Fontainebleau Las Vegas: A Jackpot or a Bust?

I visited the Fontainebleau, Vegas’ new resort on day 2. I had somewhat high expectations for this property, but it blew those out of the water. Yes, the location isn’t great if you want to be at the center of the strip, but the resort is amazing.

Fontainebleau Las Vegas Thoughts – Location

The Fontainebleau is located at the far end of the strip, located across from Circus Circus and next to the Sahara Las Vegas. In addition, it is quite close to the Westgate, the Convention Center, and Resorts World. So if you want to be in the heart of the Las Vegas strip, this is not the hotel for you. But, if you are in Las Vegas for a convention, then this is a great hotel. It is also about halfway from the strip and Downtown, so that is likely useful for some.

Background

The Fontainebleau has been in the making for over 20 years. Construction began in 2007, but due to the recession, there were a number of financial issues and it later went into bankruptcy. The building was vacant for about 10 years before being bought by the Witkoff Group and being renamed The Drew.  In 2021, the property was revived by Jeff Soffer, owner of the Fontainebleau Miami. At that point construction resumed and led to the property finally opening in December of 2023. The total cost for the property was $4.6 billion dollars.

Fontainebleau Las Vegas Thoughts – Hotel

The Fontainebleau has a gigantic hotel. The hotel has 3,644 rooms, and at 64 floors it is the tallest building in Nevada (the Strat is not considered to be a building). They have security guards checking for room keys, but we were able to explore the rooms for a little while. We first tried to go to the top 5 floors (the 83rd to 88th floor if I’m not mistaken), but most of them were still under construction. We did go to the 84th floor, which was not under construction, and the views of Downtown were stunning. Because of the shape of the building, it is as if you are right above Las Vegas Boulevard looking straight ahead.

On a side note, rooms are around $200 (with resort fee) on off peak dates, which is not too expensive given it is so new.

Parking

Unfortunately, similar to many other Vegas Strip resorts, the hotel charges for parking. But, with that said, it is a lot more generous. Unlike other Strip hotels, the Fontainebleau gives 4 hours free, as well as free hotel parking for hotel guests. This isn’t that bad of a deal, as you can do a lot in 4 hours. My dad and I weren’t sure how crowded it would be, so we parked at Resorts World and walked over.

Fontainebleau Las Vegas Thoughts – Casino

Overall, compared to other strip properties, I didn’t find the Fontainebleau to have a particularly great casino. Not a lot of the tables were open, and the casino was mostly full of slot machines. That said, the high limit room did look really nice. I’m probably not the best one to judge casinos since I can’t gamble anyways. 😉

But with that being said, the casino itself was absolutely stunning. It was wide open, the walkways were big, and it was very expansive.

Crowds

Given that it was the second day (third night) since the grand opening, I expected the casino to be busier than it was. I would estimate it was only about half full, and it never got too crowded. That’s not good for day 2, but hopefully the property is successful.

Restaurants

The Fontainbleau has over 25 restaurants, which is pretty impressive. I didn’t look at the restaurants too much, but what really stuck out to me was the center bar and the food hall on Level 2. The center bar is located right in the heart of the casino and had a beautiful chandelier. The food hall was also a nice touch with 8 vendors. I didn’t find the prices to be too unreasonable there or in other restaurants I looked at. A full list of restaurants is available here.

Fontainebleau Las Vegas Thoughts – Amenities

Besides the pool as mentioned below, the gym was closed, but it looked very expansive and had very nice equipment from Technogym. In addition, the spa is supposed to be one of the largest in Las Vegas, and I overheard people talking about how there are several vitality pools, which is great if that’s your thing.

Pool

My dad and I tried to get pictures of the pool area, but it was closed when we were there. That said, it does look very nice and I look forward to its opening in the spring.

Fontainebleau Las Vegas Thoughts – Common Areas

In addition to the casino, the Fontainebleau had some very stunning common areas. On the second floor is the retail area. A lot of it is still under construction, but the walkways look great. Also, there is a beautiful lobby area. They also have fresh roses located in the middle of the lobby, which must cost a fortune.

Tier Matching

On the second day of opening, the Fontainebleau offered tier matching of most casinos programs. And the best part is the fact that they were also offering $150 in spa credits as well as $150 in food and beverage credits. But, the day after they rescinded that and according to what I saw, they said that was only being offered on the first day. It’s a bummer they didn’t offer that, as I was hoping I could take advantage. That said, I did see someone say online that if you reach out to a host, then there’s a chance that they will offer you some extra perks. I am going to try that, and I’ll report back if I hear anything.

Update: I did email [email protected], and within a couple of days, I did get a response. The host told me that they are not doing tier matching, but she was able to match comp offers from other Vegas casinos. It doesn’t sound like Fontainebleau is doing well, so I think they will probably bring back tier matching at a later date.

Fontainebleau Las Vegas Thoughts – Conclusion:

Overall, I really enjoyed checking out the Fontainebleau. It is an absolutely stunning property, and I really hope it does well. Its location is the question mark but I’m pulling for them.