Operator News
US – Hard Rock opens ‘the most advanced entertainment facility in the United States’
By Phil - 25 October 2019
The $1.5bn Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood expansion is now complete with the headline act being the world’s first guitar-shaped hotel, a 638-room hotel complete with illuminated strings and floor-to-ceiling glass.
Dozens of A-list celebrities crowded an elevated red carpet at the base of a massive video wall to kick off the grand opening celebration at the Oculus, a stunning design feature at the entrance from a new grand porte-cochere. The Oculus encompasses elements of lush greenery, light and water, choreographed to music.
The signature Hard Rock Guitar Smash signaled the official opening of the expansion including the world’s first-ever Guitar Hotel. The Guitar Smash followed greetings of welcome from leaders of the Seminole Tribe of Florida and Seminole Gaming, which own and operate Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood.
“The Guitar Hotel will attract visitors from throughout the nation and around the globe,” said Jim Allen, CEO of Seminole Gaming and Chairman of Hard Rock International. “They will experience a world-class entertainment, gaming and dining destination.”
The premiere of the Guitar Hotel’s show-stopping light show extravaganza followed the Guitar Smash, with a series of orchestrated outdoor music and light shows that capitalise on LED lights built into every side of the Guitar Hotel. The lights are programmed to change colour and intensity, with changes timed to music. Six fixed high-powered beams of light project at least 20,000 feet into the night sky. The six lights mimic guitar strings of an imaginary guitar neck.
Designed by Klai Juba Wald Architecture+Interiors of Las Vegas, it towers 450 feet high and can be seen from miles away.
Drew Schlesinger, Vice President of Hotel Operations, said: “We created this unique hotel because the guitar is a symbol of music worldwide for any person of any background.”
Craig Stoner, Associate Principal of EDSA, a firm that designs outdoor spaces, also worked on the project. He said: “Since the guitar is an iconic symbol for the Hard Rock, we embraced its unique shape and form to create a narrative that begins at ground level. When guests arrive they discover a layered, lush and dynamic resort environment that transforms into an experience that changes around every corner, and allows for events, interaction and ultimately excitement.”
Guests enter the new hotel through a huge dome-shaped atrium called the Oculus, where a light, water and fire show greets them. There they will fine the vastly expanded 195,000-square-foot casino, with more than 200 table games and over 3,100 slot machines. There’s also a new 45-table Poker Room, a contemporary High Limit Slots Room, Non-Smoking Slots Room, and the exclusive and new Plum Lounge, an upscale, yet relaxed enclave featuring the ultimate VIP experience for Seminole Hard Rock’s high-end players.
Away from gaming, the new Hard Rock Hollywood has 150,000 square feet of meeting space. With more than 1,000 rooms, the Hard Rock is now the largest South Florida convention hotel off the beach. The new 225,000-square-foot Hard Rock Live entertainment venue will welcome more than 100 nights of A-list acts, award shows, sporting events and more each year. This has opened alongside the DAER nightclub and dayclub complex, more than two dozen innovative dining, lounge and entertainment options, a collection of high-end retail stores and more than 150,000 square feet of meeting space.
Jim Allen, Hard Rock International CEO, says the venue is ‘the most advanced entertainment facility in the United States.’
“We look at this as an adult integrated resort,” he said. “It is truly a destination that’s not just a casino. “The guitar tower will attract casino players and other visitors from throughout the country and around the world. It will put South Florida on the map as a world-class gaming destination, and it will have a huge economic impact on Florida. The gaming industry will never be the same. With the previous facility, we were not able to attract the real residency-type situation with an artist. We created an integrated resort because the gaming industry will change in the next 10 to 15 years. This isn’t the Las Vegas strip. Very few people are going to come to Florida to gamble. But they’re going to go to Florida to be entertained.”
The 7,000-person capacity indoor venue boasts clamshell-style seating, where the furthest seat is only 164 feet away from the front of the stage. In keeping with Hard Rock’s commitment to music and live entertainment, the $125m Hard Rock Live offers state-of-the-art mobile stage technology, fully immersive in-house sound and lighting systems, and unobstructed sightlines from every seat in the house.
Mr. Allen added: “We spared no expense in creating something that is not just about live music, but it also set up for complete TV, any type of event, with Broadway, boxing, martial arts. It’s really a true entertainment destination.”
One of the great features of Hard Rock Live is its ability to quickly transform from a 7,000-capacity seated configuration for large concerts and events to a 2,500-capacity theater configuration for Broadway productions. To pull off that technical feat, the theater is equipped with a unique system of curtains to conceal the balconies using motorised line sets.
