New York hotel developer joins Caesars in Bill's Gamblin' Hall remodeling

LAS VEGAS -- Caesars Entertainment Inc. announced Monday it is partnering with a New York City-based luxury hotel operator in the $185 million redevelopment of the now-closed Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall and Saloon.

Gansevoort Hotel Group, which operates boutique hotels in New York City’s Meatpacking District, on Park Avenue and in the Caribbean resort islands of the Turks and Caicos, is joining Caesars in renovating the small casino at the corner of the Strip and Flamingo Road.

The property, which is expected to open in early 2014, will be renamed Gansevoort Las Vegas and will have 188 “Parisian apartment-style rooms,” including 19 suites. The renovation will reduce the number of hotel rooms at the property by 10.

Tandem Las Vegas will design the rooms.

The building is being remodeled to include a new lobby area, a redesigned lobby bar, ultra-lounge, retail outlets and a 40,000 square-foot casino. A restaurant overlooking the Strip also will be developed.

Gansevoort Las Vegas will feature Drai’s Beach Club and Nightclub, a 65,000 square-foot indoor-outdoor nightclub and rooftop pool area overlooking the Strip. Nightclub developer Victor Drai, who operated After Hours by Drai at Bill’s, is overseeing the rooftop development.

After Hours by Drai also will return in its same location when the redeveloped casino opens.

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

Originally opened as the Barbary Coast by Michael Gaughan, the casino became part of Boyd Gaming Corporation when the company acquired Coast Casinos, Inc. in 2003.

In 2006, Boyd Gaming swapped the casino to Harrah’s in exchange for a 27-acre land parcel on the north end of the Strip that was merged into the company’s now-mothballed Echelon development.

Harrah’s renamed the casino Bill’s in honor of the company’s founder, William Harrah, and focused on a middle-market customer.

The Gansevoort Las Vegas will market to an upscale audience.

Caesars Entertainment Chief Marketing Officer Tariq Shaukat said the redeveloped Gansevoort Las Vegas will blend in with The Linq, a 300,000-square-foot retail, dining and entertainment district, which will be anchored by a 550-foot-tall observation wheel.

The Linq, which is between the Flamingo and the redeveloped Quad resort, is expected to open by the end of this year at a cost of $550 million.

“Gansevoort Las Vegas will be a completely unique upscale lifestyle experience in Las Vegas,” Shaukat said in a statement. “We are confident that Gansevoort Las Vegas will be one of the most exciting destinations in Las Vegas when it opens.”

The redeveloped hotel is expected to employ 1,000 workers. Caesars closed Bill’s in February in anticipation of the redevelopment.