Park brothers fire Hard Rock management team

Hundreds turned out for the January opening of Lake Tahoe Hard Rock; since then the crowds have been lackluster. Photo/LTN file

By Kathryn Reed

The Park brothers have fired the management team that was running Lake Tahoe Hard Rock.

Warner Hospitality, which 18 months ago was brought in to operate the remodeled-rebranded Horizon, has been a failure, according to employees. The Parks finally agreed.

No one from Warner, the fired firm based in Las Vegas, returned a call.

Brothers David and Jon Park, who own the Stateline hotel-casino, deferred comment to their PR team, the Bauserman Group based in Reno. However, they were not available.

Two veteran casino executives have taken over the management reins at Lake Tahoe Hard Rock. Rick Stevens is president and COO of the Navegante Group. The company provides managerial and development services to the gaming industry. Founder Larry J. Woolf is well known on the South Shore. In 1984 he took the failing Caesars Tahoe (now MontBleu) and in one year turned it into a profitable property.

Jim Roets most recently worked in Las Vegas in gaming operations and casino marketing, but is said to be “a long time Northern Nevada gaming consultant,” according to a press release.

Together the two will be responsible for getting the Hard Rock onto solid ground after what has been a shaky start from its January opening. Besides disgruntled employees, the property still doesn’t have a working pool and hasn’t settled with the contractor who did the $60 million in renovations. Plus, there is the guest relations piece that needs improving.

The Parks say they intend to be more involved from here on out.