Here’s a look inside the remodeled (former Harrah’s) property. By Ryan Slattery
Late last year, Caesars Entertainment celebrated the completion of a massive, $435 million remodel that rebranded its downtown Harrah’s property into Caesars New Orleans. It was a monumental shift that saw the addition of a 340-room hotel tower, a state-of-the-art sports book, a larger casino with a high-limit room and several new restaurants, including Louisiana’s first Nobu.
“It’s a world-class resort in the heart of the Big Easy and we can’t wait for our guests to experience it,” said Anthony Carano, President & COO of Caesars Entertainment.
The grand-opening ceremony featured fireworks and a Mardi Gras float that depicted Caesar and his court riding into the new Caesars New Orleans. Following the ceremony, the second-line band led revelers into the resort’s center bar, Octavia. There, partygoers enjoyed a “Taste of Caesars New Orleans,” featuring bites from all six restaurants at the property.
Located on Canal Street just steps away from The French Quarter, the property originally opened as Harrah’s New Orleans in October 1999. The remodel and rebranding “touched every square inch” of the property, Samir Mowad, senior vice president and general manager of Caesars New Orleans told Casino Life.
There are now 150,000 square feet of gaming and dining space, with more than 1,300 slot machines, 120 table games, and a 20-table poker room. Mowad, a native of New Orleans, has been GM at the property since September 2020.
Let’s get right to the point. Why was Harrah’s New Orleans rebranded into a Caesars property?
If you go back to Harrah’s New Orleans, there was a 30-year lease with the city and Louisiana for the property. As we approached the end of that lease, we were interested in renewing, as opposed to having the license expire and go back up for bid.
So we spoke with the state about doing a renewal. Part of that was the idea that there would be some sort of capital infusion to refresh the property.
It opened in 1999 and when we launched the Harrah’s brand, which was Mardi Gras-themed, it was the right brand. Gaming hadn’t proliferated across the country and wasn’t as popular as it is now.
Then you have to think about what’s happened over the last 25 years in New Orleans. The city has become so much more international. We now have direct, non-stop flights to Europe, and to both Central and South America. We’re one of the premier tourist destinations in America.
So as we thought about investing in the property, and how to both improve it and potentially reposition it, the Caesars brand really made sense. Outside of Vegas, you could argue that New Orleans is our premier tourist destination city.
The goal was to attract guests not only within the country but from around the world. While Harrah’s is a great brand, it does not resonate internationally the way Caesars does. I like to say we brought our best brand to the best city, but I may be biased because I live here. But it’s been a pretty good tagline.
Was it planned that you were going to rebrand Harrah’s into Caesars and obtain the naming rights for the Caesars Superdome, or did it all just happen that way?
That was more the stars aligning. The idea that we were going to rebrand to Caesars got approved by the state in 2019 at the same time sports betting popped up. That really led us to say, let’s also go after the naming rights for the Superdome. Like a lot of things, it was the right place at the right time. It just worked out for us.
So sports betting didn’t technically play a role, it just kind of fell in place.
It was after all this got dreamed up and approved that sports betting was being legalized nationally by the Supreme Court. Louisiana was one of the early states to allow sports betting at a time when we were trying to launch Caesars Sportsbook, not only in Louisiana but across the country. Again, it wasn’t part of the original planning but it just helped make even more sense for bringing the Caesars brand to New Orleans.
Tell me about some of the upgrades you’ve done. What will loyal Harrah’s customers first notice when coming into the new, Caesars-branded property?
They will notice that pretty much everything is different. We have renovated every square inch of customer-facing space both inside and outside of the property. Outside, for example, if you know the old Harrah’s building, there was a lot of red brick. Now we are very much a Romanesque, white-gray Caesar look on the outside.
On the inside, not only have we added a 340-room hotel tower but also several new restaurants. We’ve added Nobu. We’ve added an Emeril’s Brasserie. We have a celebrity food hall, which features Bobby Flay’s Burgers and Buddy Valastro’s Pizza Cake – partnerships driven by Vegas. Then we have Nina’s Creole Cottage from Nina Compton, a local James Beard Award-winning chef doing some great takes on New Orleans classics.
How important is it having an Emeril’s restaurant on property?
We have a great partnership with Chef Emeril Lagasse and his team. As a local guy myself, I’ve personally seen the growth of Emeril from his days at Commander’s Palace to then opening up his flagship restaurant, and then starting to grow with his brand from there. We know people are coming into New Orleans looking for that local foodie experience.
What a better partner than Emeril to work with? It’s just really been a home run.
New Orleans is one of my favorite food cities for sure. But I see there are a lot of Vegas influences.
When we were expanding and upgrading our food and beverage offerings, we tried to provide a mix of some of the best of what you can get in Vegas, and at some of our other properties. That’s why we brought in Nobu as a complement to what the city has.
New Orleans is a big sports city, so it must have been important to pair it with a great sports book on the property. What did you do?
Obviously, we have the Saints and the Pelicans, but New Orleans is a championship city. With all of the great sporting events we host here it’s amazing. We just hosted the Sugar Bowl, which was one of the college football playoff games. We have the Super Bowl and we’ve hosted Finals Fours, and we have Wrestle Mania coming.
Everybody knows sports are a huge part of the fabric of this country. People want a place to go watch the games and that sports book is a real gathering place for us. The seating is in demand to watch games. That’s why we took the sports book to another level. Having the privilege to operate in downtown New Orleans gives us a much bigger platform to let people experience it and enjoy it.
How large is it and what is it like?
We’re about 160 seats, with both tables and sofa sections in the back. We have a huge video screen. I think it’s 140 feet long. I would argue the sports book is as nice as there is in the country, outside of Las Vegas. We also have a fan cave behind the big video wall. It’s a private room that you can rent that comfortably holds around 16 people. You’ve also partnered with former Saints quarterback Archie Manning. That’s worked out pretty well.
We’ve been partners with Archie for years now. As much as we look to reinvent a lot of what we do, what Archie stands for and who he is fits everything we’re known for. With sports betting and what that restaurant is, it just made sense to double down.
One of the things that surprises folks, when they go to Manning’s Sports Bar & Grill, is that if Archie’s in town he’s there. He’s someone who still resonates with sports fans of all ages. With the combination of his boys [Peyton and Eli], and some of our original sports book commercials, it kind of put him back on the map in terms of being a cultural icon.
On the gaming side, did you do any expansions, bring in new games or add a high-limit room?
Yes. Our old high-limit room was more of a high-limit area that was a very small, secluded space, maybe about four tables. Now the new high-limit area we have around 60 or so games and three different table pits. There are private restrooms, a host area, a separate VIP desk and a private cashier cage back there. These are all things that we didn’t really have in our old high-limit area.
Was there a room remodel ahead of the rebranding?
We added a 340-room hotel tower from the ground up that’s brand new. We created suites that are on a level that we didn’t have before.
Now you also have a Fillmore concert venue. What type of shows and acts do you bring in there?
Live Nation is the operator. It's a great complement to what we do. They bring in every variety of music, much like any Fillmore in the country. We’ll really start to ramp up now that spring is coming. We have some exciting acts coming.
Casino Life Magazine Team would like to thank Anthony Carano, President & COO of Caesars Entertainment, for taking the time for this interview with us earlier this year.
***This exclusive feature interview was originally published in Casino Life Magazines February 2024 edition Issue 174***
