Historian discusses iconic Fontainebleau Miami Beach as Las Vegas location opens

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — People have been wondering what the giant blue building on the Las Vegas Strip was for years.

“Wasn’t quite sure what it was, a business or hotel coming in?” said a visitor from Iowa, Bob Lentzkow.

“Have you ever heard of Fontainebleau before?” asked KTNV’s Joe Moeller

“No.”

It’s a hotel name some have never heard of, but if you ask people in Miami or tourists who go to South Florida, it is a name they know very well. That is where the original Fontainebleau was built.

“It was built in ’54,” said Resident Historian Paul George.

He showed us photos of the original Fontainebleau from the HistoryMiami Museum.

HistoryMiami Museum

HistoryMiami Museum

“Grandiose lobby and a lavish pool. It sits immediately west of the Atlantic Ocean. It was on the main street in tourism in the United States, Collins Avenue, long before Las Vegas was ‘Las Vegas,'” he said.

He says the hotel there has appeared in several movies over the years.

“It was a venue for a lot,” he said. “Frank Sinatra in particular and James Bond.”

Over the decades, the hotel had its ups and downs, but in the early 2000s, it was bought by the Soffer family and underwent a significant transformation. The Las Vegas location was delayed several times, and ownership even changed at one point.

Now, this building is back in the hands of the original owners and is open as Fontainebleau Las Vegas.

“When you think about that brand expanding to Las Vegas,” Moeller said. “What goes through your mind?”

“It is a great move; people know about the Fontainebleau. It will attract their attention; if it opened as the grand something or other, it might not relate to many people,” he said. “Everybody has heard of the Fontainebleau.”

“Do you think many people in Miami would be curious to see what it is like here compared to that one, too?” Moeller asked.

“Yes, indeed, I would be among them, too,” George said.