Harrah’s Las Vegas marks 80th year with a $140-million renovation of its guest rooms

Harrah’s, one of the oldest names in Nevada gaming, is celebrating its 80th anniversary with a makeover of some of its guest rooms at its resort on the Las Vegas Strip.

Harrah’s Las Vegas has pumped $140 million into a transformation of the Valley Tower. More than 1,600 rooms and suites now feature cream-colored decor with dark wood accents. The contrasting new furnishings include fabrics in shades of blue and purple.

The hotel has more than 2,500 rooms and suites in the renovated Valley Tower and the classic Mardi Gras Tower. It houses six restaurants, four bars, a pool area, spa and salon.

The face-lift makes Harrah’s an even better value than it was before. Rates on the hotel’s reservations page showed prices less than $100 for a renovated room with a king-sized bed on select dates in early April.

Valley Tower rooms over Mother’s Day weekend (May 11 to 13) were available starting at $159. (Remember to add on a $35 daily resort fee.)

Harrah’s has undergone a lot of changes over its eight decades. Founder Bill Harrah opened his first bingo parlors in downtown Reno in 1937 and 1938. They would eventually grow into the current Harrah’s Reno hotel and casino. In the mid-1950s, he bought several clubs in Stateline, Nev., that would eventually be branded as Harrah’s Lake Tahoe.

What would eventually become Harrah’s Las Vegas began in 1973 as the Holiday Casino. It was renamed in 1992.

What hasn’t changed? The hotel’s two 32-foot-high statues of jesters covered in gold leaf remain on the outside, and the popular photo backdrop “The Greenbacks” sculpture of two gawdy gamblers is still there on the inside.

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