$360 Million Hollywood Casino and Hotel Aurora Opens in Illinois

Penn Entertainment held a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Illinois Gaming Board officials, local dignitaries, state legislators, and company team members before opening the new Hollywood Casino and Hotel Aurora. The property replaces the riverboat casino that had operated on the Fox River since 1993.

The new facility spans approximately 388,500 square feet and employs about 700 team members. Construction supported roughly 700 jobs. 

The seven-story hotel adds 226 standard rooms and suites to the area, featuring in-room technology, a fitness center, and full indoor access to the property’s dining, entertainment, gaming areas, and wellness spa. Room service is available.

The gaming floor features more than 1,000 slot and video poker machines and over 50 table games, including blackjack, craps, roulette, and baccarat, as well as a baccarat room and a retail sportsbook. The sportsbook includes one of the largest TV screens in the Chicagoland area, sports betting tellers, sports wagering and racing kiosks, and interactive games.

Dining options include Sorella by Giada, an Italian steakhouse created in partnership with chef Giada De Laurentiis, with seating for about 170 guests indoors and outdoors. Boulevard Food & Drink Hall, operated by McClain Camarota Hospitality, offers several dining concepts, including Antique Taco, Pretty Cool Ice Cream, Five50 Pizza, Stephanie Izard’s Lucky Goat, Tabo Sushi by Takashi Yagihashi, and Urbanbelly. The Sportsbook also operates as a full-service restaurant with seating for approximately 163 patrons and serves a range of food and beverages.

Red Lotus Asian Kitchen offers made-to-order Asian cuisine, and &Vine, a 110-seat bar and entertainment lounge, provides beverages and live entertainment. The property includes a 12,000-square-foot event center and meeting rooms designed to accommodate weddings, galas, community events, concerts, sporting events, and conferences, as well as an outdoor entertainment courtyard.

The Drift Spa provides spa treatments and hair and beauty services, with 11 stations for hair, makeup, and nails and 7 rooms for massage therapies. Drift Spa will also introduce Drift Drybar, offering non-chemical salon services.

Penn Entertainment’s investment in the new property is part of a broader reinvestment in the Chicagoland market.