Opening doors

The Hard Rock entertainment, gaming, and hospitality brand is solidifying its place in Bristol on Nov. 14 with the formal opening of its Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol, a $515 million resort and casino.

The company has had a presence in the city for the last two years via a temporary casino facility, but the launch of more permanent facilities will mean the opening of the hotel, along with other amenities.

The facility — it spans more than 622,000 square feet — includes a 303-room hotel, multiple bars and restaurants, over 20,000 square feet of event space, a spa, a resort pool, an outdoor live music stage, and a pastry kitchen.

Hard Rock will bring its flair of music-related stylings to the resort, with an extensive memorabilia collection that focuses on country and western music genres. The Nov. 14 grand opening also will feature a concert by country music star and “The Voice” coach Blake Shelton.

Located at the former Bristol Mall, the casino is proving to be an economic driver for the city. Since July 2022, when the temporary casino opened, Hard Rock has paid more than $66 million in gaming taxes to the state and welcomed more than 3 million visitors.

“When we open, we’ll open with over 1,400 [employees],” says Hassan Abdel-Moneim, director of hotel operations for Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol. “Our minimum wage in the casino is $18 an hour. This is really going to help spur growth and development in the area and provide people a standard of living that they don’t currently have.”

Northern Virginia

In Alexandria, what was once the George Mason Hotel in the 1920s reopened as Hotel Heron in June. The 134-room boutique hotel is part of Aparium Hotel Group and comes with more than 3,500 square feet of indoor event space and a rooftop bar overlooking the Potomac River.

The state is expected to get its first JW Marriott hotel in mid-2025. The JW Marriott at Reston Station will be a 243-room hotel that rests below 94 condominiums. Managed by Crescent Hotels & Resorts, the hotel will contain 25,000 square feet of event space and be part of The Row at Reston Station. 

Also coming to the Reston area at the end of the year is a hotel that’s a combination of two brands under the Marriott umbrella. The upcoming AC Hotel by Marriott/Residence Inn by Marriott Reston will consist of 147 guest rooms under the AC brand and 120 under Residence Inn. It will have approximately 11,000 square feet of event space and a rooftop lounge with a mountain view; the AC half is expected to open in November, and the Residence Inn part is set to open in December.

In July, The Publisher Hotel in Fredericksburg opened as part of Marriott’s Tribute Portfolio. The 98-room hotel stands where The Free Lance-Star newspaper’s former office was in downtown Fredericksburg, and includes 1,800 square feet of event space.

Central Virginia

The University of Virginia’s Virginia Guesthouse will be a hotel and conference center with 214 guest rooms, 29,000 square feet of meeting space and approximately 12,000 square feet of public space. It is expected to open in fall 2025 near the new School of Data Science in the Ivy Corridor.

Shenandoah Mansions, a 73-room hotel located in a building dating back more than a century in Richmond’s Fan District, is expected to open in February 2025. The fifth hotel from national hotelier Ash, the motifs of its rooms will pay homage to American folk art.

Southern Virginia

Located in Danville, the $750 million Caesars Virginia Casino and Resort, replacing the temporary casino, is expected to open by December, Danville officials say. The hotel is set to have 320 rooms, along with a 90,000-square-foot casino floor, a full-service spa and 12 restaurants and bars. It is slated to contain 50,000 square feet of meeting and convention space.

Hampton Roads

At the moment, new lodgings in Norfolk and Virginia Beach are mainly in the discussion stage. In April, Norfolk’s mayor announced the city’s MacArthur Center mall would be replaced with a mixed-use development that could include a 400-room, military-themed hotel known as The Anchorage.

Meanwhile, Divaris Real Estate Chair-man and CEO Gerald Divaris and former Gov. Robert McDonnell have proposed a 450-room hotel on 17th Street in Virginia Beach, according to city officials.