The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino was a resort located near the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, United States. Virgin Hotels Las Vegas opened at the site following renovations, in 2021. The resort is located on on the corner of Harmon Avenue and Paradise Road, about a mile east of the Las Vegas Strip. At the time of its closure, the Hard Rock included 1,506rooms across several hotel towers, a casino, and a music venue known as The Joint. It had also hosted a weekly pool party event known as Rehab.
Plans for a Hard Rock hotel were announced in 1991, and the resort opened on March 10, 1995, as the world's first rock and roll-themed hotel. The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino began as a joint venture between Hard Rock Cafe co-founder Peter Morton and Harveys. Following disagreements, Morton bought out Harveys' share of the resort in 1997. A new 11-story hotel tower was added in 1999, as part of a $100million renovation.
The Hard Rock was featured in various media, including television shows and music videos. It was also a frequent source of controversy and legal problems. In the 2000s, drugs and sexual conduct were common issues at the resort's nightclubs and pool area. The Hard Rock was also criticized for its advertising. The resort catered to a younger demographic, and it began using risqué advertising to compete against the Palms resort, which opened in 2001. However, such advertising led to a complaint from the Nevada Gaming Control Board in 2004. The board alleged that the Hard Rock ads promoted casino cheating and drug use, and a battle ensued over the resort's free-speech rights. The complaint was eventually settled.
In 2004, Morton announced plans to add a $1billion condo hotel, but this was canceled after he received purchase offers on the Hard Rock. Morgans Hotel Group and DLJ Merchant Banking Partners bought the resort in 2007, and Morgans handled operations. A $750million renovation and expansion project began in 2007, and was completed three years later. The project added two additional hotel towers, as well as new restaurants and nightclubs.
Morgans ended its involvement with the resort in 2011, when it was sold to Brookfield Asset Management with Warner Gaming as the operator. Virgin Hotels and a group of investors purchased the Hard Rock in 2018 and announced plans to renovate and rebrand it as a Virgin hotel. The Hard Rock closed on February 3, 2020, for renovations. Virgin Hotels Las Vegas opened on March 25, 2021.
History Background
Initially, a standalone Hard Rock Cafe opened in September 1990, on the southeast corner of the property that would eventually include the Hard Rock resort. The restaurant entrance featured a 45-foot-tall Gibson Les Paul guitar sign.
1991–1995: Development and opening The Hard Rock casino hotel project was announced on June 5, 1991, as the first such project in the company's history. It would be built beside the restaurant. Company co-founder Peter Morton said, "We did a lot of marketing studies. Everything gave us an extremely strong indication that there are a lot of 30-year-olds in America who go to Bruce Springsteen concerts and like to gamble." Groundbreaking was scheduled for later that year, with a planned opening in late 1992 or early 1993. The casino would be developed and managed by Harrah's Casino Hotels, the gaming subsidiary of Promus Companies. Plans to build the project with Harrah's were later abandoned.
In September 1993, Hard Rock announced a partnership with the Lake Tahoe-based Harvey's Hotel & Casino. They formed a new corporation and planned to begin construction of the Hard Rock casino hotel later that year for an opening in December 1994. Harvey's had previously made an attempt to purchase the Bally's resort in Reno, Nevada, in 1992. Harveys' banker had also been working separately on the original Hard Rock deal between Morton and Harrah's. When the latter deal also did not work out, the banker brought Morton and Harveys together to partner on the Hard Rock project. Harveys arranged the project's financing through a consortium of six banks led by First Interstate Bank of Nevada. Morton was a majority shareholder in the project, with a 60% interest. Harvey's held the remaining 40% and also managed the property, including the casino, with a contract that was to last until March 1998. The property for the eventual resort was co-owned by Paul Lowden of Santa Fe Gaming, and the land was sold to the Hard Rock developers in 1994. A groundbreaking ceremony took place on February 23, 1994. Attendees included Nevada governor Bob Miller and singers B.B. King, Eddie Van Halen, Chris Isaak, and Robin Wilson. The opening was on track for December 1994. The Hard Rock was built at 4455 Paradise Road, at a cost of $90million.
The Hard Rock Hotel ultimately opened on the night of March 10, 1995, with a grand opening event attended by various celebrities. The resort included a casino and an 11-story hotel with 339 rooms. The Hard Rock was small compared to megaresorts located on the nearby Las Vegas Strip. Morton disliked the emerging trend of megaresorts in Las Vegas and described the Hard Rock as a smaller alternative. Approximately 12,500 people applied for jobs at the new resort, and 950 were selected to staff it. The resort intended to target the Generation X demographic. It was the world's first rock and roll-themed hotel, and the grand opening included performances by Al Green, Sheryl Crow, and the Eagles. The Joint was the Hard Rock's 1,200-seat concert venue, which held rock concerts. Aside from the guitar sign at the nearby cafe, the resort had its own giant guitar located atop the porte-cochère. It was the world's largest Fender Stratocaster guitar. Danny Way later performed a skateboarding stunt in which he dropped onto a ramp from a platform positioned near the top of the guitar sign.
The property had environmentally friendly features, including low-flow toilets, biodegradable cleaning products used by housekeepers, laundry and pool water recycled for irrigation, automatic shut-off valves on each of the public faucets, recycle bins located throughout the resort, and the donation of leftover food to charities. In addition, the earnings from certain slot machines were donated to environmental organizations such as Conservation International and Rainforest Foundation. T-shirts featuring the Hard Rock logo were sold at the resort and proved to be popular. In its first year of operation, the Hard Rock earned more revenue from the T-shirts than its hotel rooms.
Early years
A planned 350-room expansion was on hold as of October 1996, due to disagreements between Morton and executives of Harvey's Casino Resorts. The disagreements related to the management of the Hard Rock, the timetable for expanding the resort, and the marketing of the property. Morton had purchased an option that year to buy an adjacent parcel occupied by Las Vegas Discount Golf & Tennis, which would be replaced by the intended expansion of the Hard Rock. However, Morton reportedly did not want to approve the expansion while he was in the process of extending Harveys' management contract. Morton later said that Harveys did not want to proceed with the expansion because of differences with him.
Morton ownership In mid-1997, it was announced that Morton would purchase Harveys' share of the resort for $45 million. The deal included paying Harveys $24.2 million to end the managing agreement, and another $20.7 million to buy Harveys' stake in Hard Rock Hotel common stock. At the time, the resort was considered overwhelmingly successful. The sale was approved by the Nevada Gaming Control Board and the Nevada Gaming Commission in October 1997. The purchase increased Morton's ownership to 90 percent, while the remainder was held by investors such as film producer Jon Avnet and MTV chairman Tom Freston. That month, Morton had plans for an expansion that would include a new hotel tower, a six-story parking garage, a health spa, and an enlargement of the Hard Rock Beach Club. Morton also planned to add four new restaurants, as hotel guests would frequently get tired of the limited dining options and would often leave the premises to eat elsewhere. Morton said the casino, which had 800 slot machines, would perform better with new restaurants and additional rooms. Morton purchased the land owned by Las Vegas Discount Golf & Tennis for $8.5 million, and the sale increased the Hard Rock's total property size to more than 18 acres. The $85 million expansion was expected to begin in early 1998.
The new 11-story hotel tower opened on May 10, 1999, with 330 rooms for a total of 670. The expansion cost a final total of $100 million, and included 35 suites, four new restaurants, the Baby's nightclub, of meeting space, and a bigger pool. Morton had county approval to add another 350-room tower, but he felt that such an addition would hamper the Hard Rock's boutique hotel nature: "I think if we grew this much larger ... it would definitely lose that intimacy and that ability to make the product personal." Morton said the Hard Rock's limited size was inspired by Las Vegas hotels of the 1950s, which were smaller than the newer megaresorts that had become common on the Las Vegas Strip. The expansion also included the Hard Rock Athletic Club and RockSpa. A two-day celebration was held to showcase the expansion, which brought increased revenue.
The Hard Rock hosted its first boxing match in August 1999, between David Reid and Keith Mullings. That month, the Hard Rock laid off approximately 75 employees, reportedly because Morton was disappointed with the resort's financial results following the expansion. However, Morton said the resort was performing well. In late 1999, Morton invested an additional $28 million in the Hard Rock. A new general manager, Rick Richards, was named in August 2000.
In late 2000, the Hard Rock began a one-year, $8 million renovation of the 339 rooms in the original hotel tower. The Palms resort opened in Las Vegas in 2001, and it competed with the Hard Rock, where the targeted clientele consisted of young adults. The Hard Rock tried to stay competitive by paying for top-dollar musicians such as The Rolling Stones and Ozzy Osbourne. Howard Stern also hosted his radio show at the Hard Rock on several occasions, from 2001 to 2004. Richards resigned his position as general manager in September 2001, and the hotel was subsequently operated by a committee of executives until the following year. Another new general manager, Don Marrandino, was named in early 2002, becoming at least the fifth person to hold the position since the Hard Rock's opening. Morton had a reputation for being a perfectionist who was difficult to please. During the second quarter of 2002, the Hard Rock spent $600,000 on entertainment and marketing expenses, including a national advertising campaign. The expenses brought increased revenue, and the resort had plans to eventually add extra banquet space, several new high roller suites, and a few additional floors in the parking garage.
John Entwistle, the bassist for The Who, died of a heart attack in a suite at the Hard Rock on June 27, 2002. Entwistle and the band were scheduled to perform at the Joint the next day to kick off a North American tour. The hotel declined to publicly identify the number of the room where Entwistle died, and it turned down dozens of requests from people wanting to stay in the room days after his death. The room was made available again four days later, although the hotel still withheld its location. It was later revealed to be room number 658.