LAS VEGAS — “We’re excited to be here tonight for the grand, oh so grand, opening of Fontainebleau,” Justin Timberlake told the crowd Wednesday night in Las Vegas, bringing “Sexy Back,” “Mirrors” and more to the stage.
The “Suit and Tie” singer took the torch from Rat Pack-era crooner Paul Anka, who kicked off the musical performances at the opening of the long-awaited Fontainebleau Las Vegas by serenading its chief executive Jeffrey Soffer for his birthday with a personalized rendition of “My Way.”
“Enjoy yourself and don’t win a lot of money,” Soffer joked to his guests, some of whom wondered if Timberlake’s performance could have been a prelude to a Las Vegas residency.
Tom Brady, Keith Urban, Cher, Kim Kardashian, Sylvester Stallone, Tommy Hilfiger, Chrome Heart’s Laurie Lynn Stark, and many more walked the “bleau carpet” at the beginning of the night before dining around the property’s restaurants, including, from L.A., Evan Funke’s Mother Wolf.
There were cocktail bars set up throughout the property, and feather-bedecked showgirls, Rat Pack impersonators and the hotel’s unofficial French poodle mascot for photo ops.
After the performances, the doors opened to the public shortly before midnight, when invited guests dispersed to several after parties, including one where Peggy Gou DJd, and another where Aloe Blacc performed.
The blue-hued resort is 67 stories with 3,644 luxury hotel rooms and suites; 550,000 square feet of meeting and convention space; 150,000 square feet of gaming space; restaurants; pools; a spa with Barbara Sturm treatments, and shops, of course. Open now are Chrome Hearts, Missoni, Giuseppe Zanotti, chocolatier Cocoa Dolce, and Fontainebleau Development’s original concepts Ora, Lapis, Morris & Co. and FB Express.
Alaïa, Gucci, Graff, Cartier, Boucheron and VB Clothing (where Soffer buys his clothes in Miami) will be opening soon.
“We started working in this city 20 years ago,” said Zanotti of starting off at the shoe show in Las Vegas. “I’m happy to have this opportunity to be back,” he said, adding that his last store in the city closed in March 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our approach to retail is centered around ‘unexpected gems’ — curating luxury brands and products that are not commonly found on the Strip,” said Fontainebleau Development vice president of corporate retail Brooke Soffer, whose family has a long history in the retail real estate business, building the Aventura Mall in Florida for one.
“Just as we have done for decades, we have sought out brand partners beyond the traditional, emphasizing uniqueness and the ability to develop a connection with our guests. This way, every interaction between guests and our retail partners becomes part of their Fontainebleau Las Vegas memories. They’re able to look at every piece as a beloved keepsake from their time with us,” she said.
Florida real estate developer Jeffrey Soffer’s company bought the property first occupied by The Thunderbird in 2000 but didn’t reveal plans to build the new resort until 2005, after he partnered with former Mandalay Resort Group president Glenn Schaeffer to form Fontainebleau Resorts and purchased the Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach.
He invested more than $1 billion to renovate and reopen the iconic 1954 Florida landmark in 2008, but funding for the Las Vegas project disintegrated during the recession. The property fell into bankruptcy and changed hands a few more times before Soffer returned to it with partner Brett Mufson, and funding from Koch Industries’ real estate investment wing.
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