Last week, Hard Rock International announced plans to open a major new hotel in Ireland. Scheduled to open in 2020, Hard Rock Hotel Dublin will inject Ireland's biggest city with 120 new guest rooms and a rocking music program befitting of the city's musical roots.
But Hard Rock Hotel Dublin isn't the only new property that Hard Rock let out of the bag last week: News also quietly broke that the company will build a new gaming resort in rural Yuba County, Calif., approximately an hour north of Sacramento.
According to local newspaper The Sacramento Bee, the resort is being developed in partnership with the Enterprise Rancheria Indian tribe, which has been trying to build a tribal casino since 2003. Expected to open in October 2019 at an estimated cost of $440 million, the property remains mostly a mystery, as neither Hard Rock nor Enterprise Rancheria has released project details. According to the latter's website, however, the tribe envisions a "multi-function facility, featuring a 170-room hotel and pool, restaurants, bar, gift shops, tourist information, conference facilities, gaming and more."
"The Enterprise Rancheria is thrilled and honored to work with Hard Rock International, one of the world's most recognized brands," tribal Chairwoman Glenda Nelson said in a statement. "Together, our goal is to bring the best, most exciting and authentic gaming, hospitality and entertainment experiences to Northern California."
Unexpected Gaming Alternatives Abound
Although Sacramento isn't the first place that comes to mind for a gaming meeting, the new development is indicative of a larger trend: As gaming continues to gain popularity and political support in cash-strapped states, casino hotels are rising up in unexpected destinations across the country, including rural, suburban and urban locations that are a far cry -- geographically and culturally -- from the bright lights of Las Vegas and the boardwalks of Atlantic City.
Here are four other properties in surprising spots whose recent openings or expansions confirm that when it comes to gaming meetings, meeting planners have more options than ever before:
• Live! Casino & Hotel (Hanover, Md.): Baltimore is known for its beautiful harbor, its historic sites and its delicious crab cakes. But did you know it also has casinos? It has two of them, in fact: Horseshoe Casino Baltimore in Baltimore proper and Live! Casino & Hotel in Hanover. Although the latter opened in 2012, its hotel is brand-new, having just opened last month. Now, the property includes a casino with more than 200 table games and approximately 4,000 slot machines, including the region's first outdoor gaming area; 310 guest rooms; a new spa that's opening later this year; nearly a dozen food and beverage outlets; and a Grand Event Center that includes 20,000 square feet of meeting space and a 1,500-person concert and event venue. By early 2019, the Grand Event Center will double in size to include 40,000 square feet of meeting space and 4,000 seats.
• MGM Springfield (Springfield, Mass.): Western Massachusetts is about to become America's unlikeliest gaming hotspot thanks to MGM Springfield, which is opening next month in Springfield, Mass. Scheduled to debut on Aug. 24, 2018, the $960 million resort will include a five-story boutique hotel with 250 rooms; a 125,000-square-foot casino with 2,550 slot machines, 120 gaming tables, a poker room and a high-limit VIP gaming area; five food and beverage outlets; numerous entertainment options, including a high-tech immersive golf simulation and lounge, an eight-screen movie theater and a 10-lane bowling center; a spa; an 8,000-square-foot pool; and nearly 34,000 square feet of meeting space.
• Oxford Casino Hotel (Oxford, Maine): Springfield, Mass., isn't the only unsuspecting gaming destination in New England. There's also Oxford, Maine, which is has been home to Oxford Casino since 2012. Last fall, the 35,000-square-foot casino added an onsite hotel that has 107 guest rooms. Although plans originally called for the hotel to include meeting space, it appears for the time being that those plans were scrapped or delayed. Fortunately, there are other venues nearby, like Poland Spring Resort in Poland, Maine, and Highland Lake Resort in Bridgton, Maine.
• Santa Ana Star Casino and Hotel (Albuquerque, N.M.): New Mexico is not Nevada. But it can be just as fun thanks to the Santa Ana Star Casino and Hotel in Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M., which opened near Albuquerque in 1993 but just added a new hotel this month. While the casino has 109,000 square feet of gaming space devoted to both slot machines and table games, the hotel has 204 guest rooms, an indoor swimming pool and hot tub, a fitness center and three meeting rooms comprising over 12,000 square feet of meeting space.
