Belle of Baton Rouge Rebranded to Bally’s, Renovated Hotel Announces Opening Date

Posted on: March 12, 2025, 01:08h. 

Last updated on: March 12, 2025, 01:31h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.
  • The Belle of Baton Rouge is becoming Bally’s Baton Rouge
  • Bally’s Baton Rouge will open its hotel this month
  • The permanent Bally’s Baton Rouge casino will come later this year

The Belle of Baton Rouge will soon be no more. The casino hotel in the Louisiana capital city is rebranding to Bally’s effective March 31.

Belle Baton Rouge Bally's Louisiana
The Bally’s logo now hangs on the Belle of Baton Rouge hotel. The casino hotel will officially become Bally’s later this month when the fully renovated 242-room hotel reopens. (Image: Bally’s Corporation)

The Belle is amid a $141 million renovation that includes a total upgrade of the property’s 242-room hotel and a new land-based casino. The riverboat that housed the Belle’s casino for three decades set sail in January.

A temporary casino with 220 slot machines and three live dealer table games is operating inside the hotel structure until the permanent casino, which will occupy much of the property’s vast atrium, opens this fall.

The Belle is operated by Bally’s Corporation after the Rhode Island-based gaming firm completed its $4.6 billion takeover backed by Standard General. The hedge fund controlled by Soo Kim had already controlled Queen Casino & Entertainment Inc., the parent organization to the Belle of Baton Rouge and The Queen Baton Rouge. 

Hotel Opening Set

Bally’s and Queen Casino are only funding $30 million of the Belle Baton Rouge overhaul. The property’s landlord, Gaming & Leisure Properties, Inc., (GLPI) the real estate investment trust controlled by Penn Entertainment, is bankrolling the bulk of the project.

Bally’s officials said this week that progress on the riverboat-to-casino undertaking is moving quickly. Laborers are putting the final touches on the hotel, which has remained closed since the COVID-19 pandemic.

This week, the Bally’s logo went up on the 10-story hotel, which is scheduled to open on Monday, March 31. That’s the same date when the Belle of Baton Rouge will formally become Bally’s Baton Rouge. Bally’s Baton Rouge will become the second Bally’s casino in Louisiana with Bally’s Shreveport.

A complete down-to-the-studs hotel renovation will offer guests a stay in luxury. Choose from a variety of rooms and suites with surrounding views of the Capital, Mississippi River and LSU’s Tiger Stadium,” the website reads.

Rooms for the opening night begin at $189.99. After room taxes, the full fare comes to $221.34. Bally’s Baton Rouge, at least for now, won’t charge a nightly resort fee.

With the casino just two miles north of Tiger Stadium, rates will jump considerably this fall when LSU football is at home.

“The Bally’s brand is respected worldwide, and it’s thrilling to have a name that’s synonymous with contemporary entertainment join the Baton Rouge community,” said Richard Cannon, general manager of the Belle of Baton Rouge.

Baton Rouge Bally’s Casino 

When Bally’s Baton Rouge opens at the end of the month, guests will only find the temporary gaming space. The full, permanent casino is expected to be ready in October or November.

The Bally’s Baton Rouge casino will span 25,000 square feet and feature over 750 slot machines, 24 tables, and a Bally Bet Sportsbook. The hotel and casino will also offer several restaurants and bars.

The Belle overhaul follows Queen Entertainment’s $100 million redevelopment of The Queen, which resulted in a brick-and-mortar casino. The new Queen opened in August 2024 with 700 slots, 18 tables, and a DraftKings Sportsbook.

In 2018, Louisiana lawmakers agreed to allow riverboats to move inland, so long as the new gaming spaces remained within 1,200 feet of their original barges.