Palazzo Las Vegas: Glitz, glamour and grandiosity

LAS VEGAS -- In this town where the big, the spectacular and the over-the-top are commonplace, genuine new benchmarks are rare.

That's why the debut this weekend of The Palazzo Resort-Hotel-Casino, complete with fireworks, a Diana Ross concert and a private dinner cooked up by the likes of Emeril Lagasse, Wolfgang Puck and Mario Batali, is a moment to behold.

The $1.9 billion resort — the first hotel to make its debut on the Strip in nearly three years — is the blonder, taller, slightly more elegant sister to the iconic 9-year-old Venetian Resort. Together, they boast 7,100 suites (3,066 for The Palazzo). Because the entire hotel end of the complex is run by a central reservation system and other behind-the-scenes operations, the combined property is now the world's largest hotel by room count.

In fact, the addition of The Palazzo — now the tallest hotel tower in Vegas, too — makes the total package of The Palazzo, The Venetian and the Sands Expo and Convention Center the world's biggest indoor structure at 19 million square feet, the company says.

As enormous and intimidating as that is, the property offers enough intimate spaces to somewhat mitigate the potential for guests to be overwhelmed. The striking 60-story glass atrium and 25-foot waterfall that serves as the transitional area between The Venetian and The Palazzo is among such spaces — a tranquil area of trickling water with a gourmet Illy coffee bar.

The goal, says Las Vegas Sands COO William Weidner, was to offer visitors choices between "chocolate — that is The Venetian — or vanilla — that is The Palazzo," while providing similar amenities. Indeed, both resorts have Canyon Ranch SpaClubs and restaurants from Puck, Batali and Lagasse. By spring, when Jersey Boys opens for a permanent run, both also will have best-musical Tony Award winners. (The Venetian has a Vegas-sized version of Phantom of the Opera.)

But there also are differences. The Palazzo offers the most hotly anticipated addition to Las Vegas' already Paris-worthy shopping with the debut of Vegas' first Barneys New York, complete with its own valet and entrance on the Strip. The 450,000 square feet of retail space also boasts such Vegas firsts as boutiques by Christian Louboutin, Diane Von Furstenberg, Catherine Malandrino and Project Runway judge Michael Kors.