The Venetian (Las Vegas)
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| The Venetian | |
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| Address | 3355 Las Vegas Blvd South Las Vegas, NV 89109 |
| Opening date | May 3, 1999 |
| Previous names | Sands Hotel |
| Casino type | Land-Based |
| Theme | Venice |
| Owner | Las Vegas Sands |
| No. of rooms | 7,128 Suites |
| Total gaming space | 120,000 ft² (11,148 m²) |
| Permanent shows | Blue Man Group Phantom - The Las Vegas Spectacular |
| Signature attractions | Guggenheim Hermitage Museum, Madame Tussauds Las Vegas |
| Notable restaurants | TAO Grand Lux Cafe Bouchon Canaletto Delmonico |
| Years renovated | 2003 |
| Website | The Venetian website |
The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino is the largest AAA Five-Diamond rated Resort in the Americas. [1] This Venice-themed luxury hotel and casino is located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, on the site of the old Sands Hotel. The Venetian is owned and operated by the Las Vegas Sands Corporation.
The Venetian has 4,049 suites and a 120,000 square foot (11 000 m²) casino. It is located on the east side of the Strip, between Harrah's and the The Palazzo.
Combined with the adjacent Sands Expo Convention Center and The Palazzo Hotel and Casino Resort, The Venetian is a part of the largest hotel and resort complex in the world --- featuring 7,128 hotel rooms and suites.
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[edit] History
On November 26, 1996, 8 years after it was bought by Sheldon Adelson, the Sands Hotel was imploded to make way for The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino. Ground was broken April 14, 1997.
The resort opened on May 3, 1999 with flutter of white doves, sounding trumpets and singing gondoliers, with actress Sophia Loren joining The Venetian Chairman and Owner, Sheldon G. Adelson, in christening the first motorized gondola. Built at a cost of $1.5 billion, it was one of the most expensive resorts of its kind when it opened. A brief time line of the hotel's history:
- September 24, 1997 — Announcement that the Venetian's Grand Canal Shoppes will be managed by Forest City Commercial Management.
- November 14, 1997 — $1,000,000,000 financial package secured.
- August 18, 1998 — Venetian Resort tops out.
- August 24, 1998 — Venetian begins accepting room reservations, by phone and on-line.
- May 3, 1999 — Grand opening of first phase of complex.
- October 7, 2001 — The Guggenheim Hermitage Museum opened within the resort, featuring its first collection: Masterpieces and Master Collectors: Impressionist and Early Modern Paintings.
- August 30, 2002 — The museum opened its second collection: Art Through the Ages: Masterpieces of Painting from Titian to Picasso.
- May 15, 2003 — Museum opens third exhibit: American Pop Icons.
- June 27, 2003 — The Venezia at the Venetian opened as an additional tower, adding 1,013 suites and a new wedding chapel.
- November 7, 2003 — Museum opens exhibit: A Century of Painting: From Renoir to Rothko, featuring paintings by Gauguin, Matisse, Picasso, van Gogh, Renoir, and others.
- March 19, 2004 — "The Nevada Gaming Commission Thursday reluctantly imposed an agreed-upon $1 million fine on The Venetian for rigging contests and violating state gaming regulations but only after chastising other state agencies for not pursuing the case more vigorously. Chairman Peter Bernhard and Commissioner Art Marshall, who called the violations the "most serious" they have dealt with during their tenures on the commission, criticized the state attorney general's office and the Gaming Control Board for taking a year to bring the eight-count complaint before the commission. ... "This is the most serious complaint I've seen since I've been on the commission. The issues go to the heart of the integrity of the industry," Bernhard said. ... The Asian high roller at the center of the case, who was also the big loser in the casino over the Chinese New Year weekend in 2002, was preselected to win a Mercedes-Benz. The complaint said a Venetian executive who rigged the drawing with a cohort hid the winning ticket in his shirtsleeve and pretended to draw it randomly from a batch of entries before announcing the "winning" ticket."[2]
- October 10, 2005 — Blue Man Group officially opens at the Blue Man Theatre.
- June 24, 2006 — Phantom - The Las Vegas Spectacular opened at a new theatre at the Venetian.[3]
[edit] Film history
- Building the Venetian was the subject of an episode of the show MegaStructures.
- Various Venetian locations were the setting for the introductory scenes of the 2001 movie, Rat Race.
- A suite from the Venetian is featured as a location in the 2005 movie Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous
- The exterior of the Venetian is portrayed in the movie Resident Evil: Extinction. There is a dramatic zombie attack scene which takes place on the Venetian's replica of the Rialto Bridge.
[edit] Casino and other attractions
The Casino at the Venetian offers more than 122 casino games. In addition to slot machines and table games, there is a state-of-the-art sports lounge.
The Venetian has an extensive indoor retail mall called the Grand Canal Shoppes, which covers 500,000 square feet (50 000 m²).
In addition to the lake in front of the casino, canals on the second floor of building, in the shopping mall, are used to provide gondola rides. The hotel also hosts the Las Vegas Madame Tussauds wax museum. You can see statues on your way out of the exit near the "Sephora" and down the escalators, one of the statues is of Whoopi Goldberg, another one of Nicholas Cage.
[edit] Dining, Amenities and Entertainment
The Venetian hosts 17 acclaimed restaurants, including Bouchon, which is the vision of Time Magazine's “America's Best Chef”, Thomas Keller. There is also a food court in the Grand Canal Shoppes. Because the hotel is composed of suites, the hotel contains an upscale "grocery" store that sells produce, meats, and other items for cooking.
In addition to shopping at the Grand Canal Shoppes, The Venetian offers plenty of other things to do, including:
- Blue Man Group — an explosive show in the 1760-seat Blue Man Theatre
- Canyon Ranch SpaClub — a 69,000 sq. ft. (6,400 m²) health spa and fitness center
- Convention space — 1.9 million sq ft (180,000 m²), including the 1.2 million sq. ft. (110,000 m²) Sands Expo convention center
- A new production of Andrew Lloyd Weber's musical The Phantom of the Opera entitled Phantom – The Las Vegas Spectacular, which runs 95 minutes long and new special effects only seen at the Venetian. The Phantom Theater was custom built to resemble the Palais Garnier.
- Pool Deck — a five acre deck above the fourth level of the Venetian Tower, featuring 3 pools and a hot tub
- Tao Nightclub — 10,000 square foot (1,000 m²) high-energy nightclub located within the Tao “Asian Temple” Entertainment Complex.
- Aquaknox - a medium sized quaint and elegant restaurant that specializes in seafood
[edit] References
- Las Vegas Tourism website, lasvegas.com - The Venetian
[edit] External links
- The Venetian website
- Photos of Venetian
- History of the Venetian
- Venetian - User reviews, expert advice, articles and more information on the Venetian
[edit] Gallery
 The Rialto Bridge at the Venetian |
 View of the outside Gondola Rides from second floor balcony just outside of the casino. |
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