Harrah's Gulf Coast is a

casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

and

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

Biloxi, Mississippi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It lies on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast in southern Mississippi, bordering the city of Gulfport, Mississippi, Gulfport to its west. The adjacent cities ar ...

, owned by

Vici Properties Vici Properties Inc. is an American real estate investment trust (REIT) specializing in casino and entertainment properties, based in New York City. It was formed in 2017 as a spin-off from Caesars Entertainment Corporation as part of its bankr ...

and operated by Caesars Entertainment. This facility replaces the former Grand Casino Biloxi, which was destroyed by

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

. At the time, the casino offered a casino, two hotels with 975 rooms, and a

convention center A convention center (American and British English spelling differences, American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a Convention (meeting), convention, where individuals and groups ...

. Currently, the casino features around 800

slot machine A slot machine, fruit machine (British English), poker machine or pokie (Australian English and New Zealand English) is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers. A slot machine's standard layout features a screen disp ...

s and 35 table games.

History

Prior to 2005, this casino was a Grand Casinos and

Park Place Entertainment Park Place Entertainment, later named Caesars Entertainment, Inc., was a casino company based in Paradise, Nevada. For a time it was the largest casino operator in the world. It was formed in 1998 as a corporate spin-off of the gaming division of ...

property. After the ownership change to Harrah's Entertainment it was announced that this casino was being converted to the Horseshoe brand. But these plans were put on hold when Biloxi and the

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Tex ...

were hit by Hurricane Katrina. The storm destroyed the barge on which the casino floor was located; the

storm surge A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the ...

swept the barge from the shoreline all the way across Beach Boulevard, nearly inward. On May 21, 2006, demolition crews imploded the beach-side hotel structure, leaving Harrah's with a clean slate for rebuilding. After Katrina, the company announced that they will be re-opening the facility during Summer 2006, with a casino, a spa, and other amenities, but the facilities south of Highway 90 would take several years to complete. On August 17, 2006, the first phase of the rebuilding opened with a 495-room hotel and a new land-based casino. The long-term plan for this property had been to construct what Harrah's (now renamed back to Caesars) called "a destination resort." Part of the expansion plans revolved around Caesars' purchase of the that comprised the neighboring Casino Magic property. In May 2007, Harrah's announced the Margaritaville Casino and Resort would be built on the site. However, construction of that expansion ceased in 2008 due to economic concerns, and in January 2011, Caesars officials announced the termination of the agreement with Jimmy Buffett and his Margaritaville brand. A new Margaritaville Casino and Restaurant, not affiliated with Caesars Entertainment, was to be constructed at a different location in Biloxi. In October 2017, ownership of the property was transferred to Vici Properties as part of a

corporate spin-off A corporate spin-off, also known as a spin-out, starburst or hive-off, is a type of corporate action where a company "splits off" a section as a separate business or creates a second incarnation, even if the first is still active. It is distinct ...

, and it was leased back to Caesars Entertainment. During the pandemic, Ceasers Entertainment did away with all the buffets in its casino resorts and adopted the policy not to bring them back. The former buffet in the Harrah was changed into a food court that offers sea food, cajun food, asian food, desserts, among others.

References

External links

* {{coord, 30.393015, -88.865866, display=t, type:landmark Buildings and structures in Biloxi, Mississippi Casinos in Mississippi Hotels in Mississippi Caesars Entertainment Tourist attractions in Harrison County, Mississippi Casino hotels in Mississippi

History

See also

References

External links