By Mary Perez, courtesy of the Sun Herald
Work already has begun to transform Isle Casino into the Golden Nugget Casino Biloxi.
Landry's Golden Nugget bought the East Biloxi casino Nov. 29 and has remodeled five of the guest rooms that visitors can tour this weekend.
By about Memorial Day, one-third of the $100 million remodeling and construction project should be done and the resort will be rebranded as Golden Nugget. Before that happens, Faraday's restaurant will become Morton's Steakhouse and Rush Lounge and a Party Pit will become new venues for customers.
"We want energy when they walk in the door," said Amy Chasey, vice president of marketing for Golden Nugget. "It's going to be a big change."
All of the public space and the 720 hotel rooms and suites will be renovated. Two other restaurants, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. overlooking the pool and Lillie's Asian Cuisine and its adjacent Asian casino space, are coming. Lillie's will be in the first phase of renovations and Bubba Gump in the final phase that will add a new casino floor, a comedy club, a new spa and the H20 resort swimming pool with year-round hot tubs and fire pits. The final phase is scheduled to be complete in February 2014.
"The Golden Nugget transformation will rejuvenate Biloxi, much as we have helped rejuvenate downtown Las Vegas and most recently the Marina District in Atlantic City," said Tilman Fertitta, chairman of Landry's Inc., parent company of the Golden Nugget.
"The property needs an update, a refresh," said Chris Latil, senior director of finance and interim general manager. Originally from Ocean Springs, he worked at the Grand Biloxi and Gulfport, for Caesars in Las Vegas and for Trump in Atlantic City. He was at the Isle before the sale.
Isle of Capri was the first casino to open in the South in 1992. "We're proud of our past and we have a bright future," he said. The Isle employees remained and he said, "We're going to be adding jobs here over the next year."
The hotel and casino will stay open throughout the renovations. When Yates Construction finishes work, the parking garage will open directly to the casino. The meeting and entertainment space that was taken over when the casino barge was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina will return and a new casino will be built between the garage and building.
The buffet will be in the same spot, but will updated. In the new retail area, a chocolate shop and a clothing store will be added.
Chasey said that when Golden Nugget took over the Trump casino in Atlantic City, the motto was, "Out with the old. In with the Gold."
At the Isle, the company is removing the tropical decor in the guest rooms and remodelling them with a modern brown and red color scheme, granite countertops, flat-screen televisions, glass shower doors and dual shower heads.
"This is what we have in our newest tower in Las Vegas and also in Atlantic City," Chasey said.
Signs will be posted in the atrium and near the elevators this weekend telling people how they can tour the rooms and get their first look at the new Golden Nugget.
Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/2013/01/09/4397269/golden-nugget-begins-100-million.html#storylink=omni_popular#wgt=pop#storylink=cpy
