Caesars New Orleans

While gaming resorts are known for their casinos — and those venues do draw crowds — the categorization leaves out these hotels’ other offerings, and there are many. In addition to luxurious accommodations and substantial meeting space, these resorts have great entertainment and culinary and other non-gaming options to enhance the overall appeal of the destination.

Additionally, many are in destinations that enhance the attendee experience, whether because of area activities, weather or picturesque settings. And the cherry on top? Since gaming resorts are popular, there is ample air lift to all of them and, in some cases, even train transportation to get meeting attendees there.

In recent years, many casinos have upped their game, adding new meeting space or revamping their look. For those who have not visited for a while, they may find these casino resorts have changed and continue to make modifications.

Atlantic City, NJ

For groups seeking a gaming resort on the East Coast, Atlantic City is a perfect fit. Alongside its famous boardwalk — which has luxury hotels, retail and restaurants on one side and views of the Atlantic Ocean on the other — there is no shortage of hotels.

Also, the destination is easy to get to, as it’s located within one-third of the nation’s population. Meeting attendees from New York, New Jersey, and especially Philadelphia, can travel via train or drive. From elsewhere, guests can fly on Spirit Airlines direct from Florida or South Carolina, or fly into Philadelphia from virtually anywhere and take a less than a two-hour train trip to Atlantic City.

Meetings have new reasons to head to the destination, as a number of area resorts have been making some changes in recent years. Ocean Casino Resort underwent an $85 million facelift. That renovation included the $72 million addition of more than 460 hotel rooms and suites.

The resort features 1,399 guest rooms and suites, plus 160,000 sf of meeting space. Its 70,000 sf Ovation Hall & Conference Center can hold 80,000 guests and includes a 30,000-sf column-free area.

The refurbishment also meant the opening of The Gallery Bar Book & Games, a more than $5 million social and betting spot in the casino. It includes a 17-foot open-air staircase up to Balcony Bar.

Returning groups will notice that two eateries at the hotel changed their names. Dolce Mare, the Italian eatery, is now Linguini by the Sea and American Cut is now Ocean Steak. Chef Michael Schulson was going to debut two fine-dining restaurants: modern diner Samuel’s at Ocean and Pearl & Mary oyster bar. But he has since pulled back from opening those.

Jean Wiskowski, chief marketing officer, World Insurance Associates, booked the WORLD Conference at Ocean because the hotel’s layout and its seascape made the selection a no brainer. “We chose Ocean because of its meeting and conference rooms, as well as its pre-function/registration space are laid out in a beautiful center with sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean,” she says.

Attended by 340 guests for three nights, the meeting was easy to plan for Wiskowski, she says, both in terms of staff and what Ocean offered. “The Ocean team was top notch, starting with the director of group sales, which trickles down to every team member.”

She continues, “Special touches included new guest rooms, light and bright conference rooms and the employees all enhanced our visit. The meeting rooms and the views of the ocean from the Conference Center garnered a positive reaction from everyone.”

While attendees praise the facilities, Wiskowski compliments the staff. “We hosted two post-reception/dinner events each evening and each one had its own spin. Ocean knocked it out of the park,” she says.

Wiskowski has praise for the destination too. “Prior to WORLD, I had never done an event in Atlantic City — it’s an amazing gem on the East Coast. There’s reasonable food, outstanding service, gorgeous sleeping rooms and light and bright meeting rooms. Perfection.”

Meanwhile, Caesars Entertainment spent $400 million in 2023 to renovate three properties: Caesars Atlantic City, Tropicana Atlantic City and Harrah’s Atlantic City.

The top three floors of Caesars’ Centurion Tower received a makeover and a reflagging, becoming a Nobu Hotel. A year earlier, the Tower’s remaining 527 rooms were refreshed and in 2023 the lobby and guest arrival experience were revamped.

In total, Caesars Atlantic City has 1,141 rooms and 28,000 sf of meeting space, including the Palladium ballroom, which stretches to 17,135 sf. It can be divided into three rooms for up to 800 guests each.

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey’s Hell’s Kitchen restaurant also debuted on the property, serving up classic dishes like shrimp cocktail and filet mignon in a fine-dining setting.

Caesars also has new entertainment for meeting attendees. A theatrical show, called “The Hook,” has a residency at the hotel’s restored Warner Theater. It’s described as a “mix of burlesque, vaudeville and the circus.”

At Tropicana Atlantic City, which with 2,364 guest rooms is one of the Atlantic City Boardwalk’s biggest hotels, many eateries have come online, providing options for group dinners or dine arounds. The hotel has 122,000 sf of meeting space.

They have several dining spots available, including Ossu Japanese Tavern; Il Verdi, an Italian eatery; and Carmine’s, the NYC-based restaurant known for family style service and Purple Zebra daiquiri bar.

The Tropicana also has many nightlife options, including a nightclub, comedy club, a bar playing oldies music and even a western bar.

Located mid-Boardwalk, the historic Bally’s Atlantic City Casino Resort received a major $100 million facelift in 2022. The hotel features more than 1,200 rooms and 100,000 sf of meeting space.

The renovation included the creation of The Yard, an indoor/outdoor beer garden-style venue with over 10,000 sf of meeting space and a retractable roof that can be deployed during inclement weather. The space is currently closed and is slated to re-open in summer 2025.

The renovation entailed combining several guest rooms in the 750-room Bally’s Tower to create 16 penthouse suites that can be used by groups as hospitality suites or for VIP upgrades. The enlarged rooms offer dining areas, pool tables, wet bars and more.

Creating a fun activity option at Bally’s, a rotating, 24-seat bar was added to the lobby. Phil’s Carousel Bar provides 360-degree views of the casino and lobby and serves up unique drinks, like the Merry Go Round (which contains cotton candy) and the Funnel Cake Espresso Martini.

The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City gives groups a music-themed alternative. Meetings can include music-infused yoga experiences, guitar lessons, drum-centered team building and more.

The 2,000-room property offers groups over 150,000 sf of meeting space, hospitality suites for events with up to 30 guests and an arena suited for various events, such as a general session for 7,000 or a trade show for around 300 exhibitors. Also in the function space is a 29,000 sf ballroom which can be broken into six rooms.

The Hard Rock Atlantic City has a cornucopia of memorabilia on display, which may change on occasion, including Glen Campbell’s flamboyant jumpsuit, Ed Sheeran’s Air Jordan sneakers, Sammy Davis Jr.’s pinstripe suit, Bruce Springsteen’s denim vest and more.

Additionally, a number of bars and restaurants are on site, including Council Oak Steaks & Seafood; Il Mulino, an Italian eatery with a famed New York City location; and Sugar Factory, a desert spot with a floor-to-ceiling candy wall, among others.

Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe, NV

The setting in Lake Tahoe for meeting attendees looks like a postcard. Snow-capped mountains, chalet-style architecture and facilities for many outdoor activities — including not only skiing but also hiking and other recreation in the warmer months — abound. Travelers can get here on multiple airlines by flying direct to the destination or to nearby Reno, 40 minutes away.

The picturesque Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa & Casino in Lake Tahoe was named one of Travel + Leisure’s 500 Best Hotels around the world last year for its beauty and its Incline Village location, where there’s skiing in the winter and in the summer, private beach access and outdoor theater.

Featuring 422 rooms, suites and lakeside cottages, Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe boasts 65,000 sf of indoor and outdoor meeting space with both waterfront and mountain views. It includes the Spa Terrace Conference Center, perfect for small to midsized events or meetings; a patio, great for outdoor receptions; and a private beach.

For a life insurance company’s recent incentive program at the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe — at which the group took a buyout — a general session of about 500 qualifiers and guests was set up in the hotel’s parking lot, affording the group exposure to the best of the hotel’s lovely surroundings, says Becky Pappas, dedicated director of event management for Maritz.

“The parking lot at the Hyatt is very ‘woodsy’ with greenery and tall pines,” she says. “The client decided to embrace the setting and used camping chairs for seating and built the stage out there. Attendees loved the reimagined general session setting.”

Other events planned for the outdoors had to be taken inside because of area wildfires, but the Hyatt staff rose to the occasion. “We used the space in restaurants and ballrooms for breakfast buffets and other meal set-ups; we took over the whole lobby for the welcome reception,” Pappas says. “Hyatt was a great partner. They went above and beyond.”

She recommends the destination to other groups. “Lake Tahoe is a great destination and its late summer/early fall options of kayaking, lake sailing, fishing, hiking, biking — and more — are perfect for an incentive.”

The resort has an adventure program that groups can take part in. Activities change seasonally and may include morning meditation and yoga classes, a moonlight in the meadows snowshoe hike, cardio drumming classes, archery, smart phone nature photography classes and more. Even hatchet throwing classes are available.

Additionally, Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe partnered with Move Mountains, an organization providing team building experiences. Through the partnership, the resort offers half-day itineraries that focus on growing mindful leaders and improving team dynamics.

Surrounded by the Sierra Nevada mountains, Harrah’s Lake Tahoe has 512 guest rooms and 25,919 sf of meeting space. The property is connected via an underground tunnel to another Caesars Entertainment property, Harveys Lake Tahoe Hotel & Casino. The two hotels are sold to groups together as a unit according to a Caesars spokesperson. Harveys features 742 rooms and 25,000 sf of meeting space.

At Harveys Lake Tahoe there is not only a Hell’s Kitchen restaurant, but also a Wolf by Vanderpump, a project from restaurateur and television personality Lisa Vanderpump. Featuring cuisine described as “decadent,” the restaurant is Caesars Entertainment’s third eatery from Vanderpump, who rose to fame on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

The Harrah’s Lake Tahoe and Harveys complex has plenty of restaurants, including fine dining spot Sapori Italian Kitchen at Harrah’s. Harveys offers the Sage Room Steak House, rooftop spot Friday’s Station Steak & Seafood Grill and El Jefe Cantina Tahoe, which features street tacos, fajitas and DJs.

New Orleans, LA

Famous for its creole food and unique dining experiences, Mardi Gras, French influences, rich jazz history and generally festive atmosphere, the Big Easy — as it’s known — provides a fantastic backdrop for Harrah’s New Orleans, now rebranded as Caesars New Orleans. The property has been undergoing a $435 million renovation. Some of those funds went toward making part of the property a Nobu Hotel, with 54 rooms and a private registration area.

A Nobu restaurant — a high-end sushi experience that began with a New York City location and is now a worldwide chain — also will open and is slated to feature several private dining rooms. That section of the property sits in Caesars Tower, a building with 340 rooms. In addition, the property already has Harrah’s Tower, home to 450 guest rooms and suites, along with 21,000 sf of meeting space.

Also on site, quintessential New Orleans chef Emeril Lagasse last year opened Emeril’s Brasserie, his first French restaurant. The spot serves up some unusual dishes, like blue crab timbale and crispy hogs head cheese as well as classic cocktails, like Sazerac and French 75.

The culinary genius, who was one of the first chefs to appear on The Food Network, also opened a companion spot on property, Petite Brasserie.

Spokane, WA

Situated on the Spokane River at an elevation of over 1,800 ft, Spokane is filled with art and culture, including a sculpture walk and the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture.

The destination is also home to Northern Quest Casino, where construction of a second tower, offering 192 rooms and suites, was completed last year after the COVID pandemic nearly derailed the project, which initially was slated to be announced in March of 2020. Ultimately, the start of construction was pushed to November of that year. Their two towers are connected via skybridge and feature a total of 442 rooms. It is the largest casino resort in the state.

A new stand-alone meeting space, called the River Room, can host up to 1,300 people. The hotel features 22,000 sf of meeting space, including an indoor concert venue called Pend Oreille Pavilion that seats 1,200. Additionally, Northern Quest has a well-appointed boardroom spanning 835 sf, with a 418 sf pre-function foyer.

Prince Georges County, MD

The bustling MGM National Harbor complex is a 350-acre dining, shopping and entertainment spot on the banks of the Potomac River. It features 308 rooms, 50,000 sf of meeting space, a theater with flexible seating for up to 3,000 guests and a 160,000 sf two-level casino.

There are numerous dining options here, including Voltaggio Brothers Steak House — from celebrity chefs Michael and Bryan Voltaggio, who both competed on Top Chef and became food world stars.

National Harbor includes 160 retail stores, a Ferris wheel and many events for locals and tourists. It is just a stone’s throw from Washington D.C., which includes many more museums and historic venues to visit for attendees.

Ultimately, there are appealing offerings at gaming resorts for every type of attendee. Gamblers, of course, will find many options, but even those who opt not to gamble will find plenty to do there.   I&FMM