Guitar-Shaped Hotel Rises In South Florida

With kids these days into their rap music and their electronic dance, sales of musical instruments are so slow that Guitar Center's corporate credit is rated as junk, and Gibson Guitars is facing bankruptcy. But the allure of the six-stringed instrument is still powerful.

That is the bet being made by the Seminole Tribe, whose Hard Rock International is in the midst of building a 600-room, $1.5B hotel tower in the shape of a guitar at its massive entertainment center and resort, the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. 

Cool shape or not, the project is something of an architectural wonder. It will also feature a 41K SF spa and 60K SF of retail. Seminole Gaming CEO Jim Allen told the Sun Sentinel that it was intended to rival Las Vegas and Atlantis in the Bahamas.

"We could have easily just built some rectangular building … but the tribe is once again trying to create something that is iconic, that creates international tourism coming to Florida," Allen told the newspaper. "We truly believe that design alone will create additional tourism.” 

The Hard Rock's overall expansion and renovation plan consists of 13 individual projects, including doubling the existing casino space and reconstruction of the Hard Rock Live, a major concert venue. During construction, a slate of shops and restaurants have been shut completely (like Hooters) or closed temporarily (like Council Oak steakhouse) to make way for the new buildings. 

Suffolk Construction, in a joint venture with Yates, this month commemorated the topping off of the new pool tower — a seven-story hotel that features swim-out units on the first level. Sliding glass doors will open from guest rooms into a private pool area.

Suffolk Chief Operating Officer for the Southeast Pete Tuffo said his team used virtual design and construction to keep the project on track. He called it "one of South Florida’s most iconic developments.”   

The 450-foot-tall structure is expected to be complete in 2020.