So now it’s Birnbaum’s turn to see what he can do with the Rio. Under the Harrah’s/Caesars watch, Penn & Teller in 2001 began a record residency at the property unequaled by any other Las Vegas entertainer and the famed World Series of Poker made its home at Rio’s convention area from 2005 to 2021.Ĭaesars sold the Rio to Dreamscape in 2019 for $516 million. When Marnell sold the Rio to Harrah’s Entertainment - a forerunner to Caesars - for $766 million in 1999, it resulted in more changes for the Rio. The hotel’s original three-wing, 20-story Ipanema Tower saw an expansion in 1997 with a 41-floor Masquerade Tower and a two-story retail and restaurant complex featuring the Masquerade Show in the Sky, a nightly parade of floats suspended from the ceiling. A swimming pool with a waterfall, a Rio de Janeiro carnivale theme, some of the top buffets in the city and occasional appearances by Brazilian jazz musician Sergio Mendes greeted customers.

Marnell’s Rio had many crowd pleasers as Southern Nevada’s first all-suite hotel product. 1, giving Birnbaum plenty of time to make plans for his first foray into Las Vegas. The property’s new owner, Dreamscape Cos., led by New York real estate investor Eric Birnbaum, officially takes over operations Oct. Thirty-three years after the Rio first opened its doors in January 1990 under Marnell, his design company has been hired as an homage to the Rio’s history to oversee a $350 million renovation of the property that begins next month and with its first phase expected to take a year and a half to complete. The resort industry has a funny way of coming full circle.

(Rachel Aston/Las Vegas Review-Journal) Anthony Marnell built the Rio - a Brazilian-themed resort close enough to the Strip to attract crowds of tourists but far enough away from Strip traffic to appeal to locals - it caught the eye of the company that eventually became Caesars Entertainment. A newly renovated room at the Rio hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Wednesday, July 26, 2023.

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