On August 1st, the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Sioux City, Iowa opened their doors. There are a lot of people that still find it hard to believe that the Hard Rock is there, myself included. I had been to the Hard Rock in Las Vegas and ate at the Hard Rock Cafe' in Minneapolis, but to have that world famous brand an hour away almost seemed too good to be true. I enjoy gambling now and again, but I was more excited for the entertainment opportunities the Hard Rock name would be able to draw, and they certainly have not disappointed on that point!

I've probably visited six or seven times already, just in the first two months, but this weekend, we finally stayed the night in one of the beautiful, large rooms at the Hard Rock Hotel. The Casino portion of the property is a new building, but the hotel is in a converted warehouse next door that utilized the original bricks and wood beams and incorporated everything into the very comfortable rooms. It was actually the first hotel room I've ever stayed in where I didn't hear my neighbors, or kids running up and down the halls, or housekeeping coming to the doors near me, so we were already ahead of the game there! But each room has music memorabilia on the walls, very comfortable beds, and HUGE bathrooms. They have really made it a luxurious stay, even in a 'basic' room like we stayed in Saturday night.

The casino is smaller than I anticipated, but it still offers everything you want from the newest slot machines, to blackjack, to the excitement of the craps tables, plus two full bars and on busy nights like Saturday, there was even a beer stand set up in the middle of the casino.

There are three places to grab a bite to eat at the Hard Rock as well. The World Tour Buffet offers a taste of entrees from American and Italian, to Oriental and Mexican and plenty of desserts to choose from as well. Down the hall, you can try the newest addition called "Main & Abbey" offering higher end 'pub food', and then there is 'Fuel' which has some of the best burgers I've had.

And for entertainment fans, the Hard Rock is crushing it. Their plan is to offer 200 shows a year. Let that sink in for a minute. 200 shows a year. That's pretty much four every week. An hour away from Sioux Falls. Anthem inside the Hard Rock can be configured several different ways for shows. They've played host to some hard rock shows where it was general admission standing on the floor, plus standing around the bar and VIP sections. Even then, the capacity is only about 700. For Saturday night's show with JJ Grey & Mofro (which was fantastic by the way!) they set up three sections of seats on the floor, plus bar standing and VIP for a capacity of about 500. And for the Thursday night Blues Series shows and Wednesday night comedy, most of the shows are configured with tables and chairs on the floor, plus the VIP and bar standing, giving them about 250 seats. And that doesn't count the outdoor venue they have out back which saw over 3000 people Labor Day weekend for the Goo Goo Dolls and Daughtry. There are plans to do a series of shows out back starting in the spring!

For an example of the entertainment, I looked at the marquee they have above the doors at Anthem after we had breakfast Sunday morning. On Wednesday, it's former Saturday Night Live comic Jim Breuer. Thursday is Reverend Payton's Big Damn Band. Friday is Smash Mouth and Saturday is .38 Special. That's just his week.

Our Thursday night Blues Series includes rising stars, Blues Music Award winners and past JazzFest favorites like Nick Moss Band, Shannon Curfman, Corey Stevens, Devon Allman, Bernard Allison, Royal Southern Brotherhood, Sena Ehrhardt Band and many more.

And with all that, I haven't even gotten around to mentioning all the cool memorabilia they have all over the property spanning from the early days like Les Paul, Johnny Cash, Paul McCartney and Jimi Hendrix, through more recent artists like Katy Perry and everyone in between. Even if you're not a gambler, it's still a fun place to explore, eat and see a great show.

If you haven't gone yet, there's no time like the present. It's conveniently located just a couple blocks off I-29 on the north side of Sioux City. I've talked to a lot of people from Sioux Falls that have wanted to go to the Blues Series or Comedy shows but think it's too late of a night during the week. Guess again! The show starts at 8 and is done between 9:30-9:45. Two blocks to the interstate and you're back in Sioux Falls by 11. Heck, you're up watching the Tonight Show later than that and I guarantee the shows at the Hard Rock are a LOT more entertaining!

Treat yourself sometime soon to an evening or a weekend at the Hard Rock. Once you do, you'll probably become a regular like my wife and I are. See you there!

This was the Hotel California inspired painting in our hotel room:

Hotel California Wall Art Hard Rock
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Ringo Starr and David Byrne wall art in hotel room

Ringo Byrne Art
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I love the carpeting in the room that looks like hard wood floors with a throw rug

Hard Rock Room
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JJ Grey & Mofro brought some blues and 'front porch soul' from Jacksonville, Florida to Anthem in the Hard Rock Saturday night in the form of a seven piece band!

JJ Grey & Mofro
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The handrails in the elevators in the hotel are engraved with song lyrics! In addition to the Led Zeppelin below, there is also Aerosmith, Lenny Kravitz and Prince.

Elevator Hand Rail Hard Rock
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Back to the room where you can see the original brick walls and get a feel for just how high the ceilings are in the rooms!

Hotel Room
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Hard Rock Hotel
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Hard Rock Shuttle Bus
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Hard Rock Welcome
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Hard Rock Guitar Door Handles
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Anthem Lineup
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