Nobu Boutique Hotel at Caesars Palace

Caesars Palace and Nobu Hospitality have announced plans to bring a Nobu branded boutique hotel to Caesars Palace Las Vegas. Chef Nobu Matsuhisa teamed-up with his longtime friend and business partner Robert De Niro to come up with the restaurant-hotel concept.

The Centurion Tower at Caesars will undergo a multi-million dollar renovation to create the Nobu Hotel within the resort. The 180 room tower will feature Japanese styling and elegance, with a separate private check-in for guests. The renovation will also include the Nobu Restaurant and Lounge.

This is definitely a bold new idea. Nobu is a hot restaurant brand and it will be interesting to see if that translates into the hotel business. I'm not sure how many people will travel to Vegas just to stay in a Nobu hotel, but with only 180 rooms they really just need to cater to their niche market to make it work.

If the concept is successful I could see this spreading to other hotels, especially older ones with multiple hotel towers. A struggling hotel like Sahara could re-brand each one of its towers to a different club or restaurant to create some buzz. This also might be a good test run to see if Caesars Entertainment wants to re-brand Bills into a boutique nightclub hotel like it was rumored.





Source: Caesars Palace - Nobu Press Release.

Cosmopolitan gets Sportsbook

Just in time for March Madness, Cosmopolitan has opened a sportsbook. Cosmo has partnered with Cantor Gaming to open the book on the second floor of the hotel next to Holstein's restaurant and Marquee Nightclub. The sportsbook is small by Strip standards, but with Cantor's mobile gaming devices customers won't need to actually be at the sportsbook to place wagers.

Cantor has some interesting new concepts for sports betting, including live betting throughout the game. They just opened a new book at Tropicana, and also have locations at M Resort, Venetian and Palazzo.

When Cosmopolitan opened in December it did not have a "traditional" sportsbook. Instead the Book & Stage lounge served as a place where you could place wagers. The betting terminals at Book & Stage will remain open.

I know Cosmo caught some flack for not having a real sportsbook. I wonder if this is a direct response to that, or if it was planned all along. It seems like sports weekends are a huge part of Las Vegas with the Super Bowl and March Madness. Having a legit sportsbook would almost seem like a requirement for any casino resort.



For more information, see the Press Release and Cantor Gaming.

Augustus Cafe to become Central 24/7

Augustus Cafe, the 24 hour coffee shop at Caesars Palace will soon be transformed into "Central 24/7 by Michel Richard."

The new restaurant will still be open 24 hours, and will include an outdoor patio, lounge, and a full bar. Chef Michel Richard describes the food as "American favorites with a French accent."

I've eaten at Augustus Cafe, and while there was nothing wrong with it, the restaurant did seem a little bland. It's probably a good time for a makeover. The location near the front of Caesars should also be beneficial for the new bar and lounge area.

For more about Central 24/7: Pulse of Vegas.

South Strip Ferris Wheel Project

Plans for an amusement park that would feature a 500 foot Ferris Wheel have been approved by Clark County commissioners. The location is across the Strip from Mandalay Bay on the same site as the closed Cloud Nine balloon.

Plans for the amusement park call for up to seven rides with a possible expansion to include shopping, restaurants and convention space.

It appears that funding is still needed for the $100 million project, so it's far from being a done deal. It will be interesting to see if they can come up with the money to build this thing.

There have been a few different Ferris Wheel projects proposed for Las Vegas over the years but none of them have come to fruition. Most recently Caesars Entertainment featured a Ferris Wheel in their plans for Project Linq, which still seems to be on the table.

Fontana to become Hyde Lounge at Bellagio

Fontana Lounge at Bellagio has closed and will be replaced with Hyde Lounge.

Fontana was a low key bar overlooking the fountains. The spot featured live music sometimes and catered to a generally older crowd. It had some problems though as it seems like it was closed on a regular bases, and sometimes the lounge was preempted by hosting live poker tournaments.

Hyde is more of a nightclub from what I can gather. The Hyde location in Los Angeles is famous for being a celebrity hot spot.

It will be interesting to see how people react to this change. Nightclubs have been the big thing in Las Vegas for the past half decade or so. Adding a big name like Hyde is probably good for Bellagio, but I'm just not sure it fits with Bellagio's clientele. I should note that Hyde won't turn into a full fledged nightclub until 10 pm every night, so maybe the old folks can grab a drink before then.

Source: Press Release.