CHEROKEE, N.C. – When it opened in November 1997, Harrah’s Cherokee Casino contained less than 90,000 square feet of gaming space, three restaurants and no hotel.
Zip forward 14 years and, behold, the blossoming of a Las Vegas-style resort, one of the largest in the Southeast.
Three hotel towers, including the just-opened Creek Tower, beckon with more than 1,000 guest rooms and 107 suites.
The casino floor will soon reach 195,000 square feet, allowing for an increase of slot and video poker machines from 3,400 to 4,700.
The dining scene is also getting an overhaul. Along with a soon-to-come revamp of that time-honored casino staple – the buffet – is the addition of a food court, Ruth’s Chris Steak House and Brio Tuscan Grille. And in January, Harrah’s Cherokee held a ribbon cutting for a restaurant bearing the name familiar to any Southerner – Paula Deen’s Kitchen.
Add to those embellishments two new (free) parking decks and a motor coach facility.
And, in about a year, guests seeking an escape from the sensory assault in the gaming areas will be able to hunker down in Mandara Spa, the Bali-based feel-good emporium with locations already at two Harrah’s Las Vegas properties – Paris Hotel and Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino.
“This is our transition from casino-hotel to resort,” said Darold Londo, general manager of Harrah’s Cherokee since 2006. “We’re giving people more excuses to come here and making it a true destination.”
In 2008, a $633 million property expansion was approved by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Tribal Council, which owns the casino (Harrah’s manages and operates the property).
The five-year project, expected to wrap in December 2012, is on time and on budget so far, falling right into what Londo calls a “continuous chain of progress.”
Close to home
For Georgians craving a casino fix, Harrah’s Cherokee presents the closest option.
While Air Tran offers non-stop service to Gulfport/Biloxi, Miss., Atlantic City, N.J., and Tunica, Miss., and the new Vision Airlines provides limited runs to Gulfport/Biloxi, a drive to Harrah’s Cherokee takes slightly more than two and a half hours from midtown Atlanta.
Londo said research indicates that nearly 30 percent of business comes from the Atlanta market, and, with the arrival of the chic Creek Tower and non-gaming enticements such as the upcoming spa and nearby Sequoyah National Golf Club, open since 2009 and also owned by the Eastern Band of Cherokee, guests will be more likely to consider multi-day stays.
Last fall’s arrival of the Harrah’s Cherokee Resort Event Center provides another lure, both for casino-goers looking to take a break from the machines and for non-gaming music fans.
The current primary demographic at Harrah’s Cherokee, according to Londo, is a 55-year-old female.
While that age is expected to drop about a decade once word spreads about the property’s spiffy amenities, booking agents for the sleek 3,000-plus seat venue aren’t straying from acts with a built-in fan base: Michael Bolton is set to perform March 11; REO Speedwagon March 19; and Huey Lewis & The News April 8.
So how about that casino?
It’s now separated into four zones, each bearing a different color scheme and music as well as a new filtration system that continuously pumps in new air, rather than recirculating stale oxygen.
Mountain Breeze, which boasts an entertainment lounge with seating for about 200 to either listen to live music most nights or watch sports on the dozen or so flat screens, is adjacent to the live poker room (which, like blackjack, uses real tables, but digital cards).
River Valley, expected to be completed by February 2012, will offer a high-end space for VIP players and Asian gaming, such as Pai Gow Poker and baccarat (an Asian noodle bar in this section is set to open in July).
Earth Water provides the only non-smoking nook in the casino, and is also the cut-through to reach the new Total Rewards customer loyalty program center, a gift shop and the motor coach area.
And Woodland Moon is the spot where a new rotunda entrance will lead, likely by the end of this year.
Guests who haven’t visited Harrah’s Cherokee in a couple of months might be surprised that the popular self-service fountain drink stations have been removed.
Instead, thirsty parties can queue up at several drink booths sprinkled throughout the floor for service by a Harrah’s employee or request a drink from a cocktail waitress. (Soft drinks, water and coffee are still free; alcohol, which the casino started serving in December 2009, can be purchased at any of the casino’s bars or from a cocktail waitress.)
Londo estimates there will be at least 13 points on the casino floor to find a beverage.
Along with the revamped and expanded casino, the aspect of Harrah’s Cherokee sparking the most curiosity is its 454-room, 78-suite, 21-story Creek Tower.
The tower, which houses Paula Deen’s eatery, specialty retail stores and Callaway Golf Shop, joins the casino’s inaugural Mountain Tower, built in 2000 and recently refurbished, and the Soco Tower, open since 2005 and “about due to be renovated,” said Londo.
While the rooms in Creek Tower aren’t based on any specific casino or hotel rooms, there are traits noticeably similar to the Borgata’s Water Club in Atlantic City, Island View in Gulfport and THEHotel at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
Along with the modish décor, handy elements such as the digital “do not disturb” notices and a multitude of lighting options near the bed enhance a stay, but don’t overload a visitor with technological trappings, something Londo said the planning team made sure to balance.
A maroon/gray/dark brown color scheme winds through the hallways and into the bedrooms, which contain 42-inch flat screen TVs, a small sitting area with a panoramic view of the Smoky Mountains (or, if you didn’t request a high floor, the top of the parking deck) and a standard-size bathroom with a standup glass shower stocked with Harrah’s basic line of bathroom amenities.
The typical March rate for a weeknight in the new tower is $99 (Mountain is $59 and Soco $79), but expect prices to spike up to $100 more per night when heading into the spring and summer months.
If there is a part of casino-going more attractive than gambling, it is, for most regulars, the food options.
Londo noted that the food court planned for a June opening will feature Johnny Rockets, Uno Chicago Grill, Boar’s Head Deli and Dunkin’ Donuts.
By late fall, a new buffet concept, a “chef’s stage,” where most of the cooking will be done in public view and will welcome celebrity chefs every few weeks to give live demonstrations, will arrive on the second level of the Creek Tower.
The current Fresh Market Square Buffet will remain open until this unveiling and then morph into a swanky VIP lounge for Diamond and Seven Stars loyalty card holders.
But for now, the kingpin – or, queen, perhaps? – of Harrah’s Cherokee dining options is Paula Deen’s Kitchen, a haven of Southern specialties at reasonable prices ($7-$11 for sandwiches, $13-19 for most entrees except higher-end offerings such as filet mignon).
Dinner reservations are required on the weekends, but otherwise, foodies are free to tackle a menu that includes such Deen delights as chicken pot pie (massive and sporting a lattice-work of crust), cheddar mac ‘n’ cheese and fried Oreos with vanilla ice cream.
So the 404-seat restaurant, largely decorated like a Savannah plantation, is not for the diet-minded.
Deen’s restaurant, open from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. (Sunday-Thursday) and 11 p.m. (Friday-Saturday), also offers a daily buffet at breakfast and dinner for those who can’t decide between the shrimp and grits and cornmeal crusted catfish.
Deen fans will also revel in the 1,800-square-foot gift shop – it’s impossible to enter or exit the restaurant without passing through – which contains cookbooks, country-kitchen knickknacks, jams and cookie mixes and a series of T-shirts emblazoned with saucy slogans such as, “Put Some South in Your Mouth.”
Maybe this goal to become a Vegas-worthy resort isn’t so far-fetched after all.
Harrah’s Cherokee, 777 Casino Drive, Cherokee, N.C. 828-497-7777, www.harrahscherokee.com.
Directions from metro Atlanta: Take 85 North to 985 until you run into 441 North. Once you reach Dillsboro, take 74 West and follow signs to Cherokee (exit 74). Take 441 North to Cherokee for about 4 miles and take a right at the first traffic light. Harrah´s Cherokee Casino is at the next intersection, about 1 mile. Approximate drive time: 2 ½ -3 hours.
About the Author
