Maybe it was named for Nolan Cromwell, the football player
Caesars Entertainment’s latest name for the erstwhile Gansevoort Hotel, formerly Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall, continues to confuse the press and public. The newly named Cromwell recently earned catcalls from the CDC Gaming Report, which wondered why a casino resort has been named for historic despot and executioner Oliver Cromwell, who stood firmly against all the things Las Vegas is known for: namely, sin, sex and excess.
Associate history professor Michelle Tusan of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, also finds the name a little perplexing. “Maybe they liked the nice way the name sounded when it rolls off the tongue,” Tusan told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “People put British names on bed sheets to make them sound more expensive.” But Oliver Cromwell, she pointed out, was no regal monarch. “He wanted to rid England of the monarchy,” Tusan said. “There was nothing aristocratic about him.”
Bill’s closed a year ago to make way for the highfalutin Gansevoort. Caesars and the New York City-based Gansevoort Hotel Group planned to partner on the project, which would turn the middle-market property into an elite boutique resort. Then came revelations that the hotelier had alleged ties to organized crime in Russia. That association, though twice removed from Caesars, cost the casino company its chance to develop a casino in Massachusetts. Exit the Gansevoort. Enter the Cromwell.
As the Review-Journal pointed out, Oliver Cromwell came to power by speeding the execution of King Charles I. He led an invasion of Ireland, killed thousands, and persecuted the Catholics. Two years after he died, the disenchanted English unearthed Cromwell’s body and hanged it.
That not the vibe Caesars wants to create at the property, which includes a 65,000-square-foot rooftop nightclub and pool area created by Victor Drai, and Giada, a 260-seat restaurant from TV chef Giada De Laurentiis.
“I want each person to feel like they’re entering my home, receiving a big welcome hug, and enjoying a fantastic Italian meal,” De Laurentiis said in a statement.
Review-Journal scribe Howard Stutz suggested the property may have been named for lanky character actor James Cromwell, who played farmer Arthur Hoggett in the movie “Babe.” Or Nolan Cromwell, who spent 11 seasons as an All-Pro defensive back for the Los Angeles Rams.
Anybody but Oliver.
