The grand opening of Caesars Republic Scottsdale Hotel was a star-studded affair and an engaging sneak peek at the new property that officially opens March 6.
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Hundreds of VIPs, influencers, and invited guests were invited to tour the property, enjoy food and beverage from Giada De Laurentiis’s restaurant, Luna by Giada, enjoy entertainment, walk the red carpet and meet and greet management and staff of Caesars Republic.
Caesars Republic is the first of its brand, and designed as a non-gaming property that serves as a one-stop vacation destination that offers the finest in accommodations, dining, shopping and entertainment. Although designed for Caesars Rewards members as an additional destination to visit, the public is also encouraged to vacation or staycation at Caesars Republic.
The beautiful new property was five years in the making, including downtime during the pandemic. David Hyatt, director of property at Scottsdale Fashion Square, home of Caesars Republic Scottsdale, says, “The mall started 61 years ago, so it’s transformed since then. This used to be the old rodeo grounds right here where we’re sitting.”
The unique piece of land on which Caesars Republic is situated showcases the views of all the mountains in the surrounding valley to the guest rooms and restaurants. “But of course, it’s overlooking my mall, which is an even better view, and we like that part, too,” Hyatt adds with a chuckle.
Hyatt continues, “We’ve worked so hard to create a luxury environment by bringing in Gucci, Louis (Vuitton), (Christian) Dior and Balenciaga into this area… So, now, we can have a stay, work, play, dine, full experience here.” This ultimate luxury experience was the planned outcome between Rick Huffman, CEO and president of HCW, that owns Caesars Republic Scottsdale and Macerich, that owns Scottsdale Fashion Square.
Development, management and hospitality company, HCW owns Caesars Republic. Five years ago, a friend of Rick Huffman, the CEO and President of HCW, reached out with a request to have the nationwide real estate company assist Caesars with getting its new brand off the ground. The location was important and needed to be within driving distance of Las Vegas. “We have 55 million Rewards Card holders worldwide. “We wanted to use that reward-type customer and sign-up new rewards customers to take them to Vegas…,” says Huffman.
Huffman met with Ed Coppola who was the president of Macerich at the time. “They had just zoned this property for a 150-foot-tall building. Huffman explains, “He didn’t want a Hilton. He didn’t want a Marriott. He wanted something unique to be built on the ground. He and I, over a few glasses of wine, decided that Republic would be a perfect fit.” A licensing agreement was struck, a groundbreaking occurred, and plans came to a screeching halt 10 days later when the pandemic went full tilt. Fast forward to March 2024, the property came in 22 days ahead of schedule.
Huffman discusses the economic impact of Caesars Republic. “It’s obviously a revenue driver for the City of Scottsdale, it’s great for the mall and it’s great for us,” Huffman says. “This mall does in excess of $1800-a-square-foot in sales. A normal mall is about $400, just to give you (an idea) of how well this does.”
Huffman anticipates the gross revenue of the hotel and its restaurants at $60 million a year, with additional millions being spent by hotel guests at the mall. Conveniently, there is a walkway on the second floor that leads from the hotel, directly into Scottsdale Fashion Square. There is also space inside Caesars Republic that will serve as a kind of “spotlight boutique” of luxury brands that will be featured on a rotating basis.
CAESARS REPUBLIC SCOTTSDALE BY THE NUMBERS:
- 1 bridal suite, complete with salon services space
- 2 pools
- 3 restaurants
- 4 bars
- 5 penthouse suites
- 11-story hotel
- 23 weddings booked at Caesar Republic before its grand opening
- 265 rooms
- 7,000 square-feet of space for Cleopatra’s Pool & Bar
- 20,000 square-feet of event space
Celebrity chef, restaurateur and “Food Network” star, Giada De Laurentiis has two signature restaurants inside Caesars Republic — Luna by Giada and Pronto by Giada. Caesars Republic worked out a licensing agreement with De Laurentiis, who Huffman and his team affectionately refer to as, “G.”
De Laurentiis is excited to debut Luna by Giada at Caesars Republic. She enthusiastically embraced the opportunity to build her own restaurant in Scottsdale. “There are a lot of chefs in my position that do not get that opportunity,” De Laurentiis says. “Usually, they walk into an existing space and you’re like, ‘Ok, I’ll paint that white and I’ll change that color and I’ll do a couple new banquettes and some new chairs and call it mine.’”
She continues, “I’ve spent time in Scottsdale before on my book signings and things, and I know there’s a nice group of people that I feel the love from…” She also includes that she enjoyed working with Huffman and felt that Luna by Giada would work at the property. “Rick and I had to sign off on each other!” she adds enthusiastically.
The experience that guests receive at Luna by Giada is paramount to De Laurentiis. “I don’t want them to think they’re just coming in for a great meal. I want them to have an experience, as if they were coming into my home. My home is lined with pictures of family, with movie posters, which if you go further down, you’ll see my grandmother’s movie posters,” she explains, motioning over to another space in Luna. Of note, her grandfather, Dino De Laurentiis was a prolific Hollywood producer of nearly 200 films including “King Kong,” “Flash Gordon,” “Ragtime,” the original “Dune,” “Blue Velvet,” and “Hannibal.”
De Laurentiis strove to give the experience of “home” by incorporating a lot of greenery, comfortable spaces. “I really wanted the ability to see what’s going on in the kitchen. I really wanted that in Vegas and I did not get it,” she explains of her flagship restaurant GIADA.
“(Here), they allowed me to have an open space so you can see the pizzas in the pizza oven, you can see what the staff what doing… The bright colors, that tomato red which I just love, which we also brought into Pronto, the quick serve (restaurant) which is on the other end,” De Laurentiis says. She particularly loves that she could incorporate a fine dining concept and a quick serve experience into Caesars Republic.
