The Hard Rock Hotel
Hard Rock Cafe is a chain of Theme Restaurants founded in 1971 by Americans Peter Morton & Isaac Tigrett. The first location opened near Hyde Park Corner in London, England. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock 'n' roll ephemera, a tradition which expanded to others in the chain. In 2006, Hard Rock was sold to the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Currently, there are 140 Hard Rock locations in over 36 countries.
Restaurants
The first Hard Rock Cafe (HRC) opened its doors to the public on June 14, 1971, in London, England. It was founded by Peter Morton & Isaac Tigrett. Hard Rock initially had an eclectic decor but it later started to display memorabilia. Hard Rock has amassed one of the largest collections of rock and roll memorabilia. The chain began to expand worldwide in 1982 with locations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Houston, New York, Dallas, Boston, Washington, DC, Orlando, Paris and Berlin.
In 1990, The Rank Group, Plc., a London-based leisure company, acquired Mecca and continued expansion of the concept in their geographic territory. Rank went on to purchase Hard Rock America from Peter Morton as well as Hard Rock Canada from Nick Bitove. After the completion of these acquisitions, Rank gained worldwide control of the brand. In March 2007, the Seminole Tribe of Florida acquired Hard Rock Cafe International, Inc. and other related entities from Rank Group for $965 million In recent times the business has come in for some criticism because of its practice of paying its waiting staff less than half the official minimum wage in the UK, with the business allocating tips to staff to bring their salaries within the law. Most customers, it was argued, do not realise that they are subsidizing a low wage when they give the tip.
On May 28, 2009, Hard Rock International announced plans to open a 20,000 square feet (1,900 m2), 500 seat HRC on Hollywood Blvd. in Los Angeles featuring a live concert area and a limited edition retail shop. Hard Rock International closed its first location in the Los Angeles area located in the Beverly Center which had opened in 1982 during their worldwide expansion. An opening date has not been announced.
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Casinos and hotels
In 1995 Peter Morton spent $80 million to open the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino off the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. A subsequent $100 million expansion nearly doubled the hotel's capacity in 1999.
In May 2006, Morton sold the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel & Casino to New York-based Morgans Hotel Group for $770 million, including the rights to the Hard Rock Hotel brand west of the Mississippi, including Texas, California, Australia and Vancouver, British Columbia. Edward Scheetz, a Morgans' executive, described the 11-story, 650-room Hard Rock Hotel as a trophy property that will never be replicated in Las Vegas because of land values. The pool at the Hard Rock occupies land valued at $50 million. On September 1, 2007 the Hard Rock Las Vegas announced sponsorship of the 2004 Indianapolis 500 champion, Buddy Rice for the final two races of the 2007 IndyCar Series Season.
On February 8, 2007, Anna Nicole Smith died of a drug overdose in a room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.
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Today, the Indian Tribe of Florida owns and operates all units except the Las Vegas facility. In 2004, Hard Rock International and Sol Melia Hotels and Resorts launched Lifestar Hoteles Espana SL, a joint venture that manages Europe's first Hard Rock Hotel in Madrid. The other joint venture hotels are in Chicago, New York and San Diego (the San Diego property includes Hard Rock condominiums). Hard Rock also operates hotels and resorts in Orlando, Florida, a joint venture with Loews Hotels.; Bali, Indonesia; and Pattaya, Thailand, a joint ventures with Ong Beng Seng/Hotel Properties Limited. Hard Rock International, continues to expand internationally (including hotels, casinos, resorts, and condominiums) through several joint ventures (Becker Ventures, Ong Beng Seng/Hotel Properties Limited and Loews Hotels) including hotels in Chicago, Bali, Orlando, San Diego and planned openings in Atlanta and Penang as well as hotel-casinos in Hollywood, Florida, Tampa, Florida, Biloxi, Mississippi Las Vegas, Nevada and Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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