— Steve Peck , Associate Principal , Klai Juba Wald
other , and we said that we ’ re going to have a wonderful opportunity for the customer to look over to Miami , to look over to Fort Lauderdale , to have a pool right at their feet , and that ’ s exactly what we did .”
Food and beverage was a focal point of the expansion , and Peck says attention was paid to every kind of customer .
“ They had multiple interests in trying to carve out signature restaurants for every level ,” he says . “ So , it ’ s everything from the food court to high-end steak and seafood . And over the course of time , we developed all these restaurants that covered every taste and wallet in the market . There is every gamut in this place , and we just methodically picked away at each restaurant , one at a time , got our team together . There are bars and nightclubs . We all collaborated to come together one at a time . While not every one of these 20 restaurants happened at the same time , they were all ready on opening day .”
Retail wasn ’ t ignored either . A promenade hosts an eclectic variety of merchandise and services — including the traditional Hard Rock gift shop .
“ It ’ s a really good mix of locals and people who have been involved with the tribe ,” Peck explains . “ Maybe one tenant has something up in West Palm Beach , maybe it ’ s a handbag store or a sunglasses shop . Seminole Gaming put that all together . Our role was to talk to the owners , determine what their budget is , and we ’ re going to build this out as fast as we can .
“ As part of the master plan , the Rockwell Group out of New York City was the one who put that whole retail section together . It ’ s got a serpentine layout ; it ’ s not a straight shot . It ’ s got high walls and low walls . Anything below 12 feet was open to design , and of course , the whole thing is entirely covered with a skylight . So the days of dark casinos are a thing of the past . This place is flooded with natural light , and it ’ s very comfortable for a demographic that enjoys shopping and walking and looking .”
The “ wow ” factor of the arrival is a feature called the Oculus . Peck says it took a long time to design because there were a lot of considerations .
“ We committed to a diameter of about 140 feet ,” he says . “ Over time — meaning at least three years , if not four or five — concepts came together . Rockwell Group has a subsidiary called Lab , and they ’ re more on the technical nature of things . We decided that it would be water , projection , fire , music , entertainment , a show on every hour . We had countless meetings on how to pull this together . And every time you come up with a scheme , it comes with a new budget . The fire was value-engineered out . It didn ’ t make it . There was a concern that the largest fire display in the world was going to be a little bit concerning to the fire department .
“ For the water , we worked with WET , out of Burbank , California . People know WET by way of the Bellagio fountains , and we worked with them to come up with a concept and to pursue it and to push it and to engineer it and to see how it would come together . Other than fire , they incorporated the other aspects , as well as the programming content to do a show . So there ’ s projection , there ’ s music and it ’ s all choreographed . We knew we were going to make a commitment to the Oculus , and we knew that it was important because it was at the front door .”
The true gem of the property is the Oasis Tower , a low-rise building that
The Oculus is a water feature that welcomes visitors to Hard Rock Hollywood
The SwimUp Suite in the Oasis Tower is the ultimate in luxury
The retail promenade features an eclectic selection of merchandise
overlooks the pool and the Guitar Hotel .
“ There are three components in the Oasis Tower ,” Peck says . “ The first component is the first floor . It ’ s a single-loaded corridor , which means the entire corridor is on one side of the building and it ’ s serpentine-shape . Every room on the pool side is a suite — your own private villa , you walk out the door , you have two chaise lounge chairs , and you just walk down into the pool . And there ’ s eight of those . On the second level and up , it ’ s two-sided ; now it becomes a double-loaded corridor . There are rooms on one side , and there are rooms on the other . The rooms on the pool
20 CASINO STYLE 2019