Harrah's Lake Tahoe project to end soon

The sounds of banging hammers, electric saws and cranes will soon be things of the past at Harrah's Lake Tahoe which is scheduled to complete the final phase of its renovation project June 23.

With construction workers still scurrying around the luxury suites and restaurants, the $30 million site is akin to a puzzle with all the pieces finally coming together.

This is the first time since Harrah's opened its main hotel tower in Lake Tahoe in 1973 that a project of this size has been done, according to Harrah's Lake Tahoe Director of Communications John Packer.

"After 27 years everything was starting to get tired," he said. "We needed to upgrade and with (Park Avenue) redevelopment starting, our corporate office thought it was a good time to invest in remodeling."

Since the 532 rooms that make up the Harrah's tower have been remodeled over the course of a four-year project, the company has invested most of its time and money on the dignitary suites and the two restaurants on the hotel's top floors. Construction began at the beginning of January 2000 on the 16th, 17th and 18th levels.

It has cost Harrah's $8 million to construct the dignitary suites on the 17th floor in which the rooms were reconfigured to enlarge each area. Formerly there were 15 suites on the floor and with the remodel that number was narrowed down to eight.

According to project director Andrew Jones, the three, six-bay window rooms will encompass 3,400 square feet. Each suite has a large granite entry, fireplace, grand piano, and his and her bathrooms. For one suite alone, the price for construction and decorating will come to about $1 million.

Not quite so big but still ample, there are two five-bay suites, one four-bay and two bay-and-a-half rooms. If there is a need for additional suites, some of the larger rooms can be partitioned off with doors to create extra accommodations.

"Despite all the noise and inconvenience to the property, everyone is looking forward to the new look," Jones said.

Although the suites are available for reservations, most of them will be complimentary to the high rollers who play within the Harrah's chain of casinos. Rates have not been determined as of yet.

Even though most people won't enjoy the luxurious amenities of the dignitary suites, they can enjoy the completely remodeled Forest Buffet and Friday's Station Steak & Seafood Grill.

Friday's Grill was moved to the main casino floor, where, despite its not having a view from the 18th floor during the remodel, it did very well as an interim restaurant, according to Packer.

"A vast majority of the menu remained intact," Packer said. "We predicted it would do less (business) than when it was upstairs, and it did slightly, but it exceeded our plans."

With the Forest Buffet also closing in January, Harrah's compensated its loss with the World Market Buffet that was available on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in the convention center. In addition, a smaller buffet was offered everyday at the American River Cafe.

As before, both restaurants will get the views of the mountains and lake below, when they return to the 18th floor this month.

Combined, the cost of the restaurants' renovations totaled $13.2 million. A fourth exit stair tower on the California side was also constructed. With the major remodeling, Harrah's needed to build another stairwell in order to be in accordance with fire codes.

The Forest Buffet is changing to exhibition-style cooking. Coined, "Just in Time Cooking," this arrangement will allow customers to watch as chefs prepare their food on command. New to the buffet is a brick pizza oven, a wok and pasta stations, a dessert bar with made-to-order crepes and Belgian waffles, and three salad bars.

"The exhibition cooking will keep it fun and lively," Jones said.

Friday's Station retains a classic ambience to coincide with its more traditional fare of steak and seafood.

When Friday's moves into its newly designed location, the Seafood Cove restaurant will fill the vacated space on the main floor. Harrah's decided to bring the restaurant back to the casino after a 15-year closure.

"The restaurants are like the cherry on top of the whole hotel," Packer said.