Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, also known as "The Guitar Hotel", is a hotel and casino resort near Hollywood, Florida, United States, located on of the Hollywood Reservation of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The property currently has one hotel tower, a casino, large poker room, a lagoon-style pool facility with a center bar and many private cabanas, restaurants, shops, spa, bars and nightclubs, and the Hard Rock Event Center. A large expansion was completed in October 2019.
Hotel
The resort currently has a 12-story "classic Hard Rock Hotel" with 469 guest rooms and suites. Guests are greeted by a tall signature Hard Rock guitar, at the entrance of the hotel, along with a massive LED advertising screen at the front of the main parking garage. The resort has of meeting space, including a exhibit hall. The Hard Rock's $1.5 billion property expansion project added a "Guitar Hotel" with 638 rooms and a seven-story 168-room "Oasis Tower" overlooking the pool cabanas—these new buildings were scheduled to open on October 24, 2019, several months in advance of Super Bowl LIV being held in Miami on February 2, 2020. The expansion also included a "Rock Spa", and over 20 new dining and nightlife destinations. Between the existing 12-story hotel, new Guitar Hotel, and new Oasis Tower, over 1,200 hotel rooms became available in October 2019. On May 9, 2014, Seminole chairman James Billie announced a $100 million upgrade of the tribe's casinos, with much of that spent on the Hard Rock Hollywood location, including an improved entryways, center pool bar, pool facility upgrades, updated hotel room and suite interiors, and a new restaurant. As of March 2019, the tribe's upgrade budget was significantly increased to over $2.4 billion, split mainly between this location and the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tampa.
Casino
The current casino layout covers over featuring slot machines and various table games including blackjack, baccarat, mini baccarat, Pai Gow poker, Let It Ride and three card poker. The casino does not have live craps and roulette, although there are electronic versions of those games available. As of June 2018, the poker room is located in a former ballroom area, relocated from its prior venue due to ongoing construction work. Blackjack is the most popular card game in the United States and was an addition to the casino. In a deal valued at $1.1 billion, former Governor Charlie Crist gave the Seminole Tribe a license for blackjack in its casinos. In exchange, The Seminole Tribe loaned the State of Florida $1.1 billion over the course of two years. On July 3, 2008, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the governor's agreement was unconstitutional, but table games continue to operate because the Federal Department of the Interior approved the now-invalid pact with the state. The addition of blackjack to the Hard Rock casinos in Hollywood and Tampa gave credibility to its claim of being a major gambling destination.
Hard Rock Live is a 7,000 seat multi-purpose theater, which opened on October 25, 2019 with a concert by Maroon 5. The theater replaced a 5,500 seat arena of the same name, which hosted different types of events including musical acts, comedians, boxing and other smaller events, along with a residency by Billy Joel. The arena was razed in March 2018 as part of the property-wide expansion which included the new theater. During construction of the new theater, events were held at the temporary 3,500 seat Hard Rock Event Center, which hosted acts like Britney Spears on her.
Notable incidents
Model, actress, and TV personality Anna Nicole Smith, who was staying at the resort, died in her hotel room on February 8, 2007. Smith's death was declared an accidental overdose on sleeping medication.
