[19][32] A $20 million expansion began that year, adding 144 suites, more meeting room space, and a new health club and salon facility.

[41] In February 1997, the Rio unveiled its indoor Masquerade Village, a Mardi Gras-themed attraction at the base of the new tower that included retail, restaurants, and a wine cellar.

[67][68] Undeveloped acreage near the Rio was a significant reason for Harrah's purchase, and the company considered using the site for additional hotel rooms.

The departure of entertainer Danny Gans was another factor for the property's poor performance,[70][71] along with competition from new resorts, including the Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, the Venetian, Paris, and the Aladdin.

[74][78][79][80] The Rio's younger clientele had since moved on to newer resorts, and the property partnered with the men's magazine Maxim in an effort to recapture the demographic.

[81][82] Cash flow subsequently improved,[83][84] and Harrah's submitted plans to the county in 2002, for a new hotel and casino on the undeveloped acreage.

[86] In December 2003, Harrah's announced a partnership with Voyager Entertainment to build what would have been the world's tallest observation wheel, rising 600 feet.

[96] The Rio's importance to Harrah's was diminished after the company purchased Caesars Entertainment in 2005, thereby acquiring several resorts on the Las Vegas Strip.

[17] In 2005, the Rio's cocktail servers were fitted with RFID tracking tags in their uniforms, allowing management to determine how long customers were waiting to be served.

[34][100] The county had briefly looked into the renovation work, but quickly dismissed concerns about the lack of permits, until the news investigation prompted a reopening of the case.

[100][101][102] At one point prior to the case's reopening, a building inspection supervisor claimed to have examined 37 rooms throughout the tower, finding no major issues.

Concrete slabs in between the two floors were lacking fire sealant following the renovations,[107] and such repairs were eventually undertaken on 360 rooms in an entire wing of the Ipanema Tower that dated to the property's opening in 1990.

[17][113] At the end of 2008, the Rio launched an opt-in mobile marketing campaign, providing promotions to customers via text messages.

[117] The Rio stayed competitive in the 2010s thanks to the World Series of Poker, as well as Caesars' database of 55 million rewards club members.

[17] Superkarts USA (SKUSA) also held its SuperNationals kart racing event at the Rio each year, taking place on a temporary circuit set up in the resort's parking lot.

[129] In 2013, a norovirus outbreak occurred among 100 people staying at the Rio for a youth football tournament taking place in Las Vegas.

[130][131][132] On the evening of December 28, 2016, water from a clogged sink overflowed into an electrical conduit, in a service area of the Masquerade Tower.

His plans for a significant renovation were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Nevada, which resulted in the state-ordered closure of casinos in March 2020.

[157] On the hotel's exterior, the original red and blue neon lighting was replaced with new LED displays that are capable of producing various colors.

[168] In 2023, Dreamscape offered to sell the Rio's northeastern parking lot for $1 to the MLB's Oakland Athletics franchise, which had announced that it would relocate to Las Vegas.

[169][170] That year, Oak View Group proposed building an NBA arena south of the Strip, but reportedly began considering the Rio as an alternative site in 2024.

Unlike typical Burger King locations, it offered beer and included a hamburger bar with 30 toppings and sauces.

[212][213][214][215] From 1998 to 1999, the Rio hosted Treasures of Russia, an extensive collection of historic Russian memorabilia totaling 1,150 items, most of them loaned from the Peterhof Palace.

was renamed Copacabana in 1995,[228] and the Club Rio space was subsequently used solely as a showroom, undergoing a number of name changes through the years.

[236][237][238] Other notable performers during the Rio's early years included The Beach Boys, Donna Summer, Tony Bennett,[19] and Earl Turner.

[246] Another showroom was built near the hotel's pool area and opened later in 2000, hosting the show De La Guarda, which included aerial performers and flashing lights.

[30][284] It was replaced a year later by a new water-themed variety show titled Wow - The Vegas Spectacular, featuring numerous performers.

The $25 million show featured costumed performers and took place on floats which traveled along a 950-foot track, located 13 feet above the casino floor.

[302][303][304] A year later, The Price Is Right filmed a special episode in the theater, marking the first time in the show's 30-year history that it was shot outside of Los Angeles.

[306] During the resort's closure in 2020, it was used as a secondary filming location for the second season of the American reality television series Love Island.