Two kosher-friendly hotels will soon be available for religiously-observant Jewish tourists traveling to Hollywood, FL. One will be open next October and the other in 2024. Both are in the vicinity of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
Kosher Comes to Hollywood
The gaming venue will be home to a kosher hotel, which will open next October across the street. Wyndham Dolce kosher House will have 100 guest rooms. The Wyndham Dolce Kosher House will have a kosher rooftop dining room. A robot will provide room service.
BSD Capital LLC of Boca Raton, FL, began construction on Wyndham Dolce in June. Sharon Sharaby, co-developer of the Wyndham Dolce, said that the hotel will cater to kosher tourists who wish to visit the casino all year, according to The Real Deal, a Florida real-estate news site.
Sharaby stated that there are people who see casinos as the ocean. They want to be in front of a casino when they wake up.
An elevator will be installed on the property that conforms to Jewish religious regulations for electricity use from Friday night through Saturday night. Every floor will have a Sabbath elevator that stops automatically. Visitors won’t need to press buttons.
Wyndham Grand Coming in 2024
It is also expected to start construction next year on a second kosher-friendly hotel in the area. It will be part of Wyndham Grand. It will have 200 rooms and 64 condominiums that can be rented when it is completed in 2024. The Wyndham Grand will be included in a mixed-use development.
Jack Wertheimer, Jewish Theological Seminary historian, told Casino.org that the Seminole Casino is located near an Orthodox Jewish enclave in Hollywood. He added, “This means that there is an infrastructure for Jewish institutions near, such as synagogues and kosher restaurants and take-out places, as well places to spend some of your time studying Jewish texts.”
Gambling is something that has been frowned upon historically by Jewish religious authorities. Wertheimer said he doubts similar kosher developments will be seen in the US’s gambling meccas.
Wertheimer stated that he is skeptical that Las Vegas would attract Orthodox Jews or Atlantic City. However, kosher travelers could be attracted to other destinations.
Nora L. Rubel is the chair of University of Rochester’s Department of Religion & Classics. She also owns a kosher-style vegetarian eatery in Rochester, NY, and told Casino.org that there is a growing demand for kosher hotels in all kinds of settings. They have limited travel options, she said.
Rubel explained, “Jews who keep kosher — in non-kosher settings — often choose to adhere to a vegetarian diet in order to avoid dietary transgressions. But there are many Orthodox Jews who won’t even do that, so hotels that are actually under kosher supervision will be attractive to that demographic.”