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The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino is a five-diamond luxury hotel and casino resort located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, United States, on the site of the old Sands Hotel. Designed by KlingStubbins, the hotel tower contains 36 stories and rises 475 feet (145 m). The Venetian is owned and operated by Las Vegas Sands. The Venetian also serves as the seat of the corporate headquarters for its parent company.<br><br>The Venetian resort complex is (together with the adjacent Sands Expo Convention Center and The Palazzo Hotel and Casino Resort) the world's second-largest hotel, with 4,049 rooms, 3,068 suites ranging in price from $169 to $10,000 per night and a 120,000-square-foot (11,000 m2) casino.[1] Since its opening, The Venetian Macau is the largest casino in the world, trumping [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dYirDY2iK0Wk6ZojK35xtGKggZrZECbQEIJxMKT1M4U/edit?usp=sharing The Venetian,] Las Vegas.<br><br>In April 1996, Sheldon Adelson announced plans to create on the property the largest resort on the Strip. This project would be situated on the former Sands property. On November 26, 1996, eight years after it was purchased by the owners of The Interface Group - Adelson, Richard Katzeff, Ted Cutler, Irwin Chafetz and Jordan Shapiro, the Sands Hotel was imploded to make way for The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino. Groundbreaking for the hotel began on April 14, 1997.<br><br>The resort opened on May 3, 1999, with flutter of white doves, sounding trumpets and singing gondoliers, with actress Sophia Loren joining The Venetian Chairman and Owner, Sheldon G. Adelson, in dedicating the first motorized gondola. Built at a cost of $1.5 billion, it was one of the most expensive resorts of its kind when it opened.<br><br>in 2010, it was announced that it will be affiliated with InterContinental Hotels Group.[2]<br><br>In October 2011, the Cantor Race & Sportsbook opened, which was the only Las Vegas sportsbook that was open for 24 hours a day. On June 11, 2012, the Venetian opened Carnevale, a summer-long festival that is anchored by a nightly 3-D projection show on the clock tower. In September 2012, The Blue Man Group show closed and relocated to the Monte Carlo, after being at the Venetian for six years.