side — every one of them — from floors 2 through 8 , has a balcony . Some people would say that that is actually the better tower to stay in .”
But the star of the show is the pool , for which Peck credits the design team at EDSA .
“ They schemed together all the pieces and the parts to have multiple pools ,” he explains . “ We have a VIP pool , with a swim-up lake , and a general pool , which is for the customers staying at the hotel . We ’ ve got the swimming lake , which is three acres in and of itself . We ’ ve got a swimming river , we ’ ve got an area for a stage and outdoor concerts . There are multiple waterfalls . We ’ ve got cabanas that are literally built by the tribe , based on 400 years of construction , and those are what we call the ‘ chickee ’ huts . And then we have the Bora-Bora experience — 20 cabana structures that we built from scratch . Every one of them includes 360-degree pools with a six-inch wet deck , a four-foot pool , and your privacy . Each of them has its own restroom . They are side-by-side , and you ’ re not going to get a better view of the tower , from that location .”
Hollywood and Beyond
But Hollywood Hard Rock is only the latest in new and improved facilities . Two weeks before , Hard Rock completed an expansion of the nation ’ s most profitable casino , Hard Rock Tampa . The following week , Hard Rock Hotel Los Cabos opened in Mexico , and in early November Hard Rock Sacramento at Fire Mountain debuted . ( See page 24 .)
Allen says the Tampa expansion was important to a casino that is one of the most successful in the country in terms of gross gaming revenue .
“ We just did an $ 800 million expansion of the Hard Rock in Tampa ,” he says . “ And it came out great . There are those that think Tampa is prettier than Hollywood . They ’ re different architectural palliates , but at the same high level of quality , materials , fit and finish . What we created in Atlantic City certainly made a major statement in that market . It ’ s what we ’ ve been doing for a long time , but it ’ s certainly different than the traditional Hard Rock Cafe .”
A year earlier , Hard Rock Atlantic City opened , just nine months after the purchase of the former Trump Taj Mahal was completed . Just recently , the property became the second-highest performing casino in the market .
But although Allen is proud of the property itself , he isn ’ t happy with Atlantic City and New Jersey government .
“ Candidly , we ’ re disappointed in Atlantic City ,” he says . “ There ’ s no other way to say it . I received so much criticism for putting half a billion dollars into this project . We didn ’ t go borrow that money . Seminole Hard Rock Entertainment wrote a check for $ 510 million in cash . There ’ s no debt on the facility . We do have minority partners who worked with us . There were all kinds of promises that Trenton and CRDA and the city made . And none of them were kept . I think Atlantic City is in worse shape today than it was two years ago . And that ’ s a shame .”
Allen traces this Hard Rock growth spurt to management changes made several years ago .
“ We were really able to restructure the company ,” he says . “ We expanded the hotel and casino divisions . We never want to forget the cafes and the relationships with our franchise partners , but the restaurant business is very difficult on a global basis .”
On the horizon is a casino in Gary , Indiana , proposals to build casinos in Rockford , Illinois and Bristol , Virginia , and a second tribal casino in California .
Internationally , Hard Rock is one of three finalists for an integrated resort in Greece at the former Hellikon Airport near Athens .
“ We are competing in Athens ,” Allen says . “ Three submitted , but we ’ ve been told verbally that only two have qualified to be the finalists , ourselves and Mohegan Sun . We respect Mohegan . I worked directly for Sol Kerzner when we built it , so I know what was created there back in 1995 . We know their facility and respect them , but we have a lot more experience internationally . We ’ re in 75 countries around the world and have been doing that for almost 50 years . We have vast
22 CASINO STYLE 2019