Hard Rock foreclosure sale rescheduled

The proposed foreclosure sale of the Hard Rock hotel-casino in Las Vegas has been rescheduled from Monday to Tuesday — assuming a New York state judge in Manhattan allows the foreclosure to proceed.
Attorneys are waiting for Bernard Fried, a New York State Supreme Court justice, to rule on the Las Vegas Hard Rock's motion that the foreclosure be blocked. In New York, the Supreme Court is a trial court similar to Clark County District Court in Las Vegas. The highest court in New York is the state Court of Appeals.
If Fried allows the foreclosure to proceed, it's now set for 4 p.m. Tuesday, New York time, on the New York City courthouse steps.

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Related articles

• Hard Rock files lawsuit to stop foreclosure (hospitalitybusinessnews.com)
• Lenders file foreclosure notice against Hard Rock Hotel (hospitalitybusinessnews.com)

Hard Rock files lawsuit to stop foreclosure

The Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas claims a company trying to foreclose on the struggling hotel has no right to do so and is trying to gain an advantage over other investors, according to a lawsuit filed in New York Supreme Court.
In the 825-page lawsuit filed on Tuesday against an entity created by NorthStar Realty Finance Corp. of New York, the Hard Rock said it was bringing "this action ... to prevent NorthStar from foreclosing on a major Las Vegas hotel casino and destroying plaintiffs' equity value as a consequence."

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Roof collapses at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Catoosa

CATOOSA, Okla. - Cherokee officials confirm that a portion of the roof at Hard Rock Casino Tulsa has been damaged by the winter storm.

There were no injuries to guests or staff.

Casino officials closed the damaged portion of the facility.

CEO of Cherokee Nation Businesses David Stewart has released the following statement:
“The safety of our guests is a top priority for us, and we’re so glad that no one was hurt.”
Monte Haddox was in the casino at the time of the collapse.

He says he noticed water on the floor and started to take a picture when he noticed the ceiling had come down.

Haddox says he was told he was in an "unsafe area" and was quickly ushered out of the room, but not before he was able to snap this picture.

He says he was told by a casino employee that the weight of the snow caused the ceiling to give out.

Lenders file foreclosure notice against Hard Rock Hotel

A group of lenders has filed a notice of foreclosure against the financially struggling Hard Rock Hotel, which would give the lenders the right to take control of the hotel-casino in a public auction scheduled for Feb. 7.

The lending group, NRFC HRH Holdings LLC, controls a piece of the $1.36 billion loan used to acquire, renovate and expand the Hard Rock. A joint venture including Morgans Hotel Group and investment banking firm DLJ Merchant Banking Partners bought the Hard Rock in 2007 with the goal of revamping the property and boosting profit by catering to well-heeled guests.

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Will Hard Rock Casino loose its name

Drug dealing and other wrongdoing by Las Vegas Hard Rock hotel-casino employees and managers is one more reason the casino should lose its rights to the Hard Rock brand, the owner of the international Hard Rock brand says.

In court papers filed Friday in New York in the trademark litigation between Hard Rock Cafe International (USA) Inc. of Orlando and the Las Vegas Hard Rock, attorneys for the Orlando company said they plan to amend their lawsuit to include recent revelations about drug dealing and inappropriate sexual activity at the Las Vegas property.

The Orlando-based Hard Rock company, controlled by Florida's Seminole tribe with extensive gaming interests, sued the Las Vegas Hard Rock in September.

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Hard Rock Hotel hit with $500,000 fine over drugs

Even after Nevada casinos were warned that drug use and other illegal activity wouldn't be tolerated in nightclubs and other venues, Las Vegas Hard Rock hotel-casino employees and supervisors broke the law by selling drugs and providing private restrooms so patrons could have sex and take drugs.
That's according to the state Gaming Control Board, which filed a complaint against the hotel-casino Wednesday.

Without admitting or denying the allegations, the Hard Rock agreed to settle the matter by paying a $500,000 fine and paying $75,000 apiece to the Gaming Control Board and Metro Police to cover investigative costs.

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Hard Rock Hotel guest files suit alleging assault, defamation

A Las Vegas Hard Rock hotel-casino guest is suing the property, charging assault, defamation and false imprisonment over an Oct. 12 incident.
Las Vegas attorney Sigal Chattah said Monday the suit was filed in Clark County District Court in behalf of Ryan Maurer.
The suit says Maurer, a tourist from Minnesota, was awoken at 4 a.m. by hotel security and was detained over mistaken allegations of a domestic disturbance in the room. Maurer says there was no disturbance since he was alone in the room. Maurer says Metro Police later advised him he was being evicted for "failure to comply" and that he was arrested for trespassing.

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Hardrock cancels Rehab Reality show

The truTV reality show “Rehab: Party at the Hard Rock Hotel” won’t be returning for a fourth season, attorneys have disclosed.

The disclosure was made last week in court papers by attorneys for the Las Vegas Hard Rock hotel-casino, which hosts Rehab day parties during the summer and was hit with a trademark lawsuit over the TV show in September by the owner of the international Hard Rock brand.

Hard Rock Cafe International charged in the September lawsuit that the TV show about the Las Vegas parties was tarnishing the Hard Rock brand by portraying “drunken debauchery, acts of vandalism, sexual harassment, violence and criminality.”

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Hard Rock hotel fires back in trademark lawsuit, claims ‘harassment’

The Las Vegas Hard Rock hotel-casino is hitting back in a trademark lawsuit filed by the owner of the Hard Rock brand, charging in a counterclaim that Hard Rock Cafe International is interfering with its business in Nevada and other states.
"The (Las Vegas) Hard Rock defendants have done nothing wrong and, in fact, are victims of systematic legal and business harassment by the cafe, which today’s countersuit seeks to remedy," last week's counterclaim says.

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Hard Rock Hotel continues to face financial problems

Financial problems continue to plague the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, its management company announced Wednesday.
"Unless the market improves markedly, or the joint venture generates additional liquidity, there is a risk to (our) equity position and management agreement, which may be terminated by the lenders in the event of foreclosure," Morgan Hotels Group Co., manager of the Hard Rock and a minority investor, said in its third-quarter earnings report.

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New Hard Rock Hotel and Casino opens in Dominican Republic

A new Hard Rock Hotel & Casino opened today in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. The November 1 opening was announced last Thursday by Hard Rock International – a joint venture between Hard Rock International and Palace Resorts.
The new hotel and casino is a transformation of what was formerly the Moon Palace Casino, Golf and Spa Resort located on Macao Beach at the eastern tip of the Dominican Republic.

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Hard Rock Cafe sues Vegas hotel with same name

LAS VEGAS - Owners of the Hard Rock Cafe restaurant chain are suing owners of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas over its name, saying the casino's party image has damaged the moniker enough to justify ending a 14-year-old licensing agreement.


Lawyers for Orlando-based Hard Rock Cafe International Inc. said in the lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in New York that the cable reality show "Rehab: Party at the Hard Rock Hotel" on truTV casts its brand in a bad light.

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Morgans says Hard Rock lawsuit 'is without merit'

A day after owners of the Orlando-based Hard Rock Cafe restaurant chain sued the ownership of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas over its name, New York-based Morgans Hotel Group responded.


Morgans, a company entirely separate from the cafe chain, owns 14.2 percent of the Hard Rock and operates it day-to-day.

According to the lawsuit, Hard Rock Cafe said the casino is a place that "revels in drunken debauchery." The party image has damaged the name enough to justify ending a 14-year-old licensing agreement.

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Hard Rock brand sues, cites Rehab behavior at Las Vegas hotel

The owner of the international Hard Rock brand no longer wants its name associated with the Las Vegas Hard Rock hotel-casino and is suing to cancel their licensing agreement, citing negative publicity from the Rehab pool parties and reality TV series.


Orlando-based Hard Rock Cafe International (USA) Inc. (HRCI) sued the owners of the Las Vegas hotel as well as Rehab's producer and broadcaster Tuesday in federal court in New York

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Hard Rock Hotel reports 1Q loss of $26.5 million

The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino posted a loss of $26.5 million during the first quarter of 2010 as expenses increased at the newly expanded property, it reported today in a regulatory filing. That loss compares to a $24.3 million loss during the same period of 2009.

The property reported expenses increased by 71.1 percent during the quarter. Hard Rock has added two hotel towers and an expanded casino floor, as well as a new pool, spa, restaurants and nightclubs as part of its $750 million expansion project.

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Gaming execs: Las Vegas business showing signs of improvement

Operators of Las Vegas' Hard Rock Hotel say the free fall on hotel rates has ended in other properties run by the Morgans Hotel Group in other cities and a similar pattern is emerging in Las Vegas.


Frederick Kleisner, CEO and a director for New York-based Morgans, told the state Gaming Control Board today that the company has seen a pattern of event-driven demand, followed by sustained demand and the driving of higher rates in New York, Los Angeles and Miami.

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Former Hard Rock casino workers sued over theft of $831,519

An insurance company is suing two former Hard Rock hotel-casino employees, charging they were involved in the theft of $831,519 from the Las Vegas resort.

National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania filed suit last week in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas against Jhirmal Earl Winfield and Sammy Sampson II, both of whom were part of the Hard Rock table game count staff and both of whom have been charged in thefts from the resort.

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Florida's Hard Rock expands casinos and hotels overseas

Three years after buying the Hard Rock brand for nearly $1 billion, Florida's Seminole tribe is aggressively expanding Hard Rock hotels and casinos internationally, from the Caribbean to eastern Europe.

This spring, the biggest Hard Rock hotel-casino yet is set to open in the Dominican Republic: a 1,790-room complex in Punta Cana, with 11 pools, 11 restaurants, a golf course, spa and other amenities.

Plans also are underway for what will be Europe's largest casino complex, a leisure venture in Hungary dubbed EuroVegas, said Jim Allen, chairman of Hard Rock International

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Hard Rock Hotel narrows loss, searches for president

The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino said it narrowed its losses by about 34 percent last year, according to a filing today with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The property trimmed its loss of $299 million in 2008 to $197 million in 2009.

Net revenue for the year fell to $161.6 million in 2009 from $164.3 million in 2008. The hotel-casino said the $2.8 million drop was primarily attributed to an 18.3 percent decrease in casino revenue and a 10 percent decrease in lodging revenue.

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Hard Rock Cafe prez Randy Kwasniewski dies of apparent suicide

Andrew "Randy" Kwasniewski, the president and chief operating officer of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas has died March 9 of an apparent suicide.

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