Virgin Hotels has announced plans to rebrand the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas under its growing portfolio.
The 1,500-room property will be refurbished and rebranded as the Virgin Hotel Las Vegas by 2019 – it’s understood the hotel will remain open during the works.
The hotel and casino is located on the corner of Harmon and Paradise Road, around one mile east of The Strip. Facilities include a beach area and several outdoor swimming pools, six restaurants, a music venue and a 2,800sqm casino.
The Virgin Hotels brand was launched in 2010, with the first property opening in Chicago in 2015. Properties are also under development and scheduled to open between now and 2020 include Nashville, New York, Dallas, Palm Springs, Silicon Valley, New Orleans, San Francisco, Washington DC and Edinburgh.
For a review of the Virgin Hotel Chicago, see:
Commenting on the news on the Virgin Group website, Sir Richard Branson said:
“When I’ve come to Vegas over the years my favourite casino has been the Hard Rock.
“It’s great to walk around and see memorabilia of Johnny Rotten, the Rolling Stones, Bowie and other Virgin bands plastered on the walls.
“It’s got delightful and dedicated people working there and it has beautiful outdoor swimming pool areas and beautiful rooms but through lack of investment it’s slightly tired.
“So I’m really proud today to announce Virgin Hotels has bought the Hard Rock Hotel and we’ll be bringing it back to its old glory again under the Virgin brand.”
Media reports quote Branson as saying that the iconic giant guitar positioned outside the property (and currently branded with the Hard Rock name) “might not survive”.
