Stopped by with some friends yesterday. Evidently, it was the first day the employees wore MontBleu branded uniforms.

Chips are on the tables - I didn't get any as my bank was pretty small on this trip:)
I snapped just a couple of pics, as the casino wasn't very busy, and I was afraid of being told to delete them & leave - sorry for poor quality, it's a new cell phone camera...

Caesars logo on top of building has been replaced with MontBleu, the only Caesars logo I saw was on one TITO change machine (it looked strangely out of place).

If you weren't aware, Harrah's Corp bought Caesars, and since Harrah's already owns Harrah's, Harvey's and Bill's in S. Lake Tahoe, they had to divest one of their big 3 in the purchase... The new owners paid something like $45mil for the property, and have spent another $45mil upgrading it.

The articles I've read said they used lots of wood and natural textures; to me, it looked more like a very hip "Ultra Lounge". The new carpeting throughout was vibrant, and nice to walk on. The main casino floor has an ungraded ceiling, really expansive and nice! One thing they didn't spend a lot on is new slots, while there are some new ones (including 8 new Atronics), the majority of the floor has the Caesars games, although they have all been rearranged to a more open and airy configuration. If you ever spent time at Caesars Tahoe, you will feel like you are in a completely new place. The cage is in the same place, although it's facade now features an art-glass roof, and some pricey counter treatments (I didn't dare take a picture of this sensitive area). This was an unwelcome development; when my friend tried to change a big bag of quarters to paper so she could play them - they wanted to charge a 5% fee for this service! They asked if we were staying in the hotel, as if this would waive the fee, but the fact that she wanted to play the resulting paper didn't seem to matter... Moral: don't bring your saved-up change to casinos anymore, unless you know for sure they still have machines that accept them...

The exterior of the building is unchanged, save for the new logo on top. The sports book is unchanged, although the surrounding areas have been opened up. At the entrance to the book, at the middle of the pre-existing up/down escalators, is a large landing - they have put up plasmas surrounding this circular landing showing all sorts of sporting feeds; this is a stupid idea, as it will be terribly congested on big sporting days.

I can't say anything about the rooms, but it sounds like they have all been upgraded. The front desk is at the same place, but it has been styled with a modern curvy look - it also is a nice upgrade. The showroom may have been eliminated or downsized, as now there is an opening-up of that area, with restaurants and shops - it was roped off for finishing touches, so I couldn't check it out. The restaurant/sometimes club near the south entrance, has been made into a hip nightclub called Opal - I got a peek, and it looked pretty cool! Finally, the casino floor features a circular bar that while open to the action, offers a nice refuge - the centerpiece island at the center (behind the bartenders) is a mound of rocks that are gently on fire - nice touch!

Definitely the nicest casino environment at the Lake, and better than all of Reno, for that matter. This property will challenge all the others to upgrade!!! As the California Indian casinos draw customers away from Tahoe/Reno, the other properties up there are going to have to do these sorts of things to stay competitive. Look for the upcoming Stations casino in Reno to continue this trend...