Harrah’s Opens New Orleans Hotel

The opening also marks a major addition for the downtown casino, which has been operating without its own hotel since moving to its present location in 1999.

The 26-story, 450-room, $170 million luxury hotel is attached to the existing 125,000-square-foot Harrah's Casino via a sky bridge, which features 2,100 slot machines and more than 90 table games. The hotel was originally supposed to debut in April, but the five month delay due to the hurricane seems short compared to other casinos in the region which were entirely destroyed and needed to be rebuilt from the ground-up.

"This beautiful hotel, combined with our world-class casino and our wide selection of dining experiences, gives our guests yet another reason to come and experience New Orleans, one of America's greatest cities," said Anthony Sanfilippo, president of Harrah's Entertainment, Inc.'s (NYSE:HET) Central Division. "One of the reasons our guests love New Orleans is the incomparable experience of the city's restaurants, theaters and shops. We're pleased to add to this unique national destination."

According to Harrah’s, the new hotel is designed to seamlessly blend into the surrounding architecture of New Orleans' historic warehouse district. The casino is located adjacent to the French Quarter, convention center and the Mississippi River.

The hotel itself is meant to characterize the many expressions of New Orleans' culture, including the works of notable local artists and a new jazz club in a historic building which was incorporated into the project.

Bordering one side of the hotel tower, and steps from the casino, Harrah's new Fulton Street promenade offers entertainment and restaurants in the heart of downtown.

Celebrity chef Todd English chose Fulton Street as the site for "Riche," his latest restaurant, reflecting French cooking traditions in an updated Parisian brasserie atmosphere. Next door to Riche, the "528 by Todd English" jazz club was created from the historic restoration of a building constructed in 1852 and protected by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The exterior of the hotel's lower floors emulates the late 1800's architecture characteristic of the neighborhood and serves as a platform for the modern guest tower.

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The hotel and entertainment complex marks a major departure for the casino, which was initially prevented from owning its own hotel in order to prevent the property from becoming a modern day Goliath. When the property first won the right to operate a casino 13 years ago, the property was not allowed to own a hotel or restaurant. The thought was the casino would feed business to the surrounding community rather than act as tourism vacuum and steal clientele from local businesses.

However, the Harrah’s Entertainment juggernaut managed to slowly change rules and restrictions citing an inability to operate successfully without a hotel component. Previously the casino had to negotiate deals with surrounding hotels in order to house its biggest players that are used to getting complimentary food and lodging in exchange for wagering big bucks at the gaming tables and slot machines. Harrah’s originally wanted to open more than 1,000 rooms but negotiated the right to open the current 450.

The company also had to make a slew of design changes to satisfy the New Orleans City Council including incorporating Poydras Street facades into the hotel’s new base, creating a transition of the base to the tower to distinguish the height of the original buildings and add awnings and balconies to create a more intimate pedestrian scale.

"The reality is that when Harrah's built the casino there was all kinds of restrictions. We really tied their hands a little bit," said Mark Wilson, president of the French Quarter Business Association, told NOLA.com. "But like Houdini, they've broken free of all that. That can't help but marginalize the French Quarter a little bit."

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