A construction fence emblazoned with “Rome wasn’t built in a day” has been blocking the streets at the foot of Canal Street for almost four years. But on Tuesday, it will be cleared to reveal a $435 million transformation of the new Caesars Hotel and Casino, completed just months before thousands of big spenders are expected to flock to New Orleans for the 2025 Super Bowl.
The ambitious undertaking to modernize the old Harrah’s, which first opened on the site almost a quarter century ago, has been like changing the proverbial tires on a moving bus, said Caesars general manager Samir Mowad. Costs jumped by more than $100 million due to post-pandemic inflation, and inevitably, there were delays.
But the project has finally reached the finish line and joins a host of others nearby that are elevating a key part of the city’s hospitality district.
A statue inside the renovated Caesar New Orleans Hotel & Casino on Wednesday, October 16, 2024. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)
STAFF PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER
“Just think about how this little corner of New Orleans has now been transformed over the last five, six years,” Mowad said.
The Caesars renovation has included rolling upgrades to the 115,000-square-foot gaming area, including a World Series of Poker Room and a new Caesars Sportsbook area, which features a 147-foot wall of television screens that would test even the most limited of attention spans.
A wall of TVs inside the renovated Caesar New Orleans Hotel & Casino on Wednesday, October 16, 2024. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)
STAFF PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER
The company also built a new 340-room hotel annex that rises 15 floors over Convention Center Boulevard and includes a “valet porte cochère,” or covered carport, at the entrance.
Inside, the lower two floors have been fashioned into a “hotel within a hotel” and carry the exclusive Nobu brand, according to Kennedy Smith, vice president of marketing. The 54 rooms — which include 12 suites — reflect the concept of hierarchy that is integral to the casino business: the higher the roller, the more exclusive the accommodations.
The pecking order is also reflected in the new restaurant lineup.
Construction crews wrap up on some of the finishing touches inside the renovated Caesar New Orleans Hotel & Casino on Wednesday, October 16, 2024. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)
STAFF PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER
There is a Nobu restaurant on the casino level, which can be accessed from the hotel wing by crossing the new marble foyer past a 15-foot statue of Julius Caesar. There’s also an Emeril’s Brasserie at the Canal Street end of the casino and a new 12,000-square-foot food court that includes “fast casual” offerings from local chef Nina Compton, as well as celebrity chefs Bobby Flay and Buddy Valastro.
The Nobu chain, which was founded in 1994 by chef Nobu Matsuhisa, Robert De Niro and Meir Teper, has grown to include 50 restaurants and 30 “hotel within a hotel” locations. New Orleans is the third Nobu hotel and restaurant deal with Caesars. The others are in Las Vegas and Atlantic City.
Gambling games inside the renovated Caesar New Orleans Hotel & Casino on Wednesday, October 16, 2024. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)
STAFF PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER
On the gaming floor, players seeking minimum bets that start at $100 can head into an exclusive High Limit area. Those with very large bankrolls can occupy the private Salon rooms, where they can choose the table game and expect to rub elbows with sports and entertainment celebrities.
“At the point you’re in the Salon, everyone is a celebrity,” said Stacey Dorsey, director of security and facilities. “But for the folks who are trying to see the folks in the Salon rooms, that might be a little bit different.”
In other words, no gawkers or autograph hunters allowed.
Big investment
When Mowad, 52, talks about the downtown transformation near the Mississippi River, he is referring to the billions of dollars that have been poured into a relatively small but key area of the New Orleans’ hospitality sector.
Crews finish a hallway inside the hotel area inside the renovated Caesar New Orleans Hotel & Casino on Wednesday, October 16, 2024. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)
STAFF PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER
The projects include the $530 million Four Seasons Hotel and Condominiums, which was completed in 2021 after decades of wrangling, and the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, which has undergone a $570 million upgrade and broken ground on the $1 billion River District, a new neighborhood that is expected to include entertainment venues, nearly 1,000 new residential units, office towers and retail areas.
“It’s really built up all around us and now, as we’ve repositioned as a luxury brand, we find ourselves bookended by the Windsor Court on one side and the Four Seasons on the other,” said Mowad. “It’s great to be right here.”
A sculpture of a ginkgo tree inside the baccarat game room inside the renovated Caesar New Orleans Hotel & Casino on Wednesday, October 16, 2024. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)
STAFF PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER
The hope for the casino, city and state is that the upgraded Caesars can finally live up to the potential envisioned in the 1990s when Gov. Edwin Edwards pushed through legislation to license Harrah’s as Louisiana’s only land-based casino, “a combustible mix” of politics and gambling that ultimately landed Edwards in federal prison.
The first version of Harrah’s, a temporary casino at the Municipal Auditorium, went bust even before new digs at the Rivergate were ready. The casino then required a tax break from the state to stay afloat in 2001 and approval to build a subsidized hotel five years later.
Under the recent ownership, Caesars reached a deal to extend its exclusive license for 30 years starting in 2024. The terms include paying the city and state an estimated $130 million over that period, as well as increasing direct jobs by 500 to at least 2,400.
A foo dog statue inside the renovated Caesar New Orleans Hotel & Casino on Wednesday, October 16, 2024. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)
STAFF PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER
Mowad said the upgrades now make New Orleans a “destination city” within the international Caesars network, which means that players — particularly Caesars Rewards Members — will make a special visit to the city to gamble.
“Our revenues hit a high-water mark in the year before the city banned smoking and have never quite recovered since,” said Mowad, referring to the city’s smoking ban in 2015. The casino grosses about $17 million a month currently.
“If you think about COVID and all the things that have been going on the last four years, we haven’t grown past that minimum (tax level to the state and city),” he said. “But we’re looking for all of that to change as we get into next year, with the Super Bowl and all of the events coming after that.”
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