rivage [riv-ij, rahy-vij]

Beau Rivage (Mississippi)

The Beau Rivage is a waterfront casino in Biloxi, Mississippi, USA. It is owned and operated by MGM Mirage. Beau Rivage was rebuilt and re-opened in 2006, a year after Hurricane Katrina. The Beau Rivage hotel is the tallest building in Mississippi.

History

Developed by Mirage Resorts, the Beau Rivage opened its 1,780-room hotel/casino in March 1999. At that time of its opening, it was the largest hotel/casino in the United States outside of Nevada. The casino was located on a floating barge as required by local law confining all casinos to mobile marine vessels at the time of the resort's construction. The hotel, restaurants, parking garage and associated facilities were constructed on land.

The Beau Rivage won the Governor's Cup Award for Outstanding Large Business on July 10, 2003.

Beau Rivage means, in French, "beautiful shore". The name was originally meant for the Bellagio casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip, however, developer Steve Wynn of Mirage Resorts changed Beau Rivage into Bellagio, and reserved this name for his new waterfront casino in Biloxi.

The Beau Rivage restaurants include: Memphis Q Smokehouse & Barbecue, Coast (seafood and wood-fired pizzas), The Buffet, Terrace Cafe (24-hour casual dining), Roasted Bean Coffee Bistro, Snacks (fast food), and Scoops Ice Cream. Three more restaurants have opened as of December 2006: Todd English's Olives, BR Prime Steakhouse, and a pan-Asian restaurant named Jia.

Hurricane Katrina

The Beau Rivage was seriously damaged by the 30-foot storm surge caused by Hurricane Katrina, and was rebuilt, re-opening a year later. Although the hotel tower survived relatively unscathed, the casino barge was nearly destroyed and the first three floors of the hotel were washed out. The Beau Rivage was one of the few still recognizable buildings remaining on Biloxi's coast.

In the weeks following Hurricane Katrina and in the wake of the catastrophic damage to the coast's casinos in the hurricane, the Mississippi state legislature changed its laws regarding the placement of casinos. Instead of having to be on barges on the water, casinos may now be built on land as long as they are within 800 feet of the shore.

Beau Rivage Resort & Casino re-opened its entire resort August 29, 2006 — the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The resort has also opened a new golf course.