Improvements to Harrah’s New Orleans will speed up in early 2023

Caesars Entertainment started a $325 million renovation of Harrah’s New Orleans in January 2021, and the operator said that work will speed up next month.

Harrah’s in New Orleans

Harrah’s in New Orleans. Caesars Entertainment’s efforts to improve could pick up speed at the start of 2023. (The Advocate picture)
Some of the most noticeable changes that will be made to the only casino-hotel in Crescent City in early 2023. They include updating 25% of the gaming area and making changes to the outside to make it look like the other Caesars Palace properties run by the same company. Caesars will eventually change the name of the building from Harrah’s to Caesars New Orleans. But no time frame has been given for this move.

Moreover, Stephanie Riegel of NOLA.com said that the current phase of improvements to the integrated resort should be finished by April of next year. All of the repairs should be done by the summer of 2024.

VICI Properties is the owner of the land on which Harrah’s New Orleans is built. As part of Eldorado’s takeover of Caesars, the owner bought this property, Harrah’s Laughlin, and Harrah’s Atlantic City for $3.2 billion. But Caesars has to pay to make the place look better.

Plans for a bigger Louisiana include New Orleans

Caesars is spending $325 million to improve its casino-resort in New Orleans. This is part of a plan to spend about $500 million in Louisiana.

The state is home to more than just New Orleans’s Caesars-run casinos. In fact, it is one of the largest gaming markets in the US. The company promised regulators in 2019 that it would spend money in the state.

When Eldorado Resorts was trying to get “old Caesars” to buy it, CEO Tom Reeg told the Louisiana Gaming Control Board (LGCB) that the company would spend $500 million through 2024 to fix up its properties in the Pelican State. Reeg is now the CEO of a company called “new Caesars.”

Also, Caesars got monopoly protection for the New Orleans venue through the year 2054 as part of its plan to improve its properties in Louisiana.

Harrah’s Courting More Big Spenders

Harrah’s New Orleans opened in 1999, which isn’t that long ago for a hotel or a place to play games. However, the industry is changing quickly, and so are people’s tastes. This means that casino owners need to keep up with these changing needs.

In a related note, part of the work being done to fix up the New Orleans casino includes adding a lot of new guest rooms. A new hotel with 340 rooms is being built next to the casino. Two of the hotel’s 14 floors will be a high-end Nobu Hotel for wealthy people.

In addition, there are already 450 rooms at Harrah’s in New Orleans. The venue used to shuttle people, including VIPs, to neighboring hotels when it was busy, so it needs more room. The New Orleans casino-resort may attract and retain high-end gamblers with more rooms, Nobu floors, and the Caesars name.