North Carolina Casino Adds Poker Room, Hotel Tower In Phases

A hotel-casino in North Carolina is on track to open a 12-story hotel tower by the end of 2024. This is in addition to a poker room and other amenities added in the spring.

The hotel tower at Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino & Hotel in Murphy will add 296 guest rooms to the property, the resort said in a statement.

Lumpy Lambert, the resort’s general manager, participated in a recent topping out ceremony for the hotel tower, citing the progress construction crews have made over the last couple of years in expanding the resort’s offerings.

“It’s exciting to see how far we’ve come during this expansion project since breaking ground in 2022,” Lambert said.

Resort Near Two States Lacking Casinos

Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River is in the western corner of North Carolina, near two states without land-based casinos — Tennessee and Georgia. Murphy, North Carolina, is a little under two hours east of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and a little more than two hours north of Atlanta.

Though Tennessee and Georgia don’t have land-based casinos, sports betting is legal in Tennessee --  but not in Georgia. Nationwide, sports betting is legal in 38 states and Washington, D.C. 

In North Carolina, mobile and in-person sports betting are legal.

Poker Room Included In Expansion

In addition to nearly 300 hotel rooms, the $275 million expansion at Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River will include an indoor pool and fitness center.

The expansion also includes "a 12,000 square-foot rooftop restaurant featuring a 12-seat bar and wine cellar and a 9,600 square-foot spa featuring six treatment rooms, relaxation lounge and salon,” the resort said.

The current project is Phase 2 of the expansion at the North Carolina resort. Phase 1, which was completed in May, included a new 25,000 square-foot casino floor and 10-table World Series of Poker room.