Viva Las Vegas!

20. Caesar's Palace

Las Vegas, NV

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After fighting in the South Pacific theater in World War II 23-year old Jay Sarno returned to Miami and became a tile contractor and then a house builder. Both ventures with partner Stanley Mallin failed. The pair met Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa who was impressed with their spunk and loaned them enough money to build the Cabana Motel in Atlanta in 1958. The little motel turned into a hit and others soon followed. After a trip to Las Vegas which he found filled with small motel chains like his own he became convinced that the town needed a splashy European-style hotel. With $35 million in borrowed money from the Teamsters Central States Pension Fund Sarno broke ground in 1962 on his 14-story dream resort with 680 rooms which he named after the Roman general Julius Caesar. He installed Roman landscapes and fountains and Neoclassical columns were everywhere. In 1967 Evel Knievel unsuccessfully tried to jump 141 feet over the hotel's water fountain on his motorcycle. Meanwhile regulators pressured Sarno to sell due to suspected organized-crime ties and he cashed out in 1969 with a $25 million profit. He then opened the family-oriented Circus Circus and Caesar's Palace continued on as the face of the Las Vegas Strip. In the 1970s promoter Don King began staging major boxing matches in the parking lot of Caesars Palace making the casino synonymous with big sporting events. In the 1980s a Grand Prix course was set up on the property to host a Formula One World Championship event. In the 1990s The Forum Shops at Caesars pioneered high-end shopping in Las Vegas casinos. Today Caesars Palace features 3,960 rooms spread over six towers: Augustus, Centurion, Roman, Palace, Octavius and Forum. The Colosseum at Caesars Palace is a 4,296-seat entertainment room built in 2003 for Celine Dion who had just signed a three-year contract for 600 shows. The engagement actually lasted nearly five years and grossed over $400 million with three million fans having seen the A New Day... show. Through it all the talking marble statues inside Caesars Palace still turn heads.