Latest / Vegas Revealed / Closing Weekend: Hard Rock Hotel's Legacy, Past and Future | Ep. 3

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Closing Weekend: Hard Rock Hotel's Legacy, Past and Future | Ep. 3 · Vegas Revealed

0:00
SPEAKER_05: Welcome everyone to Vegas Reveal.
0:01
SPEAKER_05: This is a special edition episode three.
0:03
SPEAKER_05: We are at the Hard Rock Hotel.
0:06
SPEAKER_05: On its final weekend, it is closing for good on Super Bowl Sunday.
0:11
SPEAKER_03: From the casino floor, we'll be reminiscing about some of the most memorable moments in this iconic property's history, plus looking ahead at what's next.
0:19
SPEAKER_05: We have a couple great interviews coming up.
0:21
SPEAKER_05: Two publicists that were here when the Hard Rock opened and are still here in Las Vegas today.
0:25
SPEAKER_05: Plus, we are going to interview the guy who is in charge of all these changes.
0:29
SPEAKER_05: And let me tell you, he's got some juicy details on what we can expect when it opens its Virgin Hotels.
1:05
SPEAKER_03: And I'm Sean McAllister.
1:06
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, this is a really special time here in Las Vegas because since 1995, the Hard Rock Hotel has been a part of the scene here in Las Vegas.
1:16
SPEAKER_03: It's contributed to what we have musically here in town, but also party-wise, what we've come to expect from Las Vegas, too.
1:24
SPEAKER_03: So it's real mixed emotions that we're feeling here as the Hard Rock is about to shut its doors for good.
1:30
SPEAKER_05: And you know, also what makes it kind of special.
1:32
SPEAKER_05: It's always been that property that's off the strip, but was still relevant.
1:35
SPEAKER_05: You know, it was just as hot as if you were to come and stay on the Las Vegas strip.
1:39
SPEAKER_05: You stayed at the Hard Rock, you knew it would be literally rockin'.
1:42
SPEAKER_05: Uh the center bar, everyone knows that, where people gathered and partied and met each other.
1:49
SPEAKER_05: A lot of people, you know, were on dates, friends gathered, so there's that.
1:53
SPEAKER_05: And then, of course, the Pink Taco, an amazing Mexican restaurant that we've all enjoyed for so many years.
1:59
SPEAKER_05: I actually had my job interview at the Pink Taco uh when I flew here in 2004 for an interview uh to take a job at a local TV station.
2:09
SPEAKER_05: Uh, they brought me to lunch at the Hard Rock and I thought it was the coolest thing.
2:13
SPEAKER_05: And I got the job and I'm still here 15 years later.
2:16
SPEAKER_03: That's so funny because one of my first meals after moving here to Las Vegas was uh a brunch on a weekend morning, even before I started my my job out here.
2:28
SPEAKER_03: This was back in 2005 at Simon's restaurant, which was a hot brunch spot and really kind of made brunch a thing here in Las Vegas.
2:37
SPEAKER_03: And it was like a party brunch, too.
2:40
SPEAKER_03: There would always be whoever was performing at the the joint or anywhere on property, you would see rock stars in there just sitting down to to have their breakfast or lunch or dinner, whatever they would be doing.
2:52
SPEAKER_03: And it was you get that kind of vibe no matter where you would go at the hard rock, you would just see the rock stars.
3:01
SPEAKER_03: It really is a rock property.
3:02
SPEAKER_05: Definitely, and the concerts were are you know endless here.
3:05
SPEAKER_05: I mean, so many concerts at the joint.
3:07
SPEAKER_05: And then one of my favorite concerts to this day was this killer's concert that they had in the parking lot.
3:13
SPEAKER_05: It was outdoors, uh, they had grandstands up, you know, everyone was there.
3:18
SPEAKER_05: I felt like I ran into so many of my friends.
3:20
SPEAKER_05: You know, you had like uh, you know, a glass of beer in your hand, and you watched the killers just rock it out, and obviously the killers from Las Vegas, so it was a big deal.
3:29
SPEAKER_05: So many people uh were at that show.
3:31
SPEAKER_05: Really, one of the best times I've had.
3:33
SPEAKER_05: They've just done so many things that you know are just a little bit different.
3:37
SPEAKER_05: They've really kind of set the ground, but who who knew you could have a concert in the parking lot of your hotel?
3:42
SPEAKER_03: I know, and the killers is just one of the local success stories in rock music.
3:49
SPEAKER_03: And we've seen the killers get a memorabilia case here at the Hard Rock, which is like a pivotal iconic thing for a rock star, a rock group to achieve the kind of notoriety where the Hard Rock would put their memorabilia up either in a case or on the walls.
4:05
SPEAKER_03: And it's next to people like Elvis, Madonna, uh Elton John.
4:11
SPEAKER_03: You know, so that's cool for the killers, but we've also seen that happen for other Las Vegas bands like Imagine Dragons and Panic at the Disco.
4:18
SPEAKER_03: So it's been so cool over the past 25 years here at Hard Rock to see the Las Vegas success stories and how they have become entrenched in the the rock tradition that you come to expect at a property like the Hard Rock.
4:32
SPEAKER_05: I mean, I did some freelance work for an entertainment magazine, and literally they would send me to the Hard Rock all the time because the biggest events were here, and you know, like it wasn't just one big celebrity that was gonna show up to the event.
4:42
SPEAKER_05: There was a salute.
4:43
SPEAKER_05: I remember one of uh my favorite interviews is they were they wanted to remember when Pink and Um Carrie Hart had a little bit of a breakup.
4:50
SPEAKER_05: They're like, you gotta ask Carrie Hart about this, he's gonna be on the car.
4:53
SPEAKER_05: But I was so nervous because I'm like, that's you know, oh boy.
4:56
SPEAKER_05: Um but I remember the answer he gave me was so truthful, and it turned out to be this incredible interview of him saying, you know what, I miss her.
5:03
SPEAKER_05: Like, I'm I'm not happy.
5:05
SPEAKER_05: And it was very raw, and I remember the magazine loved it.
5:08
SPEAKER_05: But anyway, my point is that you could get anyone at different events, different concerts, red carpets, nightclub openings here.
5:15
SPEAKER_05: I mean, it really was a who's who.
5:17
SPEAKER_05: And a little bit later we're gonna actually talk with Laura Herlovich, who is an entertainment publicist in town.
5:22
SPEAKER_05: She's still here working today.
5:23
SPEAKER_05: Uh she retired, she works a little bit.
5:25
SPEAKER_03: She did Rockstar publicist.
5:27
SPEAKER_05: Rockstar public.
5:28
SPEAKER_05: And she has stories of when Hard Rock opened about the celebs that she interacted with, people that she said, I never ever thought in a million years I would be in the same room as this person.
5:39
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and you know, in addition to live music, the Hard Rock also kind of helped carve out what the nightlife scene is here in Las Vegas, with uh body English being one of the big clubs back in the day.
5:54
SPEAKER_05: And is nightlife gonna stick around here when it's virgin hotels, you know?
5:58
SPEAKER_05: What's their plans?
5:59
SPEAKER_05: Well, we have all the details coming up when we talk to the man in charge, Richard Bosworth.
6:04
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6:14
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6:21
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6:53
SPEAKER_05: Welcome back, everyone, to Vegas Revealed.
6:55
SPEAKER_05: We have with us right now Richard Bozworth.
6:58
SPEAKER_05: He is the CEO and president of JC Hospitality, which is the owner of the Hard Rock property and the soon-to-be Virgin Hotel.
7:05
SPEAKER_05: I know you like to go by a different name, right?
7:07
SPEAKER_00: Well, I've just been called Baz since age five, and it's, you know, I think it's because I got like a really short haircut cut, and the all the neighborhood kids were like calling call me Buldy Boz.
7:16
SPEAKER_00: And then when my hair grew, they just say with Boz and they're just stuck.
7:19
SPEAKER_03: So Boz just stuck.
7:21
SPEAKER_03: So uh you know, this is kind of a mixed emotion kind of situation.
7:26
SPEAKER_03: Obviously, we're looking back at twenty-five years of the Hard Rock as an iconic Vegas property, but also looking ahead to what's next when it becomes a virgin hotel.
7:36
SPEAKER_00: It is, and you know, it's interesting because our ownership group bought the property clearly with the intent to convert it to Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.
7:44
SPEAKER_00: But even we have, you know, feel the sadness um and the you know the just the energy of this property and saying goodbye to Hard Rock.
7:53
SPEAKER_00: But it's one of the reasons that we wanted a farewell weekend.
7:56
SPEAKER_00: Uh we wanted to pay tribute, for sure, because we believe this property was such an important property, not only to the casino industry, but to the community of Las Vegas.
8:05
SPEAKER_00: And over the last 25 years, there's been 14,000 locals that have worked here.
8:11
SPEAKER_00: 2,000 currently, so almost 2,000 currently.
8:14
SPEAKER_00: So we feel that we really did need to thank the local community, thank Las Vegas, and thank our team members, and have a weekend that was really geared towards the Las Vegas and local community and say goodbye, kind of hear the stories, hear the emotions, and carry that forward into uh into the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.
8:34
SPEAKER_05: And a lot of people ask, you know, why is the hard rock closing?
8:37
SPEAKER_05: Was this the overall plan, or is it closing for a reason, something that happened over the last year?
8:43
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it was definitely our strategy to change it, as we bought it to change it.
8:47
SPEAKER_00: Um, and because we feel that with time, things change.
8:52
SPEAKER_00: Change is part of life.
8:54
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, Virgin is such a wonderful and powerful brand.
8:58
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, between all their businesses, their 60 million customers worldwide, uh, through all the airlines and all their other businesses, their cruise ships.
9:07
SPEAKER_00: It's truly a travel company, so there's great value in that.
9:11
SPEAKER_00: But also, you know, we have a multi-operator platform here.
9:14
SPEAKER_00: AEG is now our partner in the joint, will be our partner in the joint.
9:18
SPEAKER_00: Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment, who is one of the most powerful gaming companies in the world, is our partner on the gaming floor.
9:24
SPEAKER_00: So, really, what and our whole bunch of new food and beverage announcements will be making tomorrow night.
9:30
SPEAKER_00: So, really, what we've done is we have brought together some of the most powerful names in the hospitality and the gaming industry under one roof so we can truly be now competitive in the most competitive hospitality market in the world, Las Vegas.
9:45
SPEAKER_00: This is it.
9:46
SPEAKER_00: This is the big show.
9:47
SPEAKER_00: And you need that level of firepower.
9:50
SPEAKER_00: So, why are we closing?
9:52
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, we did our homework.
9:55
SPEAKER_00: Uh, initially it was going to be, well, let's phase it.
9:58
SPEAKER_00: Let's start with the tower, let's start with a restaurant.
10:02
SPEAKER_00: But when you look at Las Vegas, to the credit of both of you and the media in Las Vegas, I think the casino and the resort industry is akin to the movie industry in Los Angeles.
10:13
SPEAKER_00: It's the industry.
10:14
SPEAKER_00: And people in Las Vegas care.
10:17
SPEAKER_00: They're very interested.
10:18
SPEAKER_00: The media cares.
10:19
SPEAKER_00: The media is interested.
10:21
SPEAKER_00: So to basically piecemeal this property to the general public, I don't think Las Vegas would have accepted it that way.
10:28
SPEAKER_00: I think in Las Vegas, you've got to be dramatic, you've got to be big, you've got to be on spot, and you just can't piecemeal it.
10:37
SPEAKER_00: You've got to be able to present all at one time.
10:40
SPEAKER_00: Additionally, we watched what happened with some of our neighbors.
10:43
SPEAKER_00: Uh, we watched the Palms, we watched the Monte Carlo to Park MGM, and frankly, picked up the phone and called those guys.
10:51
SPEAKER_00: How did it go?
10:52
SPEAKER_00: They're like, oi, you know, it's just like, whatever you think you're gonna do, you're not gonna do.
10:57
SPEAKER_00: And the construction is gonna bother people.
11:00
SPEAKER_00: So it's not gonna be a great guest experience.
11:02
SPEAKER_00: And we thought that's the other thing, too, right?
11:05
SPEAKER_00: We don't want to impact the guest experience as we're trying to bring this new and exciting property to Las Vegas.
11:12
SPEAKER_03: And I know as we move forward, you're gonna be adding to the food and beverage, the great restaurants that are here at the Virgin Hotel.
11:20
SPEAKER_03: Can you give us any idea of what to expect?
11:24
SPEAKER_00: So, first, who's staying?
11:25
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you that.
11:26
SPEAKER_00: Um, no boo is staying.
11:28
SPEAKER_00: We're really excited going to get a multi-million dollar renovation.
11:31
SPEAKER_00: Uh, MB Steak, uh, Michael Jenna, David Morton, uh, Peter's uh family is brother as well.
11:37
SPEAKER_00: Umby Steak is getting multi-million dollar expansion, um, where the bar is going from 20 seats to 50.
11:44
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
11:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so it's gonna be really, really relevant bar at Steakhouse Bar.
11:47
SPEAKER_00: Uh so we're excited about that.
11:49
SPEAKER_00: And Pizza Forte is staying, so that's the Ferraro family.
11:53
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, when you take a look at the Morton family, it's local, right?
11:56
SPEAKER_00: The Ferraro family is local.
11:58
SPEAKER_00: We we really embrace the community here, and I love this community, and I love the hospitality expertise in this community.
12:06
SPEAKER_00: It's like nowhere else.
12:07
SPEAKER_00: So keep the keep these these wonderful local families here.
12:13
SPEAKER_00: Um, all right, so now you want a new name.
12:16
SPEAKER_00: All right, I'll give you one.
12:18
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
12:18
SPEAKER_00: Uh we're bringing back Todd English Olives.
12:21
SPEAKER_00: Um, Todd literally came knocking on my door.
12:24
SPEAKER_00: Our very first day of ownership, I bumped into him, and um we talked and we talked and we talked and we talked, and I was like, wow, olives?
12:34
SPEAKER_00: And so, yeah, so olives is gonna be going into 35 space, which would be right near our convention center in the Paradise Garage.
12:41
SPEAKER_00: Do you like Thai food?
12:42
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
12:43
SPEAKER_00: You just wait for tomorrow.
12:44
SPEAKER_00: I we are going to announce what I feel is the best Thai restaurant in the United States out of Los Angeles.
12:52
SPEAKER_03: All right.
12:53
SPEAKER_00: I mean, the most remarkable, yeah, yeah, exactly, Dana.
12:58
SPEAKER_00: One of the most remarkable Thai foods in the country.
13:02
SPEAKER_03: All right, that's enough to keep our wheels spinning a little bit.
13:05
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, and and I think, you know, variety is everything.
13:07
SPEAKER_05: I guess it's gonna keep them on your property.
13:09
SPEAKER_05: For example, you can have, you know, uh a great steak at a steakhouse one night, and then the next night you can have Thai and never have to leave the property.
13:18
SPEAKER_00: Exactly, and the price points have to be approachable as well.
13:21
SPEAKER_00: Everything can't be always high-priced fine dining.
13:24
SPEAKER_00: So, um, you know, it's it's interesting, but and to your to your point, what we're trying to build here, which is not new for Las Vegas, I think everybody does it, is trying to build an ecosystem.
13:35
SPEAKER_00: So we love our location.
13:37
SPEAKER_00: We love exactly where we are.
13:39
SPEAKER_00: We're at we're 1.1 miles from the front door of city center, we're a mile and a half to the airport, and we're a mile to the convention center.
13:47
SPEAKER_00: So we're a five, six-minute cab ride from any position.
13:51
SPEAKER_00: Try to go from Aria to the wind on a Saturday night, it'll take you 20, 25 minutes.
13:59
SPEAKER_00: Come here, five or six minutes.
14:01
SPEAKER_05: I know when the announcement came, we saw Sir Richard Branson over near the pool, and it was a whole big thing.
14:06
SPEAKER_05: Are we gonna see him around this property often?
14:10
SPEAKER_00: You will, you will.
14:12
SPEAKER_00: He's very he is, I mean, he he's virgin, right?
14:15
SPEAKER_00: So you are gonna see Sir Richard for sure.
14:18
SPEAKER_00: Um, I mean, it's I'm sure he's gonna do something really fun and really special, but he's very, very excited about this property.
14:28
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, it's interesting.
14:30
SPEAKER_00: Um he's visited the property twice in the last year, year and a half, um, and his level of excitement is uh contagious.
14:39
SPEAKER_05: And what's gonna be the most noticeable change, you know, from the hard rock to the Virgin Hotel?
14:44
SPEAKER_05: When we walk into the Virgin Hotel for the first time, what is really gonna stick out?
14:49
SPEAKER_00: The the the your sense of arrival.
14:51
SPEAKER_00: I think to me that's gonna be the most important thing, that sense of arrival.
14:55
SPEAKER_00: The casino floor, we're building a beautiful stone floor, windows, sense of arrival.
15:03
SPEAKER_00: The gaming floor is being starts now where the center bar is, and that center bar is being picked up and lifted, and you can't really see the line of sight, but it's being shifted about a hundred feet off center.
15:18
SPEAKER_00: So when you walk in, you'll be able to have line of sight to all the restaurants.
15:22
SPEAKER_00: And the gaming, and we pick up actually more gaming for it.
15:25
SPEAKER_00: We're adding 13,000 square feet of casino space.
15:27
SPEAKER_00: So when you walk in, you'll be in a CNO booth, you'll be able to see some of those other restaurants I'm not gonna say right now.
15:34
SPEAKER_00: Um you're gonna be able to see uh our what Mr.
15:37
SPEAKER_00: Lucky's will become.
15:38
SPEAKER_00: And you'll be able to see you'll be able to see all this with a line of sight when you come in.
15:43
SPEAKER_00: So our sense of arrival is very hospitality driven as opposed to just purely spot machines.
15:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
15:50
SPEAKER_03: Something else that people are interested in is the pool area.
15:54
SPEAKER_03: Of course, the hard rock kind of ushered in the whole pool party idea with the rehab pool party.
16:00
SPEAKER_03: Is Virgin going to be building off of that legacy and offer, you know, a really unique pool experience here as we move forward?
16:10
SPEAKER_00: We are so excited.
16:12
SPEAKER_00: And because we're opening, you know, in the fourth quarter, you know, in November, the daylight will kick off for five months later, uh, just purely because that's the seasonality.
16:23
SPEAKER_00: But I describe our five-acre pool deck with six pools that we have right now as a baseball diamond, a baseball field.
16:34
SPEAKER_00: And rehab is currently in center field, and the music blasts up against the center field wall, which is a hotel.
16:42
SPEAKER_00: So we are actually we we are actually bulldozing the pool where rehab was, and we're building a 13,000 square foot event and concert lawn for private parties and outdoor concerts, um, which will be used for corporate events, social events.
17:02
SPEAKER_00: Um it's gonna be have fire pits, shrubberies, seating is gonna be incredible.
17:07
SPEAKER_00: Our back resort pool, which is today called the Nirvana pool, is gorgeous and has an entrance from our back lot.
17:16
SPEAKER_00: That's gonna become our party pool.
17:18
SPEAKER_00: That's gonna become our daylight pool.
17:21
SPEAKER_00: It will not be called rehab, it will be called something else.
17:24
SPEAKER_00: Um the best I can say is it's kind of like Burning Man meets Mikanos.
17:31
SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be really quite a combination, but really, really cool.
17:35
SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's gonna be double decker because we're gonna combine two pools.
17:40
SPEAKER_00: Um, but our party pool will now be at home plate.
17:43
SPEAKER_00: So all the music that really travels will be able to travel through the rest of the five-ecture pool deck.
17:48
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then our resort pool is gonna interact with our restaurants.
17:53
SPEAKER_00: So when we start making the announcements of some of the restaurants that are really vibey and really fun around the resort pool, we'll have two different types of pool environments.
18:03
SPEAKER_00: You'll have the typical daylife, which will be very competitive with Encore Beach Club, Parquis, uh, Wet Republic, uh, to name a few, because there's so many great ones here.
18:13
SPEAKER_00: Um, but the resort pool will be very different.
18:16
SPEAKER_00: It'll be very, you'll have a food and beverage, loungy, um, cabana experience where it's a different environment, um, so you can have both.
18:28
SPEAKER_00: Um, so we're we're really building a really interesting, integrated environment in our pool.
18:32
SPEAKER_00: And as well as and also event space.
18:35
SPEAKER_05: Well, what about entertainers?
18:36
SPEAKER_05: Have you guys thought about headliners?
18:38
SPEAKER_05: Are you gonna stick to the ever-changing shows, you know, the different kinds of concerts instead?
18:43
SPEAKER_00: So that's one of the real values that we have with our partnership with AEG.
18:48
SPEAKER_00: So AEG, who is just a monster in the industry.
18:51
SPEAKER_00: I I laugh.
18:52
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, all right, so we obviously have some institutional investors, but otherwise we're a bunch of guys, you know, right?
18:58
SPEAKER_00: So how do a bunch of guys compete with MGM, Caesars, uh, Win, SANS for entertainment?
19:05
SPEAKER_00: I said, we really can't.
19:07
SPEAKER_00: We don't have that type of buying power for entertainment.
19:10
SPEAKER_00: With AEG and their ability to buy entertainment and their context within the world of entertainment, yes, we're gonna have significant uh headline acts.
19:21
SPEAKER_00: Um we think that we'll probably be adding about a nutritional 30 to 40 more shows even than we have today.
19:27
SPEAKER_03: Oh wow.
19:28
SPEAKER_03: And there are so many great spaces here, like the old body English nightclub.
19:34
SPEAKER_03: Is nightlife something that you're gonna get back into when you become Virgin Hotel?
19:40
SPEAKER_00: Our feeling and our approach to nightlife is that we really don't feel or want to be able to compete with the large mega nightclubs in town.
19:52
SPEAKER_00: We're not gonna play the DJ War game.
19:55
SPEAKER_00: Um, we don't think that's a winning game to play.
19:58
SPEAKER_00: So we're really building um a number of really fun thematic ultra lounges throughout the property, which we think are more fun.
20:06
SPEAKER_00: We can focus on guest service, um, and yet uh the Magic Mic space will be a combination of entertainment and club.
20:16
SPEAKER_00: So, but it'll be very different, again, because it's only 12,000 square feet.
20:20
SPEAKER_00: It's not the 50 to 100,000 square feet that so many of these great clubs in Las Vegas have.
20:25
SPEAKER_00: And they're great clubs, don't get me wrong.
20:27
SPEAKER_00: Wonderful, wonderful, powerful clubs.
20:29
SPEAKER_00: That's just not what we're gonna have.
20:31
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna have something much smaller, and we really want to focus, you know, when you have a 12,000 square foot club or a 35,000 uh 3,500 square foot ultra lounge, your service and your approach to the guests could be much different than if you had a hundred thousand square feet and you have to bring in five thousand people to make it look busy.
20:50
SPEAKER_00: We can look busy with 300 or 150.
20:54
SPEAKER_00: So we could we really can focus on the guest experience.
20:57
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, that that magic mic space is a great space too with the stage and uh you know, you could do anything in there.
21:03
SPEAKER_05: Have you ever thought about bringing in live music?
21:05
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's we we thought about, you know, you know, particularly with our relationship with AEG, you got a rock band in there one night, they could do unplug the following night, right?
21:14
SPEAKER_00: You can start basically cross-utilization of our different facilities.
21:19
SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, um, we're very close to announcing, um, and I'm hoping I can do this tomorrow.
21:25
SPEAKER_00: If not, maybe we can follow up in a week or two, a really, really interesting sports bar environment um in the property that we think is gonna be very unique to Las Vegas as well.
21:36
SPEAKER_03: Which that's something that you're gonna need.
21:38
SPEAKER_03: Vegas is a pro sports town now, and when you're coming up with a new concept, that's something that you have to throw in.
21:45
SPEAKER_00: And when you really analyze how much well, you're right, we're a major league town for sure, but how many nights a year this market in Las Vegas is driven by a sporting event.
21:55
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
21:55
SPEAKER_00: Whether it be boxing, World Series, Super Bowl weekend, here we are.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: Right?
22:00
SPEAKER_00: I mean, this is a sports town and it's a it's a sports destination.
22:06
SPEAKER_05: Well, yeah, we talked about all the features, you know, inside the property, but we haven't touched on the rooms yet.
22:10
SPEAKER_05: What about those?
22:11
SPEAKER_05: Are those getting an overhaul too?
22:12
SPEAKER_05: They'll look different.
22:14
SPEAKER_00: Every room, and that we actually call our guest rooms chambers, which is, I think, uh really a signature of Virgin Hotels, but every room here is being um renovated.
22:25
SPEAKER_00: And one of the aspects of the chamber is technology.
22:30
SPEAKER_00: And one of the things that makes it a chamber has got a very good residential feel, and there's a separation.
22:36
SPEAKER_00: So even the casino tower, which is our original tower, has a sliding door.
22:42
SPEAKER_00: When you walk into the foyer, we get a sliding door between there and the bedroom.
22:45
SPEAKER_00: So let's say you're here in the morning, you're attending a conference in town, you're showered, getting ready, but you want that pot of coffee and the pastry or a smoothie delivered to your room, but you're not quite dressed yet.
23:00
SPEAKER_00: The room service personnel can come in, they can drop off in the foyer area, the chamber door is closed, and you go on your Virgin app and you pay for it like you would pay for Uber or Lyft, and therefore you never have to actually make that contact.
23:18
SPEAKER_00: Um, and you have this opportunity to order room service, keep going, get dressed, open the chamber door when the service personnel has left, drink your coffee and go.
23:26
SPEAKER_00: That's an example of the advantage of the chamber.
23:29
SPEAKER_05: It sounds like you have so many exciting things in store.
23:32
SPEAKER_05: It's gonna be, like you've mentioned, a complete overhaul.
23:35
SPEAKER_05: We look forward to seeing it.
23:37
SPEAKER_03: Boz, thank you so much for your time.
23:38
SPEAKER_03: We can't wait to see what you have in store as the Hard Rock transitions into a virgin property coming up a little bit later this year.
23:46
SPEAKER_03: And still to come here on Vegas Revealed, two rock star publicists are sharing their memories of day one of the Hard Rock opening.
23:54
SPEAKER_03: That's still to come on Vegas Revealed.
24:02
SPEAKER_05: Hey, thanks for listening to Vegas Revealed.
24:04
SPEAKER_05: Each week, we'll chat about anything in Las Vegas.
24:07
SPEAKER_03: Highlights of things new and old, secrets, stories, and our favorites.
24:12
SPEAKER_05: We look forward to interviewing some of the most interesting people in Vegas, celebrities, friends, those that were behind the scenes, and more.
24:19
SPEAKER_03: We want to enhance your Vegas experience.
24:22
SPEAKER_03: We've lived here for 15 years each, and we have some really useful tips.
24:28
SPEAKER_03: Expect something different each week on Vegas Reveal.
24:37
SPEAKER_05: Welcome back, everyone.
24:38
SPEAKER_05: We have two entertainment publicists sitting with us here at the Hard Rock right now, getting ready to reminisce about the good old days.
24:46
SPEAKER_05: Laura Hurlovich and Hilary Smoot joining us.
24:49
SPEAKER_05: And Laura, I know you were here right from the beginning in 1995.
24:53
SPEAKER_04: Yes, I worked for the Hard Rock Cafe with Peter Morton, and then he had me swing over and work with the hotel as well.
24:59
SPEAKER_04: And so I was here during the construction phase.
25:02
SPEAKER_04: Actually met my husband here.
25:03
SPEAKER_04: I used to borrow hard hats from him.
25:05
SPEAKER_04: He worked on the electrical side, and um now we're together 20 some odd years, 30 years, I don't know, a long time.
25:13
SPEAKER_05: And Hilary, what's your connection?
25:14
SPEAKER_05: Because you actually didn't live here in Las Vegas in 1995.
25:17
SPEAKER_01: It's such a funny story.
25:19
SPEAKER_01: So I was a publicist in Los Angeles and was working with the Eagles, who was one of the many amazing acts that opened the joint, and that is how I actually met Laura.
25:31
SPEAKER_01: It was my technically first PR job in LA, and Laura was known as the rock and roll publicist in Las Vegas, and she was it as far as we were concerned, and I've met her and have known her ever since.
25:45
SPEAKER_01: So how crazy is that?
25:46
SPEAKER_05: And Laura, we were looking through thank you for first of all, thank you for bringing in all this great memorabilia.
25:51
SPEAKER_05: We were looking through this album that you brought in, a photo album, which doesn't happen anymore, you know.
25:56
SPEAKER_05: Pictures that were actually developed from film.
25:59
SPEAKER_05: It's amazing all the celebrities that you have in there flipping through how young they look.
26:03
SPEAKER_05: We were just looking at pictures of Salt and Pepper, Nicolas Cage.
26:07
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, well, they were all here at the grand opening.
26:10
SPEAKER_04: I mean, that Jack Nicholson was here.
26:12
SPEAKER_04: Um, there were so many celebrities here.
26:14
SPEAKER_04: Um Pamela and Tommy Lee had literally been married for like four days, and they were here, and that was like the big news.
26:22
SPEAKER_04: And um it just there were every celebrity was here.
26:27
SPEAKER_04: There wasn't one that wasn't here, and most of them, a lot of them were performing on stage, obviously.
26:32
SPEAKER_04: You know, there was uh Al Green, there was uh Duff McKagan, he was with that all-star rock band, and I can't think of the name of them, where there was a bunch of rockers that got together.
26:42
SPEAKER_04: It was one of the breaks in Guns N' Roses, and um Duran Duran, I think.
26:48
SPEAKER_04: It was just like everybody was here.
26:50
SPEAKER_03: And the hard rock is synonymous with music, rock and roll music, and you guys were both here for the very first show that opened this property, right?
27:02
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was pretty incredible, especially coming from LA.
27:05
SPEAKER_01: Uh Cheryl Crow also opened that night in Al Green as well, as Laura mentioned.
27:10
SPEAKER_01: Um, and Cheryl is Don's cu Don Henley's cousin, so it was this whole like family thing, and here we like come from LA and we're being like whisked from the airport with like a police escort, and it's like, oh my gosh, like is that for us?
27:22
SPEAKER_01: Like this is so bizarre, and just doing like the sound check, and again, seeing all of these celebrities in this beautiful property, and it was just so huge.
27:30
SPEAKER_01: And of course, with the Eagles, they had just embarked technically a couple months prior on their Hell Freeze is ever reunion tour.
27:37
SPEAKER_01: The guys hadn't even been together in 14 years before that, so it was pretty monumental to get them all together, especially in Vegas on that stage.
27:47
SPEAKER_01: It was just it was just historic, so it was cool.
27:50
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, and this in the circle bar, such a huge part of the hard rock, you know.
27:55
SPEAKER_05: Everyone used to meet at the circle bar, and Hillary, I'm sure you probably brought clients here.
27:59
SPEAKER_01: Yep, and I actually it's funny, as I'm sitting here, I remember doing a memorabilia dedication ceremony with Ted Nugent, and some a fan brought a crossbow into the property to get autographed, and of course, security's like, this man's bringing a weapon into the property, and he's like, I'm a fan, and you know, America and all this stuff, and it was like, no, sir, you can't bring the crossbow into the pro in a casino, and it was just insane.
28:29
SPEAKER_01: And it's like even the hard rock, and it's like things like that, the just kind of you know, crazy things that go on here where it's like, but it's the hard rock and it's cool and it's normal, and it's just another day at work, you know, kind of a thing where it's like, yeah, that that happened.
28:43
SPEAKER_05: And Laura, I know we talked about you being here from the very beginning, and the hard rock has seen so many changes through the years.
28:50
SPEAKER_05: Do you think this is a good idea?
28:52
SPEAKER_05: Time to close it up and just make a complete change to a completely different property?
28:57
SPEAKER_04: Well, I'll do respect to everyone.
29:00
SPEAKER_04: Once Peter sold the hard rock, it was no longer the hard rock to me.
29:04
SPEAKER_04: I mean, it it was called the hard rock, but its soul and its spirit was no longer the hard rock, you know.
29:11
SPEAKER_04: Mo most of the big bands they booked, um I and first off, this joint is not my joint.
29:17
SPEAKER_04: My joint was the other joint, okay?
29:20
SPEAKER_04: Um where where it said humanity is instrumental, which Peter made that happen over that stage because he felt that way about it, and then they didn't even bring it forward into the new joint, you know.
29:32
SPEAKER_04: Um so I I mean, obviously there have been lots of owners, all props to Virgin, I don't know any of them.
29:38
SPEAKER_04: Um, but the owners in between Peter Morton and them didn't really do the image of the hard rock justice, in my opinion.
29:46
SPEAKER_04: Um they had a lot of uh country acts, you know, in the joints, and that really it was really rare.
29:52
SPEAKER_04: I mean, it was a real push to even over the rodeo get a country act in the old joint, you know.
29:57
SPEAKER_04: And it only held 2,000 people.
29:58
SPEAKER_04: They still allowed people to smoke in it.
30:00
SPEAKER_04: Not that I like people smoking around me, but that was the old joint, you know, there were no seats.
30:06
SPEAKER_04: Um we did a Rolling Stones show not long after that, and I remember watching Peter Morton get up on stage and say, Ladies and gentlemen, the Rolling Stones, and thought, oh my god, that is so amazing for Peter.
30:18
SPEAKER_04: That is like his lifelong dream to get up and say, Ladies and gentlemen, the Rolling Stones.
30:23
SPEAKER_04: And um, it was just it was unbelievable.
30:27
SPEAKER_04: Peter made it what it was, you know, and so I you know, it I look at it now and it doesn't feel the same to me, obviously, and Virgin will brand it as what they want it to be.
30:39
SPEAKER_04: But it was just so amazing.
30:40
SPEAKER_04: I met Johnny Cash here, and he was the first celebrity, and I didn't even want to work that night, and I wasn't supposed to work that night, and I I was really kind of pissy and moany about it, and I came over here with a guitar, a$9,000 guitar, our memorabilia guy wanted me to get Johnny to sign.
30:56
SPEAKER_04: Had to go pick it up at the guitar shop.
30:58
SPEAKER_04: When the guy there, who I knew very well from gigging around town, he was a very well-known, like lounge guy, when he handed me the guitar, he cried because he wouldn't get to play it anymore because it was in the shop for sale.
31:10
SPEAKER_04: So I bought it for$9,000, and I brought it over here and I arranged with Johnny for him to sign it, and um and he took a picture, and it's actually in this book.
31:21
SPEAKER_04: He took a picture with our general managers, and I remember meeting him, and you could feel you could literally feel the coolness.
31:31
SPEAKER_05: And Laura just want to say thank you so much for bringing in all this memorabilia.
31:34
SPEAKER_05: Everything from casino tips to a leather jacket, you got a cymbal, all sorts of stuff.
31:39
SPEAKER_05: And we did take some pictures and video, so we'll put that on our Vegas Revealed YouTube page.
31:43
SPEAKER_05: You can go check that out.
31:44
SPEAKER_03: And uh before we wrap up, uh are there any, you know, while we're sitting here on the casino floor, have there been any other memories that have popped into your head?
31:53
SPEAKER_04: Yep, yep.
31:54
SPEAKER_04: So, real quickly, New Year's Eve one year, this is a special memory seal plate.
31:58
SPEAKER_04: I I want to say it was our first New Year's Eve, and he wanted to dress like Elvis, so I had to get him an Elvis outfit with the aviator glasses and the pompadour, and then had to literally put it on him because it was it was one piece.
32:11
SPEAKER_04: It was like white, crazy, weird stuff that it was made out of.
32:15
SPEAKER_04: And I remember standing backstage just a few minutes before midnight and rushing Seal into this outfit and putting the pompadour on and the glasses.
32:23
SPEAKER_04: He was so excited to be playing the hard rock, and this, you know, was uh kiss from a rose on a grave days when Seal was seal, right?
32:31
SPEAKER_04: I mean, he was so excited, and and that was um fun.
32:34
SPEAKER_04: And the groundbreaking Eddie Van Halen, Bibi King, Chris Isaac digging in the dirt with Peter Morton.
32:40
SPEAKER_04: That was so, so special to know it was finally gonna happen.
32:44
SPEAKER_04: So those were some some really cool, fun moments, and and they never stopped.
32:49
SPEAKER_04: Uh I got in the elevator with David Spade and Laura Flynn Boyle when they were dating.
32:53
SPEAKER_04: They'd been here for a concert, and nobody was supposed to know they were dating.
32:57
SPEAKER_04: And uh David kept take grabbing her hand and trying to talk to her.
33:00
SPEAKER_04: It was just the three of us, and the elevator was closed, and she was like trying to push him away because she didn't want anybody to see that they were touching each other.
33:07
SPEAKER_04: So you had like every day you were here, you had an experience like that.
33:11
SPEAKER_05: Oh, Laura, we can always count on you for some good dirt.
33:14
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, you never knew who you were gonna see or what was gonna go on here.
33:17
SPEAKER_03: I love it.
33:18
SPEAKER_03: Uh Laura, Hillary, thank you guys both so much for your time and for sharing your stories of your time here at the Hard Rock over the past 25 years.
33:27
SPEAKER_03: And next on Vegas revealed our two tips.
33:31
SPEAKER_03: Stay with us.
33:47
SPEAKER_05: Welcome back.
33:48
SPEAKER_05: It's time for Dana John Secret Death.
33:51
SPEAKER_05: And you know what?
33:51
SPEAKER_05: We're sticking with the theme of the new Virgin Hotel that's coming here to Las Vegas.
33:56
SPEAKER_05: We've been mem reminiscing about the hard rock and all the memories, but let's look forward.
34:00
SPEAKER_05: And so I asked around, you know, we're some incredible, incredible memorabilia cases here in the Hard Rock now.
34:08
SPEAKER_05: Where are they all going?
34:09
SPEAKER_05: Uh so I did ask Voz after our interview, and he told me, you know, a lot of them are gonna stick right here on the property when it's virgin.
34:16
SPEAKER_05: Um, some of them are gonna go into the suites that they're gonna be opening up, and also some of them will be in some of the concert venue areas that they have here.
34:25
SPEAKER_05: So you will be able to see that.
34:26
SPEAKER_05: He did say a couple artists have asked for their case back, and so I don't know how long he's but they were bought from them, so I don't know exactly how that's gonna work.
34:35
SPEAKER_05: But anyway, a couple artists asking for their case back.
34:37
SPEAKER_05: Um, a lot of the cases, though, in the memorabilia cases here at the Hard Rock that we love so much are gonna stick in the property when it's Virgin Hotel in the suites, and then also the concert venue.
34:47
SPEAKER_03: So artists are gonna need to fork over some cash if they want their stuff back.
34:51
SPEAKER_03: Um, also another thing that we are interested in is when you can get your hands on some room reservations for the Virgin Hotel.
34:59
SPEAKER_03: It's gonna open at the end of 2020.
35:03
SPEAKER_03: The room reservations not open quite yet, but if you go to VirginHotels.com, that's where you can put in your email to stay up to date on everything that happens as they roll out this new property here in Las Vegas, and you will be the first to know when you sign up for those alerts when the rooms go uh on sale.
35:25
SPEAKER_03: So uh go in, put in your email, and you will be a Vegas insider.
35:30
SPEAKER_03: We've already done it.
35:32
SPEAKER_05: Yes, I did.
35:34
SPEAKER_05: I did I did do it.
35:35
SPEAKER_05: I signed up.
35:35
SPEAKER_05: I love getting the updates, it's always fun.
35:37
SPEAKER_05: And then you know what?
35:37
SPEAKER_05: Sometimes when they roll out things like that, you never know if there might be some sort of like early bird special.
35:42
SPEAKER_05: So you definitely want to keep your eye on that.
35:43
SPEAKER_05: And it's always really cool to be the first at anything.
35:47
SPEAKER_05: And we have some video content on our YouTube.
35:50
SPEAKER_05: Um we talked to Laura and Hillary, and just another reminder, uh, we were talking about those hard rock chips and all the kind of memorabilia and stuff, so we got some video of it that we'll put on our YouTube that you can go check out.
35:59
SPEAKER_05: So that's the Vegas Revealed YouTube, and we'd love if you subscribe to it as well.
36:04
SPEAKER_03: And there will be one final toast to say farewell to the Hard Rock that's happening uh the Saturday night before the Super Bowl.
36:12
SPEAKER_03: So if you're in town, if you're within driving distance, get on down here, raise a glass, and cheers to Hard Rock History.
36:20
SPEAKER_03: We will be back with you on Vegas Revealed from our broadcast home at Legazi Stadium inside the Palazzo Resort next week.
36:27
SPEAKER_03: We'll see you then.