Caesars Palace Resort and Casino is found on The Strip in Las Vegas, NV, and was spearheaded by Jay Sarno and Nate Jocobson, with Sarno being the design man and Jocobson handling the finances. Sarno initially designed the original Caesars Palace to be 14 floors and 680 rooms, and he thought of everything within the hotel, from the Roman ornamentation and name, to the logo and structural design. The original hotel cost $25 million and opened on August 5, 1966. The hotel is reminiscent of living in ancient Greece and Rome through its classical architecture, ranging from gardens to statues, towers, columns, arches, trophies, military and Roman emperor sculptures, and facades. The hotel has live performances at a theatre that resembles the Roman Colosseum, and includes shops and fountains that resemble the ancient Roman Forum.

Caesars Palace is known for is its Forum Shops, a luxury shopping mall that includes over 160 shops that is regarded as “The Shopping Wonder of the World.” This tourist destination symbolizes the ancient Roman forum on an architectural and design standpoint, which features striking elements that allow guests to see what the bustling marketplace would have been like in the height of the ancient Roman empire. Visitors enter through the Forum’s grand archway and walk along rows of marble columns, gigantic statues of Roman philosophers, gods and goddesses, emperors, and military heroes, in addition to beautifully adorned fountains and architectural elements that replicate ancient Roman statues and designs. Since the Roman Forum was outside and in the open, the famous ceiling at Caesars Palace in the forum and shops illustrates an airy blue skyed day to depict natural light. The Conrad Hilton Hotel Chicago, created a few decades before the original Caesars Palace, also has a sky painting along the lobby ceiling, and the artwork is reminiscent of each other. Both paintings resemble ancient Rome’s connection to the outdoors to offer natural lighting within their buildings (through atriums and courtyards), and both hotels represent a tie to the neoclassical past through its architecture. 

Present day image of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas (Medau, Joao Carlos. “Caesars Palace Las Vegas Exterior View.” Caesars Palace, 13 May 2013, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Caesars_Palace_(9118996770).jpg.)

Trevi Fountain image at Caesars Palace Forum ("Trevi Fountain Cafe at Caesar's Palace"Links to an external site. by Kevin H.Links to an external site. is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Links to an external site.)

Zoom up on Trevi Fountain Image in the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace ("Fake Trevi Fountain"Links to an external site. by Kevin H.Links to an external site. is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Links to an external site.)