis comes to life in a nonsensical story amidst spraying fountains and bursts of real-looking fire. While the kids seemed riveted by these two shoes, the adults seemed more bemused, though I thought the effort somewhat hackneyed. When just walking around the property, the best entertainment of all in my view is the well-known dancing fountains in front of Bellagio, which adjoins Caesars at the opposite end of the property.

In terms of name entertainment, Caesars has two of the best divas around with Cher and Bette Midler, who alternate show dates. As neither stars were performing when we visited, it makes sense to plan ahead if one of your objectives is to see big-time entertainment. I understand that their shows are spectacular, with great performances, elaborate sets, and lots of costume changes. However, I also understand that their long-term contracts are nearing their end, and so it's uncertain as to how much longer either will be around.

Many top performers have performed at Caesars over the years, almost too many to mention such as Frank Sinatra, Liberace, George Burns, Andy Williams, Judy Garland, Diana Ross, Julio Iglesias, David Copperfield, Gloria Estefan, Stevie Nicks and Mariah Carey. Celine Dion, for whom the Colosseum was specifically built, and Elton John recently had long runs in recent years. Therefore, one would expect Caesars to sign up more headliners in the future no matter what happens with Cher and Bette. Tickets run from $95 to $250 for Cher and $50 to $250 for Bette Midler. Other top headliners due in to Caesars to perform soon include Jamie Foxx, for a one-night show, and Jerry Seinfeld.

Several championship boxing matches were held in Caesars Outdoor Arena over the years. Such boxers as Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns, and Roberto Duran all headlined here, along with Larry Holmes against both Muhammad Ali and Gerry Cooney. Also, three bouts between Evander Holyfield and Riddick Bowe were contested here. However, I have not heard much buzz about boxing at Caesars as interest in the sport seems to be fading in general.

On-Property Shops

Lots of shops can be found just ambling along the hallways of the casino, whether you’re on the way to the room from the pool, going to the casino or going out to eat. With a few exceptions, the on-property shops tend to be more interesting one-of-a-kind stores than those in the Forum Shops. An exception would be the men and women’s Bernini clothing stores, of which there were two. Their clothing didn’t exactly suit our tastes, and seemed at the same time both second-rate and gaudy. We liked the Neil Leiffer Gallery, on the other hand, which offered blown-up unique sports photography, though their expense ($4,000 for a large print of Muhammad Ali) seemed a bit prohibitive. We also stopped in Oculus, which had some nice eye wear and Art in Crystal, which had some interesting glass and crystal.

Another unique place to stop was Ancient Creations, which offered jewelry made of antiquities such as rare coins. Most of these pendants seemed to run in the $1,000 to $3,000 range though you could easily spend a lot more on other kinds of jewelry. There were also the jewelers Gevril, whose offerings seemed very affordable, and Le Pradis and Cartier, both of which might demand more purchasing thought. While Cartier can fit in anywhere, the Harley-Davidson chain store seemed out of place, given the casino’s orientation towards more niche retailers.

There was also a Cher/Bette souvenir store, located next to the Colosseum, Caesars’ entertainment venue, that offered all kinds of memorabilia, (CD’s, t-shirts, pens, coffee table books, etc.,) done in glamorous Cher and Bette styles. And finally, there were a couple of well-located gift shops, necessary stops where you could buy assorted sundries and Caesars shirts and hats with the casino’s logo.

Forum Shops

As we’ve become inured to the ubiquity of shopping malls (and so we do it rarely), The Forum Shops seem to be a shoppers’ paradise. A sampling of the stores really wouldn’t do it justice; it’s enough to say that my favorites were the Apple Store, Niketown and Tourneau while my girlfriend’s were Harry Winston, Cartier and David Yurman. Nonetheless, the stores run the gamut from women’s and men’s clothing, jewelry, cosmetics, art galleries, entertainment, handbags / luggage, and kid’s clothes / toys.

Roulette

In the main casino, the roulette was the standard double zero, for a house edge of 5.26%. In the high-limit room, there was one single-zero wheel, for a house edge of 2.70%.

Craps

The craps games allowed the Vegas standard 3-4-5X odds for a combined house edge between the pass and odds of 0.37% and 0.27% between the don't and laying odds.

The Main Pit

The main gambling pit is located just feet from the main entrance to the casino. It makes for a grand first impression as its large and oblong floor is matched by a concave roof which is lit by multiple lines of chandeliers. As in other gaming pits throughout the property, it offers an array of table games such as multi-deck (6 deck) blackjack, Three Card Poker, Texas Hold 'Em Bonus, Crazy 4 Poker. Let it Ride, Caribbean Stud, and Pai Gow Poker. The ten blackjack tables typically have $25 minimum bets per hand, which often increase during prime time, such as weekend evening hours. Alternately, during very slow periods, I noticed that a few tables can go down to $10 minimums per hand. There are also several roulette tables (all double zero) that anchor the table games and a separate pit for craps.

The main pit does not have single deck blackjack but single deck can be found in other pits nearby. However, single-deck only pays 6:5 for blackjack, and players can only double with the first two cards of 10 and 11 — and players cannot double following a split. This is a significant disadvantage for the player relative to the multi-deck game.

The Pussycat Dolls Gambling Pit

An even more unfavorable game for the player can be found at the Pussycat Dolls blackjack “pleasure” pit, which is located adjacent to the Pussycat Dolls Lounge club and the PURE Nightclub. Scantily clad young ladies serve as dealers against the backdrop of a sexy pole dance to club music. All the single-deck rules just described apply to the multi-deck blackjack game here. The logic is that the percentages forfeited in the multi-deck game relative to the normal multi-deck game are more than made up for by the entertainment afforded by these young ladies in bustiers. However, if you want the best of both worlds, Planet Hollywood, as one example, has a similar-type pit with normal multi-deck blackjack rules. The pleasure pit is closed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Sundays as is the Pussycat Dolls Lounge nightclub.

The High Roller Pit

There is a separate large space for high roller just steps away from the main gambling floor. In the first room you’ll find high stakes blackjack, baccarat and single zero roulette. The minimums for these tables are at least $100 per hand (or single spin of the roulette ball). There are generally two or three tables available for play at any one time with minimums per hand of $100 or $200 minimums. At these tables, dealers stand on a soft 17, in contrast to lower minimum tables on the main floor, where dealers hit a soft 17 and stand on a hard 17. The surrender option is available in all blackjack games but I saw few people avail themselves of it. There is a very large room further behind this first room where one can find the occasional high roller who has likely reserved tables for them and their posses.

Sports Book, Poker

Caesars has a very impressive Sports Book area, constituting a huge space with more than ample seating. The space is centered by a giant tote board on the wall which lists all current games of interest with their betting lines. There are also six huge TV monitors that outline the area and which are set to different broadcasting sporting events. A dozen smaller TV monitors mounted underneath complete a bettor’s sense of immense sports coverage. There are also several dozen individual betting stations with individual small monitors where you can tune into sports events of personal interest so as to keep track of one’s own betting.

The Poker area is found behind the Sports Book area. There are plenty of tables to play but only a few were in use. As is the case in other casinos, Texas Hold 'Em was the game being played. The room was not particularly crowded times when I dropped by, and the wait to play did not seem to be to be very long.

Comps

Caesars, as does all of Harrah’s properties, participate in its Total Rewards player’s card program. All play is rated when using a player’s card whether at the slots or by pit bosses who monitor roulette, craps and the table games. Also, when you buy something at any of the properties, or even when you dine, this also adds to your points. Reward points are aggregated from each casino visit and can be used for future visits to any of the Harrah’s properties.

My six hours of rated play during my recent visit at an average bet of $125 earned me 175 points in reward credits. This nicely offset all of my room charges of roughly the same amount.

It’s worth mentioning that while it’s easy to use your points, it took forever for the front desk to pick up so that I could do so. That can feel a bit unsettling when you’re rushing to pack and check out; the feeling of no one home left a sour last impression to what was a fun getaway.

Cashier

There was hardly a wait at the cashier’s cage at any time during my stay. As is sometimes the case in other casinos, there is a separate line for elite card holders. There is also a cage in the high roller’s pit which makes it even easier to cash there since there is rarely a line.