Hard Rock Casino Comes to Coquitlam

The 80,000 square foot casino floor will accommodate 950 slot machines.

The rebranded and renovated Boulevard Casino and will be unveiled Dec. 20 

While the controversial Edgewater Casino expansion proposal has failed to come to fruition, the Hard Rock will be coming to the Lower Mainland before the end of the year. 

The Great Canadian Gaming Corp. has rebranded the former Boulevard Casino in Coquitlam as the Hard Rock Casino Vancouver, which will be the first of its kind in Canada. To mark the grand opening, pop group Hedley will be playing an intimate show at the renovated 1,100-seat Red Robinson Theatre.
 
“Hard Rock Casino Vancouver was conceived from the vision to be the ultimate entertainment scene in Metro Vancouver,” says Raj Mutti, executive director for the Hard Rock Casino Vancouver.
 
The 80,000-square-foot casino floor will now accommodate more than 950 interactive slot machines and table games such as blackjack, roulette and poker. It will also have three live music venues and seven restaurants on site.
 
“It is an entertainment brand with food and beverage experiences and a casino experience all in one,” says Mutti. “It’s one of the strongest brands out there and we feel it’s a great brand to align ourselves with and really promote to try to increase traffic and increase business levels.”
 
The rebranding was prompted by a decrease in visitors going to the casino in the last couple years because of nearby highway construction and general challenges in the marketplace, according to Mutti. The target audience of customers aged “19 to 99” remains the same but Mutti also hopes to attract “entertainment seekers” who will go to the casino for more than just gambling.
 
With the Hard Rock brand comes music memorabilia, which Mutti says will include artists from every genre of music and from every decade. The first Hard Rock Casino opened in Florida in 2004, and other locations include Las Vegas and Singapore.