In , Sarno acquired thirty-four acres in the mid-Strip area, across from the Flamingo Hotel , from investor and former aviator Kirk Kerkorian. Sarno's main partner in the project was his friend, Nathan Jacobson, of Baltimore.
He imported tons of Carrera marble from Italy and commissioned artists to fashion faux Roman-style statues and friezes. He installed a series of eighteen fountains, surrounded by the hotel's foot long front entry and exit roads, beside a pair of hotel wings lined with Roman columns. Sarno designed the casino's unusual oval shape. Below the hotel's front marquee, he placed life-like color statues of Roman guards. Sarno hired costumed actors to portray Caesar and Cleopatra to greet guests, a tradition that would continue at the hotel that eventually became Las Vegas' most famous resort.
Caesars Palace included hotel rooms and expensive gourmet restaurants, such as the Bacchanal Room, where waitresses dressed like Roman goddesses and served multi-course dinners and free-flowing wine from long, narrow casks. The hotel's large rear pool was designed after the baths of ancient Pompeii. Its fourteen-story tower contained fancy regular guest rooms and lavish, two-floor open suites with Jacuzzi tubs that had windowed views of the Las Vegas Strip.
Some of the suites were named after celebrities, such as actress Ann-Margaret, whose suite featured a round bed. Until then stars came in and out every weekend, doing two to three shows. All of a sudden we were talking about one star, Celine, singing times a year from one room.
Of course, it was a great success. In star entertainment, for the math to work, Las Vegas needed larger theaters. For a star performer to succeed with a sustainable one show per night, the theater need to be twice as big. And Celine, an artist with the biggest recording success in history, how could that not succeed?
Dion, in , helped construction workers build The Colosseum, where she performed shows a year during her first residency. Some of us who worked there always felt like Pure retained some of that magical spirit — we had so much celebrity success based on luck. We would do red carpets, and the crowd outside was so deep, getting in the door was impossible. We would book celebrities who generated sales — people wanted to be [in the club] with the hot celeb.
It fit what was going on in pop culture at the time. Then we started filming The Hangover at the end of for three months. The cast was living there — it was full-on. Zach [Galifianakis] really, really wants to go swimming in the fountain. Trashing of the suite was off-limits.
I was often spotted by the cast and crew at the blackjack tables late at night, gambling in my pajamas. It was a real problem. Contrary to popular opinion, I probably lost money on the first Hangover thanks to those late-night sessions. There are a few [original] elements that are intact, like the [oval] casino, but within two years of its opening the expansion phase began.
Entering through a small doorway, visitors descend a few steps and walk into a huge, self-contained area with vast roofs and colourful frescos. And the best part? Visiting alone! The Casa di Augusto and the Casa di Livia have been open to the public on and off since The process used to be that visitors could line up outside usually for a very long time and guards would let them in 5 at a time.
That changed in recent years and a security gate was erected to keep the general public out. Today, visits to the houses of Augustus and Livia can only take place with a pre-scheduled tour and a guide. The good news is that guests can spend more time inside now.
Just our small group of 15 people or fewer — free to linger at this fresco or that room, with no need at all for headsets to hear your guide. Oh and of course the gossip. It includes a full guided tour of the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill with skip the line access at all sites. We just want to tour the Ceasar Augustus and Livia home. Have been to the other. Is this possible? My husband, best friend and I went on this tour last year — after seeing the Coliseum with a excellent guide, we went to the House of Augustus and Livia and had a completely private tour!
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