Palazzo Las Vegas Gets A Facelift

Checking into the palatial all-suite Palazzo is like entering an Italian villa which happens to house a casino.  Located next to its adjacent sister property, the Venetian, the modern European-themed Palazzo stands 50 stories tall and houses luxury shops, entertainment and over 3,000 all suite rooms.

After a decade, the Palazzo has recently undergone a renovation updating their suites and casino floor and adding new bars and eateries. The Palazzo has always been one of the nicest hotels to visit on The Strip and after the renovations the resort is even more inviting.

The new design included taking out a large escalator that led to the Grand Canal Shoppes and moving it to the grand lobby and adding elements to create a brighter and more open casino space.  There is a huge ribbon installation across the casino ceiling and new marble pathways leading to gaming tables and machines.

The VIP check-in is a breeze with complimentary champagne, an elegant waiting/lounge area and snacks throughout the day and evening.

The remodeled suites are much brighter with LEED standard wall coverings, lighting and flooring. The rich brown headboards, soothing beige tones and blue accent pillows provide a relaxing room space.  We loved the one touch curtain and lighting controls that provided easy opening and closing of shades and drapes.

 The marble and granite clad bathrooms, sunken living room and three flat screen televisions were elegant and inviting.

There's also three new cocktail areas to try.  Rosina Cocktail Bar opened last December.  This upscale glamorous bar shines with a gold and black color scheme, beautiful chandeliers, maroon banquettes and cozy cocktail tables with pearl leather chairs.

Bar Luca, 24 hour center casino bar has plenty of comfy beige suede bar seating as well as bright orange booths. They also offer signature cocktails and are famous for their small batch potato chips.

The newest addition to the Palazzo's cocktail scene is Electra Cocktail Club, an energetic nightlife experience offering rum focused libations, upbeat music, a corner banquette wrapped in huge bracelets and a 40-foot digital display featuring original adult themed art.

The Aquatic Club and Venetian/Palazzo Pool Deck

There's also plenty of pools shared by both resorts at their pool deck. Try the Aquatic Club for a boutique water experience. Inspired by the swim, racquet and lawn clubs of the past, the Venetian's new retro designed Aquatic Club features throwback pool cocktails, artisan alcoholic ice pops and  cabanas decorated with murals. Music ranges from jazz to hip hop to '80s pop and Chef Wolfgang Puck provides salads, pizzas and sushi with retro drinks and contemporary cocktails.

The resort and adjoining sister resort Venetian also offer some of the best dining options on the Strip.  If you are planning a weekend getaway or just dinner, here are some places to entertain your palate.

Bouchon

Go for the perfectly brewed coffee, the flakiest croissants outside of Paris, or the French country fare, but don't leave Sin City without a visit to Bouchon for breakfast.  Renowned for his French Laundry fame, chef Thomas Keller's Parisian bistro atop the Venetian's Venezia Tower is relaxed, large and airy with tall mahogany columns running down the center, murals, and floor to ceiling paneled windows overlooking a flowering garden patio.  Ask for a table outside and dine al fresco on fresh French bread with butter and pistachios, Croque Madame (toasted ham and cheese sandwich on brioche with fried egg and mornay sauce), Oeuf and Bourdin Blanc (white sausage with scrambled eggs and croissant) or select from Bouchon's extensive bakery items including muffins, pastries, croissants, quiches and breads.  They also have great lunch and dinner menus.

Buddy V's

Located in the Grand Canal Shoppes is Buddy V's, Buddy Valastro's, star of the hit TL series Cake Boss, first restaurant.  The huge new eatery, complete with bakery, is 11,000 square feet and offers beautiful views of the Strip.  The menu offers new twists on Italian-American classics as well as the chef's family favorites including linguine with clams and lobster, steak pizzaiola and lasagna al forno.  The impressive dessert menu includes a variety of cannolis, zeppole and Valastro's signature lobster tail pastry. Buddy V's recently celebrated its 5th year anniversary.

Yardbird

Located in the walkway connecting Venetian to Palazzo is the southern inspired Yardbird. Yardbird is divided into several areas, a very big open lounge/bar, a main dining room in front of the kitchen action and a smaller quieter side room.  The atmosphere as well as the food exudes a Southern flare, with wooden tables and floors, brick walls and chicken wire glass windows.  The signature poultry dishes are outstanding and come in a number of preparations – chicken with watermelon and waffles, smoked backyard BBQ chicken and Lewellyn's fine fried chicken with honey sauce.  Other menu highlights include the deviled eggs, wedge salad, short ribs and grits, smoked and roasted bone marrow, fried green tomato BLT and the amazing buttermilk biscuits.  Yardbird has an outstanding specialty cocktail menu including blackberry bourbon lemonade and a blind lemon shanty. Don't just go for dinner, the brunch is also wonderful.

Morels French Steakhouse & Bistro

Located next to the Palazzo lobby, Morels transports diners to an elegant French seafood bar and steakhouse. The entrance leads to a huge lounge area including an elegant fresh seafood display and a cheese and charcuterie bar including over 60 artisanal and farmhouse cheeses. Further inside is the main dining room, romantic and intimate with both table and booth seating, elegant chandeliers, a blue and brown color scheme and elegant paintings of entangled body parts. There's also outside seating on the pretty patio with white linen tables, orange umbrellas and wooden tables. There's old school prep for tableside salads, steaks, drinks and desserts and a huge variety of both wet and dry aged steaks.

Palazzo will continue to update their roster of dining options with Mott 32, an award-winning fine dining experience based in Hong Kong which will bring a new Chinese dining experience to the Strip in December 2018.

Reservations for Palazzo can be made at www.palazzo.com or at 866.263.3001.

The hotel stay and meals that were the subject of this article were provided at no cost to the author.