Two new casinos opening in Las Vegas, one in huge blue tower on the Strip
Durango opened last week, Fontainebleau opens this week.
LAS VEGAS — After a hiatus of more than two years, Las Vegas is seeing two new casinos open back to back.
The Fontainebleau, at the north end of the Strip, will welcome its first guests on Wednesday, Dec. 13; last week, Durango opened just off the beltway in Spring Valley.
The $3.7 billion Fontainebleau occupies an imposing 67-story blue glass tower that began construction in 2007 and sat unfinished on Las Vegas Boulevard for more than a decade. It’s just north of the convention center and a short walk from the Strip’s previous newest casino, Resorts World, which opened in June 2021.
Several Las Vegas casinos have changed hands or rebranded in recent months, but Fontainebleau and Durango were built from the ground up.
The Fontainebleau tower is billed as the tallest occupiable building in Nevada. The 25-acre complex includes 3,644 rooms and suites, 19 restaurants (with more to come), a luxury boutique retail district and a six-acre pool area. Its main theater has booked Post Malone for concerts Dec. 30 and Dec. 31, with ticket prices up to $930.
The complex is the sister property to the famed 80-year-old Fontainebleau in Miami Beach.
Durango Casino and Resort, a 15-story complex on 71 acres outside the city’s main resort corridor, was built for $780 million. It’s the seventh off-Strip property in the Vegas area for Station Casinos, a company the late Frank Fertitta Jr. started as a bingo parlor in 1976.
Durango is intended to cater more to local residents than international tourists.
Officials said a later phase would add a second hotel tower, a theater and entertainment area, and additional casino space.