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Downtown Baton Rouge’s gaming, hotel and entertainment scene is getting a major boost!
The area’s two casinos—the Belle of Baton Rouge and the Queen Baton Rouge have undergone extensive upgrades with more changes coming soon. Following the Queen’s debut as Baton Rouge’s first landside casino in 2023, the Belle of Baton Rouge moved into a temporary landside casino space in 2024 while a complete landside renovation is transforming the entertainment and gaming complex that was once a historical building.
AT A GLANCE
Top executives: Richard Cannon, General Manager, Bally’s Baton Rouge / Bruce Woods, The Queen Baton Rouge
Phone: 225.242.2600 / 225.709.7777
Address: 103 France St. / 1717 River Park Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA 70802
Website: belleofbatonrouge.com thequeenbr.com
And there’s more to come at the two properties, which were acquired earlier this year by Bally’s Corporation, a respected name in gambling, betting and entertainment.
The hotel, now rebranded as Bally’s Baton Rouge Hotel, recently underwent a down-to-the-studs renovation and opened with reimagined rooms and amenities bringing 242 luxurious rooms and suites to downtown Baton Rouge inventory.
Conveniently located near the Raising Cane’s River Center, “it will be ideal for anyone who wants to attend an event, convention or conference,” says Lauren Westerfield, a spokesperson for the project. “That is a complete renovation of 242 rooms. There are multiple types of suites available, including some which have views of Tiger Stadium. It is the crowning jewel.”
The hotel also features the Capitol Lounge—complete with snacks, drinks and places to mingle and relax—on the 10th floor. And the hotel lobby has been overhauled to include co-working and mingling spaces.
Once the complex is complete, visitors will be able to enjoy 800 slot machines, 25 table games, a sports betting lounge and an array of food and beverage outlets. Leaders expect to bring on about 350 additional team members to support the enhanced offerings.
Since saying goodbye to its former riverboat home last year, the Belle has been operating from a temporary landside location with 300 slot machines plus table games and a bar.
“It is more accessible from the parking garage and it offers our guests a temporary experience while we build the second phase of the total entertainment complex, which will be our permanent home,” Westerfield says.
She’s excited about what the complex will bring to the downtown area.
“We understand that the demographics of Baton Rouge are varying,” Westerfield says. “We understand that it’s a sports town, a college town. But we also know there are residents who like to game and want that local feel. We’re trying to attract different crowds that all celebrate what Baton Rouge has to offer. That’s why we’ve developed more than just a gaming-centric establishment.”
On the other side of downtown, the Queen Baton Rouge continues to wow guests after moving onshore in 2023. With the landside move, the casino added four restaurants, 15 table games, a DraftKings sports book with betting terminals and a sports bar, slots and electronic table games, a catering space, an entertainment space for live shows and an enclosed smoking lounge.
“We have something for anyone who is visiting downtown Baton Rouge— whether it is to dine, to game, or to be entertained,” Westerfield says. “That’s been an augment to an otherwise sleepy area of downtown.”
The Queen also has hired about 150 additional employees and has launched a dealer’s school to recruit and train candidates.
“We actually pay them to learn how to deal all of the casino-style table games, and from day one, they are paid an hourly rate to learn and go through that program, which is about six to 10 weeks,” Westerfield says. “They get benefits, and then they become dealers on the actual casino floor. That has been a really good development tool.”
With its recent Baton Rouge acquisitions, Bally’s now has 20 casinos across the United States and Europe and a full interactive division that spans across Europe, North America and Canada.
“We are excited about adding key strategic locations to that portfolio and becoming one Bally’s brand,” Westerfield says.
Bally’s and the two Baton Rouge casinos are committed to helping downtown thrive and are proud to invest in the area, she says. The Belle hotel and casino complex project represents a $141 million investment, and upgrades at The Queen were $120 million. These initiatives have generated $13 million in employment wages.
“We have different partnerships that we lean into to be able to help create a truly better Baton Rouge through economic investment, through employment investment and through community investment and partnerships,” Westerfield says.
