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Top 10 things to know about the Palms

28 November 2016

The distinctive towers of The Palms rise above Las Vegas.

The distinctive towers of The Palms rise above Las Vegas.

Despite its off-Strip location, The Palms Casino Resort is a popular Las Vegas location, especially for the younger generation.

Though it's got some time before it reaches some of the milestones other casinos have reached, it's not showing any signs of slowing down.

Earlier this month, The Palms celebrated its 15th anniversary, and to help keep the party going, here are 10 interesting facts and noteworthy events you should know about the property.

10. The lowdown
Situated on 30 acres of land, Palms has 703 rooms and over 90,000 square feet of casino. A recording studio, a Michelin-starred restaurant and a 2,500-seat concert theater round out your experience.

To keep things fresh, it's recently undergone multimillion-dollar renovations and expansions. More on that later.

The resort, developed by the Maloof family, opened in November 2001. Things sort of snowballed from there. Take the grand opening, for instance . . .

9. A very grand opening
Paris Hilton, decked out in a gown of gaming chips worth over $1 million, attended the grand opening of the Palms. Talk about auspicious.

Over 7,000 locals, celebrities and VIPs were also present. Some other notable names included Dennis Rodman, Pamela Anderson and Samuel L. Jackson.

8. Build that TV cred
The 12th season of MTV's long-running series, Real World, was filmed at this very location.

Guests can stay in the appropriately-named "Real World Suite" for $10,000 a night, if they so choose.

Not a fan? That's alright – dozens of other shows have been filmed here throughout the years, including Keeping up with the Kardashians, Total Divas and Chelsea Does.

7. Spend (an expensive) night
Klai Juba, a company that specializes in remodeling the Strip's popular properties, transformed the Ivory Tower in 2012, putting a custom wall mural above every bed in the 428 Premier Rooms.

If you don't like art but still have that urge to spend a load of money on something, a penthouse was listed for $38 million at the Palms Palace back in 2014. It was one of the most expensive apartments in the world.

The Fantasy Tower hosts some of the most expensive luxury suites in the world, including the $40,000-per-night Sky Villa. Bring your friends!

Inside the Fantasy Tower is a two-story, 10,000 square foot suite that includes a basketball court with a locker room and scoreboard. Some people wake up in the middle of the night for a glass of water. Some like to shoot hoops.

6. Musically inclined
The late, great Michael Jackson recorded "Hold My Hand" in the aptly named The Studio at the Palms in 2007, during which time he took up residence in one of those insanely expensive sky villas. But, when you're Michael Jackson, you can do those sorts of things.

Two years later, in 2009, the Palms' Fantasy Tower was chosen at the setting for a portion of Katy Perry's music video, "Waking Up in Vegas."

5. They've got food
Of course, we can't write a top 10 without mentioning food.

Celebrity hotspot and award-winning N9NE Steakhouse has enough sophisticated bites to make your head spin.

Executive Chef Barry Dakake has over 400 celebrity signatures on his shakedown door from A-listers of the actor, athlete and musician variety. (By the way, it's called a shakedown door because the chef gives them an incredibly firm handshake after they sign. We think.)

Despite being a fine dining establishment, they have a menu item called the Garbage Salad. Take from that what you will.

4. Celeb showdown
As you may have guessed based on the over 400 celeb signatures mentioned in the previous item, this place gets a ton of traffic from a ton of huge names.

During the world premiere of Ocean's Thirteen in 2007, one could rub elbows with the likes of Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Matt Damon.

Britney Spears held a surprise performance in the popular Rain Nightclub back in 2003 for over 1,800 guests, and the winners of the 2012 Stanley Cup, the LA Kings, celebrated with a weekend in the Sky Villa.

And, if you're looking for some photographic evidence, the Palms collected their best celeb shots from over the years:


3. World's largest Hooters
Last year on 15 September, the world's largest Hooters opened for business at none other than The Palms. The restaurant seats more than 500 guests in a two story, 15,200-square-foot space, ensuring that no one gets left out in the dog house.

The bar and restaurant feature 50 TVs, 12 video poker machines and that modern aesthetic everyone goes wild about.

2. Richard Branson
Sir Richard Branson, a business magnate knighted for his services to entrepreneurship, bungee jumped off the roof of the Palms in 2007 to celebrate the inaugural Virgin American flight from Las Vegas to San Francisco. (Branson founded the Virgin Group, which, unsurprisingly, owns Virgin America, so he's more than just a diehard fan of the airline business.) Murphy's Law held only slightly true during the course of the 407-foot jump when Branson, clad in a tux, knocked up against the building twice and tore a hole in his pants.

He's pulled quite a few other outlandish stunts over the years. Look him up sometime; you won't be disappointed.

1. Don't forget to party
The year 2011 brought the opening of what's called the "official location for daytime debauchery" by the Palms, the Ghostbar DayClub, whose name captures perfectly the confusion and whimsy of partying in the daytime.

This is the party scene, and you don't want to miss it – life-size banana costumes, piñata smashing, go-go dancers and explosions of confetti await you. Signature cocktails – such as the Emoji Bomb, a dangerous mixture of Jagermeister and Monster Energy Drink in an emoji-emblazoned glass – and an over-the-top style have made this bar a partygoer's top choice since its opening.

And sometimes they just hand out cheeseburgers. What more could you ask for?
Abby Messick

Abby served as an associate editor for the Casino City editorial team for three years, between 2015 and 2018.
Abby Messick
Abby served as an associate editor for the Casino City editorial team for three years, between 2015 and 2018.