Fontainebleau Opens On Las Vegas Strip

The $3.7 billion Fontainebleau hotel-casino opened this week on the northeast part of the Las Vegas Strip, adding an attraction to that reviving section of the resort corridor.

The 67-story, 3,644-room resort welcomed guests on Wednesday, with celebrities such as Cher and retired NFL quarterback Tom Brady in attendance.

Opening ceremonies at the blue-tinted resort included a musical performance by Paul Anka at the BleauLive theater, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Just past midnight on Thursday, the 82-year-old Anka brought the high-limit room to life by using blue dice at a craps table.

Anka’s appearance recalled an earlier era on the Strip before megaresorts began dominating the landscape.

Decades ago, Anka opened a popular nightclub farther south on the Strip near what is now the Planet Hollywood hotel-casino. That nightclub, Paul Anka’s Jubilation, no longer exists but was popular among locals, celebrities and even some mobsters who were active in the Las Vegas Valley during the 1970s.

Former Mob Casinos Demolished

For years, major construction on the north end of the Strip had fallen behind, giving way to newer resorts such as the Bellagio and Cosmopolitan opening on the center Strip and farther south.

The north end got a redevelopment boost with the June 2021 grand opening of Resorts World Las Vegas on the northwest side where the formerly Mob-connected Stardust hotel-casino once stood. The 1995 Las Vegas Mob movie “Casino” was based on the Stardust, though the name of the casino was changed in the film to the Tangiers for legal reasons.

The Fontainebleau also was built at the site of what had been a Mob-linked casino, the Thunderbird, but now it and Resorts World are part of a revival in the area. Older properties in the vicinity, including Circus Circus and the Sahara, recently have undergone renovations.

Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom praised the Fontainebleau's for its grand opening, also mentioning its sister property in South Florida, the Review-Journal noted.

Like most major resorts on the Strip, the Fontainebleau is in Clark County, outside Las Vegas city limits. The Fontainebleau is in Segerblom’s district.

“Both Miami and Las Vegas are really on fire right now,” Segerblom said.

Resort Makes History

The Fontainebleau’s grand opening was years in the making. More than 15 years ago, construction began at the site, but a general economic downturn and other issues left the towering resort unopened until this year on Dec. 13 — a lucky number for the Strip’s newest luxury resort.

The Las Vegas property was “conceptualized” by Fontainebleau Development CEO Jeffrey Soffer, owner of the historic Fontainebleau in Miami Beach, according to the newspaper. His group partnered with Koch Real Estate Investments in seeing the Las Vegas project to completion.

“We are indeed making history today with the convergence of two legacies, the nearly 70-year legacy of the iconic Fontainebleau brand, with the legacy and dynamism of the Las Vegas Strip,” Fontainebleau President Mark Tricano said.