Hollywood Casino Gulf Coast in Bay St. Louis to Become Haven for Cigar Smokers
Posted on: June 5, 2025, 01:25h.
Last updated on: June 5, 2025, 01:34h.
- Hollywood Casino Gulf Coast is opening a cigar lounge
- The Gurkha Cigar Lounge will offer premium cigars and spirits
- The facility will mark Penn Entertainment’s third casino cigar lounge in Louisiana
Hollywood Casino Gulf Coast in Mississippi’s Bay St. Louis will soon open a lounge tailored to cigar aficionados.
Hollywood allows indoor tobacco smoking in designated areas of the casino floor. The property’s forthcoming amenity, the Gurkha Cigar Lounge, will provide more indoor space for cigar smokers to light up before or after playing the riverboat’s 800 slot machines and 28 live-dealer table games.
Located next to Bogart’s Steakhouse, the resort’s fine dining experience, Gurkha will offer a curated selection of high-quality cigars, including the renowned Gurkha. Premium lighters, cutters, and ashtrays are among the amenities that provide guests with an unparalleled smoking experience.
The lounge concept, a partnership between Southern Smoke Cigar Company and Gurkha Cigars in conjunction with Penn Entertainment, which manages Hollywood Gulf Coast, will additionally offer a walk-in humidor, premium spirits, beer, and wine.
Renderings for the space feature plush, leather seating, soft lighting, and a sophisticated décor. Named for Gurkha Cigars, commonly referred to as the “Rolls-Royce of cigars,” the lounge is slated to open at 5 pm local time on June 19.
Gurkha Cigar Lounge will be open from 2 pm to 9 pm on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, and from noon until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.
Cigar Czar Aligns With Casino Firm
The Gurkha cigar brand was revived in the late 1980s by Kaizad Hansotia, who today is considered the “Czar of Premium Cigars.” The Gurkha name traces its roots to the British military, where Gurkha soldiers from Nepal were highly respected.
Today, Gurkha Cigars includes more than 100 cigar brands, including the ultra-premium brands HMR, Royal Reserve, Dragonfly, and Maharaja.
Gurkha Cigar Lounge at Hollywood Casino Gulf Coast marks the second Gurkha-branded smoking lounge from Southern Smoke Cigar Co. to open inside a Penn-run casino. In April, the first casino Gurkha Cigar Lounge opened in Lake Charles at Penn Entertainment’s L’Auberge Casino Resort.
Southern Smoke Cigar Co. is a Louisiana-based operator of cigar lounges, with its flagship store and lounge located in Shreveport. The company also operates Club Macanudo inside Margaritaville Resort Casino in Bossier City, another Louisiana casino operated by Penn Entertainment.
Louisiana Smoking Laws
Louisiana’s indoor smoking laws prohibit the use of tobacco inside most public settings. Gaming floors are exempt from the ban, as are “retail tobacco businesses.”
Additionally, workplaces of “any manufacturer, importer, wholesaler, or distributor of tobacco products, of any tobacco leaf dealer or processor, and all tobacco storage facilities” are allowed the right to offer indoor smoking within their business premises.
The American Lung Association (ALA) reports that Louisiana’s adult smoking rate of almost 16% remains higher than the national average of 14%. The nonprofit committed to improving lung health and preventing disease through education, advocacy, and research grades Louisiana an “F” for tobacco prevention and a “C” for smoke-free air.
The Bayou State also received “F” marks for “tobacco taxes” and “flavored tobacco products.” Access to cessation services was graded at a “C.”
“Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable death in Louisiana,” the ALA said. “To address this enormous toll, the American Lung Association calls for the following actions to be taken by Louisiana’s elected officials: increase taxes on all tobacco and nicotine products, strengthen the existing statewide smoke-free law to include bar and casino worker protections, and sustain tobacco prevention and quit tobacco funding.”
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