Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin The Vegas icon is undergoing major changes. The Venetian Resort Las Vegas By all accounts, 1999 in Las Vegas could be considered the bridge from the Strip’s golden age into the modern era. Mandalay Bay and Paris debuted that year following Bellagio’s 1998 ribbon-cutting ceremony.
And while celebrity chefs were not yet a major trend, the pot had started to simmer with Spago coming onto the restaurant scene in 1992 and Emeril’s Fish House opening at MGM Grand in 1995. At the center of it all, the Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star Venetian Resort launched May 3, 1999, on the site of the historic Sands, introducing Las Vegas’ first integrated resort concept and revolutionizing the city’s hospitality landscape. The scale was massive, complementing the soul of Venice with 25-foot-high columns built from Botticino marble and frescoes hand-painted by Italian artists.
The accommodations were all suites, and gondoliers sang from the canals. Twenty-five years later, in honor of its quarter-century anniversary, The Venetian Resort unveils a $1.5 billion reinvestment plan, touted as the most extensive and most expensive hotel renovation in history.
All facets of the property will benefit from the birthday facelift. “It’s a corner-to-corner renovation of the resort,” says Patrick Nichols, president and chief executive officer of The Venetian Resort Las Vegas. “We started the master planning two years ago and decided that, s.