The Palazzo casino resort that opened in December of 2007 looked very different from today’s version. Always intended to be an upscale, sophisticated complement to the Venetian, the Palazzo offered the obligatory collection of exciting new restaurants, including a seafood concept from award-winning chef Charlie Trotter, who passed away in 2013.
Restaurant Charlie was located at the far northern end of the substantial casino floor and was partially obscured by a large escalator guiding guests up to the extended Grand Canal Shoppes. The restaurant garnered rave reviews but closed in the spring of 2010, like other venues in the resort, a victim of the recession.
Today, that escalator is gone, and a new-to-Vegas restaurant will finally take over that empty space. Those are just two of the many renovations and upgrades that have taken place at the Palazzo in recent months.
“Visitors returning to the Palazzo will find a noticeable difference in the energy level of the resort,” said president and COO George Markantonis in an announcement last week. “A culmination of nearly two years of work, we have touched nearly every aspect of the guest experience. Beginning with the casino, which has been reimagined from floor to ceiling, and continuing to the resort’s refreshed suites, the Palazzo provides a fresh approach to Las Vegas luxury.”
The casino’s new design elements create a bright and open feel, including a colorful ribbon installation across the ceiling and new marble pathways cutting through gaming machines and tables inspired by the twin resorts’ classic Italian Renaissance themes. The escalators that may have disturbed the casino’s flow have been moved to the hotel’s grand lobby area.
The Palazzo's renovations include changes to its oversized suites.
Joining the intimate and tasteful Rosina cocktail bar, which opened in December, are two new and distinct offerings: Bar Luca, an accessible casino bar with an impressive cocktail program; and the brand-new Electra Cocktail Club, an energetic nightlife experience. Along with its rum-focused beverage offerings and edgy music, Electra serves up some stimulating visuals including a 40-foot digital display flashing original art in 70 million pixels and a corner banquette wrapped in a stack of 14-foot “bracelets.”
“When I was talking with people before coming here and learning a lot about what they were doing, the great thing to me was the focus on the overall experience and how we can take advantage of all the things we’ve learned our guests are looking for,” says chief marketing officer Marcy Miles, who came to Las Vegas from Florida almost four months ago. “It was about bringing innovation to the overall experience. Even Bar Luca is not just a casino bar, it’s a beautiful experience with great cocktails and very different from Rosina and Electra.”
Mott 32, an award-winning fine dining experience based in Hong Kong, is set to open in December in that long dormant Palazzo restaurant space, bringing a new Chinese cuisine experience to the Las Vegas Strip. And the resort’s guest suites—the largest on the Strip—have been refreshed with a lighter, brighter aesthetic while maintaining a sense of luxury.
“Overall, the idea is elevated elegance,” Miles says. “Palazzo has its own identity absolutely but that exists within the Venetian. You can stay in [either] hotel tower and get the benefit of both, but the master plan for the Palazzo is sophisticated elegance for those who are looking for that more refined experience.”
Ten years later, the resort has refined its offerings once again.