Circus Circus Now Reportedly Renting Original Jay Sarno Suite to Public
Posted on: October 27, 2025, 02:59h.
Last updated on: October 27, 2025, 03:32h.
In 1972, Caesars Palace founder Jay Sarno built a two-story suite for himself in his second Las Vegas property. It was located on the 14th and 15th floors of Circus Circus’ first hotel tower. And that’s where it still is.
Since MGM Resorts acquired Circus Circus from Mandalay Resorts Group in 2005 — and even after hotelier Phil Ruffin purchased it in December 2019 — the old suite has been rented out only as a meeting space or provided for free to high-rollers. But that has apparently changed.
YouTuber @Dani.702 was recently comped a stay in the suite, in exchange for providing the following tour — though she was unaware of the suite’s historical significance…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE0ctv-Ka8E
According @Dani.702, the suite is now bookable to the public — but only by phoning the reservation desk and requesting the “two-story presidential suite.” (A rep for Circus Circus did not immediately return Casino.org’s request to confirm her claim.)
The Ringmaster’s Hideaway
Originally featuring seven bedrooms designed in garish gold trim with crystal chandelier sconces and floor-to-ceiling mirrors throughout, Suite 1410 was built as Sarno’s bachelor pad (though he would still be married to his wife Joyce until 1974).
Sarno reportedly used the two curving staircases at either end, featuring gold balcony railings, to make dramatic entrances from the 15th floor, which housed two bedrooms and a study, to the guests populating his 14th-floor living room. Sarno’s bedroom, on the opposite side of the living room and reportedly painted bright red, also occupied two stories.
The original décor and colors are long gone, and the suite now has four bedrooms instead of seven, but the stairways and main bedroom remain.
“With a suite in his own casino, Sarno would be living in a beautiful bubble,” wrote UNLV associate history professor David G. Schwartz in his 2013 Sarno biography, “Grandissimo: The First Emperor of Las Vegas.” “He would rise when it suited him, make some phone calls from his office downstairs, then head over to the Las Vegas Country Club. After that, it would be dinner, some gambling, and back to Circus Circus with whatever conquest he had picked up along the way.
“Having the tower finished wouldn’t just improve his balance sheet, it would make his life just about perfect.”
Sarno lived in the suite until 1975, according to the Las Vegas Advisor. That’s when hoteliers Bill Bennett and William Pennington — to whom Sarno had leased the property the year before — built a second hotel tower.
Sarno, still their landlord, ditched Suite 1410 and claimed the second tower’s penthouse as his new bachelor pad — much to Bennett’s chagrin.
Sarno stayed at the new suite until Bennett and Pennington bought the property for $72 million and evicted him in 1983.
“Bill Bennett’s first act of business as undisputed owner of Circus Circus was to evict Jay Sarno from his gilded penthouse,” Schwartz wrote. “Seeing the last of his landlord plodding around the casino in his bathroom and slippers was almost worth $72 million.”
To find Suite 1401, take the elevator closest to the steakhouse to the 14th floor.
Secret X-Rated Theater
While you’re at Circus Circus seeking out its history, the property hides another secret room. This is one we’ve covered before — in our story on secret Vegas relics.
The Hippodrome was Circus Circus’ infamous adult showroom. When Sarno opened it in 1968, it hosted the “Nudes in the Night” show, then went on to host revues called “Tom Jones,” “Naked But Nice,” French Love Connection,” Nudes Delight” and the one with the best title by far, “Hot Pants Explosion.”
The theater was never demolished but merely walled off sometime between 1973-79. Dusty and creepy, it has been sitting there ever since.
Since our story ran last year, Las Vegas radio personality Heather Collins managed to find the entrance, located in a back-of-house corridor above the pizzeria on the casino level.
It is not exactly in the same shape that it was left. In fact, the pizzeria was built directly into the former entrance, and Collins had to walk on planks above its ceiling to give her Facebook fans this quick tour.
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