The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas might be one of the hippest casinos in the city (or even the world), and an ongoing expansion project aims to elevate the status of the already legendary property.

The expansion is part of an effort to grow the Hard Rock brand. It has always been a popular place for the good looking party crowd (Rehab, anyone?) and rock stars—as well as the wannabe rock star crowd—but while it had moxy and pizazz in spades, it lacked a certain level of sophistication. When the expansion is finished at the end of the year, that vital component, and a few others, will no longer be lacking.

“It was time to do the expansion because our customers demanded it,” said Philip D. Shalala, vice president of marketing. “It was time for us to create a different product, a little bit more of a high-end, sophisticated product.”

The total project carries a price tag of about $800 million. It started in late 2007, has already brought in a new poker lounge and will bring a number of additional amenities online later in 2009—two new hotel towers, an expanded pool area, additional retail space, more meeting and convention space and a brand new music venue, a revamped music venue called the New Joint.

The result of the expansion will be a property that draws tourists and locals alike. It will also focus on creating additional value to bring in people.

“I think Las Vegas has changed forever,” said Mark Gore, casino vice president and general manager. “We’ll reinvent ourselves too and come up with something new to create more value for our customers. We’re always working on ways to create value for our customers.”

The expansion will also build on the vibe at the property and increase its cache.

“We have a different experience to offer,” Shalala said. “We have a different facility. You walk in the doors of this place and you feel like you’re walking into a music video. The vibe is different; the feel is different; the energy is different.”

Meeting Demand

There is no doubt the Hard Rock was a popular place to play. Rehab packed the pool area every Sunday in the summer, and try getting a seat at a blackjack table on a Friday night around 11:30. And it was a popular place to stay, too, running at 99.9 percent occupancy for 2008, Shalala said.

But the property only had 650 or so rooms. And while there are some suites, there just wasn’t enough of the high-end room product that property owner Morgans Hotel Group felt was needed to attract the higher-end customer.

Enter two new hotel towers and an additional 865 rooms. The Paradise Tower on the north side of the property has 490 rooms, the majority of which are standard rooms. There is, however, a megasuite on the top floor with 360-degree views of the city, as well as suites on the second floor that overlook the pool area. The Hard Rock Hotel Tower on the south end will bring 375 suites. This tower will have its own parking garage, its own private entrance and its own valet. It is something like a boutique hotel within a boutique hotel. The top floor of the south tower holds megasuites, while the bottom floor has a number of two-story villa suites that overlook and open up to the pool area.

Another component of the south tower is additional casino space. The additional casino space will give the property ample space to nearly double its gaming offerings, up to 140 table games and nearly 1,000 slot machines. The new casino will also be a little more laid back. The feeling, as Shalala describes it, of walking into a music video when you walk into the existing casino space will not be there at the casino under the south tower.

“We want to keep the original feel of the Hard Rock with the energy and the loud music, but then transition to a more sophisticated product in the other casino space,” Gore said.

An additional component of the expansion is a considerable increase in meeting space size, going from 6,000 square feet to 60,000 square feet. Like the hotel towers and the additional casino space, adding meeting space allows Hard Rock to focus on business it previously had to turn away. So not only was it sometimes missing out on some high roller action because of a limiting supply of suites, it was also missing out on the lucrative convention business that can really help drive mid-week numbers.

“We’ve turned down hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue over the past couple years because we didn’t have the space,” Shalala said. “People want to have their meetings here; they want to have conventions here. We just couldn’t service them. Now we can with the New Joint and the new meeting space.”

Calling Card

The New Joint will be usable for conventions and trade shows—an added bonus—but the real draw of the venue is big name entertainment. The Rolling Stones kicked off a U.S. tour a couple years ago at the (old) Joint, and the venue has seen any number of big stars grace its stage. But it was also in need of an upgrade to keep up with the demands from the property’s customers.

The New Joint builds on the tradition of the eponymous venue by focusing on creating a sense of intimacy between performer and audience. In many ways—even in the name—it will be very similar to the original Joint, just newer, a little bit bigger and a little bit better. The New Joint is a three-story venue with 4,000 seats. The main floor area can be configured for general admission (read: standing room) or with seats when necessary.

“The Joint is a legendary live music venue in Las Vegas as well as the West Coast, and we did not want to create something that is totally new and totally different,” Shalala said. “We wanted to create something that had the exact same feeling, but was a little bit bigger so we could service more people and service more demand.”

And wanting to break in the new venue on a high note, hotel management has secured two high-profile acts for the opening weekend, which kicks off April 17. Local-band-made-good the Killers play Friday night, while Sir Paul McCartney plays Sunday night.

“It’s going to be a legendary show,” Shalala said. “It’s definitely the type of thing we want and need to open the new venue.”

With the New Joint, hotel management is expanding its music offerings at the property by bringing in Carlos Santana for a two–year residency. Shalala explained they were looking for a performer who could play four nights a week for a set number of weeks, then take a break and come back and have a similar run.

“There is not a single person who does not relate to some form of music,” Shalala said. “You need to not have a pulse to not like some kind of music.

“I think you’re going to see different types of things with the New Joint. We’re evolving our property and we’re evolving what goes into the New Joint, as well.”

The Hard Rock is also turning its attention to its other major draw and calling card: the pool area. The current expansion will almost double the size of the pool area, allowing even more sweaty people to pack into Rehab on Sundays.

The Hard Rock was definitely on the leading edge of the pool party craze. The pool has been legendary for years, as have the Sunday afternoon parties. And while it, like the Joint, may not require an overhaul, it is something that certainly can’t hurt.

“Our pool is one of our most valuable assets,” Shalala said. “It’s a great facility and we’re going to continue to expand it.”

One of the additions to the pool area is the ability to convert it into an outdoor concert venue. The Hard Rock has hosted concerts at the pool area, but using the area as an outdoor music venue wasn’t considered at the time it was designed. That is taken into consideration now, and just as a top-flight lineup was announced for the New Joint, Hard Rock officials announced that legendary rapper Snoop Dogg will be performing outside at the new pool’s grand opening the same weekend.

By Greg Jones

Greg Jones is managing editor of Casino Connection Nevada, as well as associate editor of Global Gaming Business magazine.

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