Hard Rock Cafe’s CEO ponders buying a hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, as he opens a US$1.5 billion casino in Florida
- Hard Rock has grown since being acquired by Florida’s Seminole Tribe in 2007, adding hotel locations in London and Cabos San Lucas, Mexico, this year alone
- The expansion in Hollywood, Florida, north of Miami, introduces a 638-room, guitar-shaped hotel tower and a private lagoon with bungalow cabanas reminiscent of the Bora Bora island in the South Pacific
With a US$1.5 billion casino expansion opening Thursday in Florida, Hard Rock International may soon be turning its attention to other markets.
One option may be heading to the Las Vegas Strip with a new location – once an existing Hard Rock property in the city closes next year.
“Certainly on the Strip is one of the possibilities,” Chief Executive Officer Jim Allen said in an interview Monday with Bloomberg Radio’s Carol Massar and Jason Kelly. While the company isn’t looking specifically at this point, being on the Strip is a big deal in the industry. “We look at this as a great opportunity for our brand,” Allen said.
Hard Rock has grown since being acquired by Florida’s Seminole Tribe in 2007, adding hotel locations in London and Cabos San Lucas, Mexico, this year alone. The expansion in Hollywood, Florida, north of Miami, introduces a 638-room, guitar-shaped hotel tower and a private lagoon with bungalow cabanas reminiscent of the Bora Bora island in the South Pacific.
Allen said Hard Rock in Atlantic City, New Jersey, which opened last year in the former Trump Taj Mahal, now has the second-highest-grossing casino in that city after MGM Resorts International’s Borgata.
The expansion effort has brought tragedy as well. A Hard Rock hotel under construction in New Orleans collapsed on October 12, killing three people. Allen said he was hopeful to be able to move forward with a hotel in the city, but the company plans to work with local and national officials to complete a full investigation of the accident.