Caesars Entertainment, Gansevoort Hotel Group and Victor Drai to open boutique lifestyle hotel on the Las Vegas Strip

LAS VEGAS, March 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Caesars Entertainment Corporation announced today the collaboration with New York-based luxury hotel brand Gansevoort Hotel Group and nightlife impresario Victor Drai to launch a never before seen Las Vegas experience creating an intimate urban resort at the location of Bill's Gamblin' Hall & Saloon. At the heart of the Strip on the prime corner of Las Vegas Blvd. and Flamingo Road, Gansevoort Las Vegas is planned to open in early 2014.

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As the only standalone boutique resort, perfectly situated at the center of the Strip, Gansevoort Las Vegas' exceptionally high standard of style and service will redefine the boutique hotel experience. Glitterati and everyday guests alike will receive the ultimate in VIP treatment and unique social experiences.

Gansevoort Las Vegas will be the fourth installment of the luxury hospitality brand following the recent success of Gansevoort Park Avenue in New York. Following a $185 million renovation, Gansevoort's iconic style will completely reimagine the hotel experience in Las Vegas, creating the only intimate property among the Strip's towering skyscrapers.  Gansevoort Las Vegas will feature 188 Parisian apartment-style guest rooms including 19 suites, designed by Tandem Las Vegas. An intimate lobby space will welcome guests upon arrival, with a redesigned lobby bar, ultra-lounge, retail outlets, and 40,000 square-foot casino providing a unique upscale energy. A destination restaurant overlooking the Strip will round out the guest experience.

"We are confident that the Gansevoort Las Vegas will be unlike anything that exists in Las Vegas today," said Michael Achenbaum, founder and president, Gansevoort Hotel Group.

Gansevoort Las Vegas will also feature another first for Las Vegas – the creation of Drai's Beach Club and Nightclub, Victor Drai's reinvention of Las Vegas nightlife featuring a 65,000 square-foot indoor/outdoor nightclub and rooftop pool experience. Drai's Beach Club and Nightclub will be one of the most sought after dayclub/nightclub spaces in the city, boasting breathtaking panoramic views high above the Las Vegas Strip. The legendary After Hours by Drai will also return in the same location with its discrete underground and intimate vibe, offering its dedicated club goers an all new experience.

"Drai's After Hours has been a staple of Las Vegas nightlife for the past 15 years," said Victor Drai, creator and founder of the legendary nightclub. "Drai's set a new standard for the late night entertainment experience in Las Vegas and I've successfully raised the bar for that experience with each new venue I've launched. I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to once again re-invent and re-invigorate the nightlife scene right where it all began 15 years ago. Drai's Beach Club and Nightclub, set atop the renovated Gansevoort Las Vegas, will be unlike any other club venue in the world. I'm looking forward to entertaining guests in this beautiful rooftop venue as well as re-introducing After Hours by Drai to the resort."

"Gansevoort Las Vegas will be a completely unique upscale lifestyle experience in Las Vegas," said Tariq Shaukat, executive vice president and chief marketing officer Caesars Entertainment. "It will set a new standard of fun and modern luxury which only Gansevoort Hotel Group, Victor Drai, and Caesars Entertainment can create. We are confident that Gansevoort Las Vegas will be one of the most exciting destinations in Las Vegas when it opens in 2014."

Gansevoort Las Vegas, combined with the nearby open-air retail, dining and entertainment complex The LINQ, opening in late 2013, will transform the heart of the Strip into the heart of Las Vegas entertainment.  The renovated resort is anticipating employing more than 1,000 people.  

About Caesars Entertainment

Caesars Entertainment Corporation is the world's most diversified casino-entertainment company. Since its beginning in Reno, Nevada, more than 76 years ago, Caesars has grown through development of new resorts, expansions and acquisitions, and now operates casinos on four continents. The company's resorts operate primarily under the Caesars®, Harrah's® and Horseshoe® brand names. Caesars also owns the World Series of Poker® and the London Clubs International family of casinos. Caesars Entertainment is focused on building loyalty and value with its guests through a unique combination of great service, excellent products, unsurpassed distribution, operational excellence and technology leadership. We are committed to environmental sustainability and energy conservation and recognize the importance of being a responsible steward of the environment. For more information, please visit Caesars.com.

About Gansevoort Hotel Group

Gansevoort Hotel Group (GHG), the developers of the flagship Gansevoort Meatpacking NYC in New York City's Meatpacking District, is led by father and son team William and Michael Achenbaum.  The company manages a successful Caribbean resort property, Gansevoort Turks + Caicos, which opened in April 2009. The brand's newest addition, the luxurious Gansevoort Park Avenue NYC on 29th Street and Park Avenue South, opened in August 2010. The hotel features a tri-level rooftop complex, Asellina, an Italian restaurant, exhale spa, Cutler salon, and fitness center. GHG specializes in full-service urban and lifestyle resorts that redefine the contemporary hotel experience. For more information, please visit www.gansevoorthotelgroup.com or call Gansevoort Hotel Group at 212-730-0100.

ABOUT DRAI MANAGEMENT GROUP

Drai Management Group is owned and operated by managing partner Michael Gruber and Victor Drai, who is regarded by many as the "father of the Las Vegas after hour's scene." As creator and founder of Las Vegas mega-clubs Tryst and XS, Drai is the visionary and owner of the legendary Drai's After Hours club. Drai Management Group also operates the renowned Los Angeles restaurant/club Drai's, which was established in 1993, and the very popular Drai's Hollywood, which opened in 2010 as a restaurant, pool and nightclub located on the rooftop of the W Hotel in Hollywood, California. In 2014, Drai Management Group will introduce a new concept, Drai's Beach Club and Nightclub, inside the Gansevoort Hotel Las Vegas (formerly Bill's Gamblin' Hall & Saloon). The rooftop venue will encompass 65,000 square feet offering panoramic views of the Las Vegas Strip and boast a pool, dayclub/nightclub and concert space. Additionally, After Hours by Drai will re-open, Las Vegas' most famous after hour's nightclub, is a lush, exciting place to enjoy the early morning Vegas nightlife. Boasting four various sized rooms with two plush bars and two large dance floors, the sensuous interior offers more than 10,000 square-feet of alluring space. Beautiful artwork is placed throughout the venue creating a unique artistic ambiance.

This release includes "forward-looking statements" intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify these statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements contain words such as "may," "will," "project," "might," "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "could," "would," "estimate," "continue," "pursue," or the negative or other variations thereof or comparable terminology. In particular, they include statements relating to, among other things, future actions, strategies, future performance, the outcomes of contingencies, and future financial results of Caesars and its projects. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and projections about future events.

Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or results and involve risks and uncertainties that cannot be predicted or quantified, and, consequently, the actual performance of Caesars or this project may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following factors, as well as other factors described from time to time in the Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (including the sections entitled "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" contained therein):

• the impact of Caesars' significant indebtedness;
• the effects of local and national economic, credit, and capital market conditions on the economy, in general, and on the gaming industry, in particular;
• the ability to realize the expense reductions from cost savings programs;
• access to available and reasonable financing on a timely basis, and the ability to comply the conditions to funding under the financing for this project;
• the ability of the Company's customer-tracking, customer loyalty, and yield-management programs to continue to increase customer loyalty and same-store or hotel sales;
• changes in laws, including increased tax rates, smoking bans, regulations or accounting standards, third-party relations and approvals, and decisions, disciplines, and fines of courts, regulators, and governmental bodies;
• the ability to recoup costs of the capital investment for the project through higher revenues;
• abnormal gaming holds ("gaming hold" is the amount of money that is retained by the casino from wagers by customers);
• the effects of competition, including locations of competitors and operating and market competition;
• the potential difficulties in employee retention and recruitment as a result of the Company's substantial indebtedness, the closure of the property for the development project or any other factor;
• construction factors, including delays, increased costs of labor and materials, availability of labor and materials, zoning issues, environmental restrictions, soil and water conditions, weather and other hazards, site access matters, and building permit issues;
• litigation outcomes and judicial and governmental body actions, including gaming legislative action, referenda, regulatory disciplinary actions, and fines and taxation;
• the effects of environmental and structural building conditions relating to the Company's properties;
• access to insurance on reasonable terms for the Company's assets ,and this project;
• acts of war or terrorist incidents, severe weather conditions, uprisings, or natural disasters; and
• the impact, if any, of unfunded pension benefits under multi-employer pension plans.

Any forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and, as such, speak only as of the date made. Caesars disclaims any obligation to update the forward-looking statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date stated or, if no date is stated, as of the date of this press release.

SOURCE Caesars Entertainment