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Staying at the Beau Rivage
Message was posted: 08:55 Sep 17th, 2006

User: Gamblerman Rank: Casino Gold: 13754CG Contributor rating: 33840 Status: Offline

Casino news from http://www.chron.com/ BILOXI, MISS. - Before Hurricane Katrina, the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino was the Mississippi coast's crown jewel, an $800 million establishment that represented much more than a gaming parlor. Now the Beau — as area residents and guests know it — gives gamblers and nongamblers more incentives to visit. Reopened Aug. 29 after another $550 million investment by owner MGM Mirage, it's the largest resort in the Southeast to earn AAA Four-Diamond recognition. Among its features: • 1,750 remodeled rooms and suites with 32-inch flat-screen TVs, pillow-top mattresses and marble bathroom floors. • An expanded menu in one of the Southeast's largest full-service spas. • An entertainment lineup that ranges from the Beach Boys and Boyz II Men to Sinbad and Howie Mandel. • A landscaped tropical pool deck with private cabanas. • A new 16-table, two-tier poker room as part of a redesigned 85,000-square-foot casino that includes 2,100 slot machines and 93 table games. • Multiple restaurants and lounges, a new midcasino bar, an enhanced atrium and lobby area, and six retail outlets. Also planned: • The 18-hole Tom Fazio-designed Fallen Oak golf course is expected to open Nov. 6 about 15 miles inland, with priority access for resort guests. • Three upscale restaurants are due in December, including Boston chef Todd English's Mediterranean-themed Olives. • A completely redesigned 1,500-seat showroom will debut Dec. 29 with a concert by the Temptations and the Four Tops. • Six more shops will open by the end of next month. The Beau Rivage, which opened in 1999, had more than a 90 percent occupancy rate before Katrina. Nongaming provided about 50 percent of the resort's revenue, a spokeswoman said. The Beau fared better than other Mississippi coast resorts in terms of wind damage from Katrina, but a 24-foot storm surge left 4 feet of water on the casino floor. There was never any question about rebuilding, says Beau Rivage president George Korchis. "We've been given a rare chance to do it all over again," Korchis says. "We found things that needed to be changed, and we did it." Among the resort's 3,800 employees, 62 percent were there before Katrina.