Caesars Palace Julius Tower Rendering
Every year there are businesses opening and closing in Las Vegas. There’s almost always a fresh and new experience when visiting Las Vegas. That’s kind of what makes visiting this city so special. Coming out of the recession new business progress was a little slow in Las Vegas but that’s changing. Last year was a big year was a transformational year in Las Vegas and 2016 will be even bigger. Here are 5 things to look forward to in 2016
New Hotel Rooms
One of the easiest ways for a hotel to transform how they’re seen by customers is to renovate and upgrade their hotel rooms. Back in October, we told you about a slew of hotel room renovations to Caesars Entertainment casinos. You can already book renovated rooms at Caesars Palace and Planet Hollywood. Renovated rooms at Paris, Harrah’s and Rio are all on the way. The Cosmopolitan is now offering two new types of hotel rooms. In downtown Las Vegas Four Queens recently revealed renovations to all of their hotel rooms and the California will renovate their hotel rooms later in the year. Lastly, Aria (see renovation details here), Encore and The Venetian (see renovation details here) all have new suites for 2016. Whew…that’s a lot of new hotel rooms in Vegas this year.
New Hotels
While there have been new hotel and casino names in Las Vegas recently (The Cromwell, Delano, etc.) Lucky Dragon is poised to be the first newly constructed casino-hotel to open this summer. The boutique hotel will feature just over 200 rooms and a small casino floor with 50 table games. Down the street, there will be a new hotel within a hotel opening at SLS Las Vegas. W Las Vegas will open as a separate hotel inside SLS similar to how Delano exists inside of Mandalay Bay. The hotel will have its own amenities while SLS will manage the rest of the property. You can see more details on the evolution of SLS Las Vegas here.
Two brand new casino-resorts, Alon and Resorts World, are expected to begin construction in 2016. They won’t open until 2018 at the earliest but more hotels and casinos is always a good thing in Las Vegas.
While it won’t be a new hotel the Monte Carlo is expected to have a new name before the year is over. If you’re a casino chip collector you may want to snag a chip sooner than later.
New Casino Games
After the Global Gaming Expo last year we told you about some of the best slot machines that you’ll find on casino floors in 2016 but there’s more to look forward to. You should see some kind of skill-based gaming in the second half of the year where your skill in a game dictates winning and losing. This may be tied to slot machines and it may not. Either way, it will be a new option in casinos.
If you like sports then you’ll be happy to know that the Cosmopolitan is building a new and larger sports book on the first floor that should open later this year. This winter Casino Royale will be changing their casino floor and building a new sports bar that will also act as a sports book. Both sports books should be open before March Madness.
New Entertainment Venues
Entertainment continues to grow in Las Vegas. There will be venues of all sizes opening for just about any kind of entertainment you could imagine. Las Vegas Arena (Now T-Mobile Arena) will open behind New York-New York and be home to major concerts, rodeos, sports events and anything you’d expect to see in a 20,000 capacity arena. Later this year a new 5,000 capacity theater will open at the casino-resort currently known as Monte Carlo. Down the Vegas Strip, Foundry Hall, a 1,800 seat concert venue, will open at SLS Las Vegas. Jewel at Aria and Intrigue at Encore will offer new nightclub entertainment while a new location for Hyde Lounge will open at T-Mobile Arena later this year.
New Experiences
Attractions in Las Vegas come and go fairly often in Las Vegas but there will be 3 that seem as though they’ll have some longevity. This spring Top Golf is opening their largest golf and entertainment complex at MGM Grand. Top Golf is part golf games, part bar/restaurant and part entertainment space. There will be an entirely different experience down the Vegas Strip at Treasure Island where the “Transformers Experience” will open in early spring. See more details here. SpeedVegas will be technically be opening on the Vegas Strip but it’s south of the action you’ll find in the casinos. The 90-acre speed racing complex will offer a 1.5-mile racetrack and a way to drive exotic vehicles.
