Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol celebrates grand opening in Virginia

To christen the new 620,000-square-foot resort, a Hard Rock Guitar Smash took place at 10:30 a.m. Doors opened to the public at noon on Thursday.

The permanent casino features almost 1,500 slot machines, more than 50 table games, dining options and more. The hotel includes 303 rooms, a Hard Rock Cafe, stores and a 2,000-seat music venue.

Hard Rock International Chairman Jim Allen said Bristol is the perfect spot for this facility. “We certainly knew Bristol had this amazing legacy that we could build upon,” Allen said. “Going back to the history music and obviously country music, so that’s very important.”

The casino is located at 500 Gate City Highway in Bristol, Virginia.

In July 2022, the Bristol Casino: Future Home of Hard Rock opened. Since then, the temporary casino has hosted more than 3 million guests, processed more than 55,000 employment applications and donated almost $1 million to local non-profit organizations.

Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Bristol brings entertainment and fun to the area but it also brings more jobs, tourism and generates added revenue to the city.

Bristol Virginia City Manager Randy Eads said that with the permanent facility opening the amount of jobs at the casino has doubled.

“While the temporary casino was here, they were employing 600 people,” Eads said. “Now they have close to 1,400 people, it’s truly amazing for what it’s doing for the people of our region that want a good paying job with a world-recognized company.”

Eads said the city benefits from the tax revenue the casino generates.

“For the city itself, specifically, we’re getting gaming tax just from the gaming revenue,” Eads said. “That is something that we have never had before, where we’re getting about $650,000 a year for that and that’s just from the temporary casino.”

Eads expects those numbers to increase now that the permanent facility is open. The casino also works with local non-profits donating money and volunteering their time to help those in need.

“We have so many people suffering from the impact of the hurricane and we work with the Red Cross, we thought this is the right thing,” said CEO and President of Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Bristol Allie Evangelista. “We want to get our community on their feet and rebuild their homes, we can make whatever money they need to get back into their beautiful lives and then they can come here and enjoy with us.”

Evangelista said they also work with Feeding Southwest Virginia to help feed families across the region. This year they are donating turkeys for families in need for the Thanksgiving holiday.