Vegas News June 14, 2020
Vegas Reopening Continues
Vegas Reopening Continues – The Sunday (TravelZork) Vegas News has required a lot of preamble over the past month or so to make sure that we’re sharing all of the information correctly. Hopefully, we accomplished that. I think we’re finally at the point where there’s plenty of news to discuss what’s happening without having to unpack too much information.
Vegas Reopening Continues
Las Vegas casinos are continuing to open. Excalibur opened this week. MGM Resorts announced that Luxor and The Shoppes at Mandalay Bay Place will reopen on June 25 at 10 am. That will be followed by Aria opening at 10 am on July 1. Later that day, at 11 am, Mandalay Bay and Four Seasons will open.
I reached out to MGM Resorts PR and there’s nothing official to announce for the opening of Delano at Mandalay Bay. You can find more information about Delano in the NHL section below.
This week Caesars announced The Linq casino and some amenities (the hotel will remain closed) will open on June 12. The company later announced that Paris Las Vegas will open on June 18. Additionally, more venues will open and hours will be extended at other Caesars properties.
The Westgate confirmed rumors that the property will open on June 18. They’re also upgrading the already great screens in the SuperBook.
About half of the table games will require players to wear a face coverings. Some elevators will also require guest wear a mask to ride. Lastly, unlike most casinos, the employees wearing masks will also wear pictures of themselves smiling. This is a tactic some hospitals treating COVID-19 patients have used.
The South Point reopened on June 4th. This is one of the few Las Vegas casinos that also opened its poker room. In fact, they reopened a renovated and expanded poker room.
Did you see the new Las Vegas commercial?
Las Vegas Reopening Finances
We’ve already discussed that Las Vegas businesses won’t be back to pre-shutdown profitability for a while. This week we have some more information on that. An analyst tells Yahoo Finance that “room rates are down 38%, 47% and 31% in June, July, and August, respectively.”
Surprise, Wynn currently has the highest room rates on the Vegas Strip. Similarly, rates at The Venetian are lower but the rates are decreasing less than other casino operators on the Vegas Strip. These luxury properties often have some of the highest room rates on the Vegas Strip so this shouldn’t be much of a surprise.
Regarding the slow comeback, the Nevada Current shows that casinos on the Strip had less than 32% of slot machines, table games, and card games were available reopening weekend. That number might increase a little but they can only max at 50% capacity for the time being.
The crowded casino pictures and videos you’re seeing are in certain sections of the property. For example, the original table games casino at Caesars Palace was packed when I visited. However, the tables near Omnia and the Forum Shops were closed and those areas were pretty quiet.
On a related note, Caesars Palace opened its sportsbook on Friday.
Slow and steady wins the race and the Vegas comeback will take some time to actually be back. Having said that, the weekend crowds driving in from California and Arizona appear to be coming back rather quickly. It will take some time before weekdays have busy crowds.
If you’re looking for a good deal, consider a mid-week visit. Similarly, if you’re not ready to be around large crowds yet visit during the weekdays.
NHL To Make Las Vegas A Hub City For Games
It appears as though Las Vegas will be one of two hub cities for the NHL when the league returns to play later this year. An official announcement from the league should come by June 22. The article has a series of tweets from Vancouver based broadcaster Rob Fai with some vague information.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal says “MGM Resorts hotels in play to host visiting teams include Vdara, Delano, the Park MGM/NoMad Hotel and The Mirage.”
The newspaper goes on to say that the NHL is requesting hotels without gaming or smoking. If that’s the case Delano and Vdara make the most sense. This explains why Delano isn’t opening along with Mandalay Bay and Four Seasons.
This is also how the rumor about Park MGM becoming a non-smoking property may have gotten started. On a related note, plenty of people have been sharing pictures of signs for non-smoking sections at MGM Resorts properties.
Again, we should hear confirmation about this in the next week or so.
A Boring Resorts World Update
See what I did there? This week Resorts World announced a plan to connect the property to the Las Vegas Convention Center using Elon Musk’s Boring Company tunnel system.
Wynn is also part of this plan according to various news outlets. You can read more about this boring tunnel project here.
Eater has information about some venues being planned for Resorts World Las Vegas. Zouk nightclub will be where people will go to beat dat beat.
Before going to the club people might enjoy “vibe dining” at Fuhu or drinks at Red Tail Bar.
Quick Hits
I finally remembered to take a picture of a Quick Hit slot machine. I found this game while checking the scene at Wynn Las Vegas on Friday. Anyway, there are plenty of quick hits this week. Play max credits because we might be able to get the 12+ progressive
- The Miracle Mile shops are open. Read more here.
- The Star Trek convention will return to Las Vegas in October. It’s moving from Rio to the new Caesars Forum Convention Center. Read more here.
- You can find the health and safety plan for every Las Vegas casino operator here.
- I’m not entirely sure how to best use this yet but this foot traffic data by state is interesting. Check it out here.
- Rumor of the week: Michael is hearing that Wynn might add tiers to the Red Card loyalty club. See his tweet here. It’s possible this will be done to equalize Wynn Rewards from Encore Boston Harbor with Red Card.
- The fantastic DW Bistro has reopened its kitchen. Read more here.
- PTs Pub is replacing the mediocre bar/restaurant at The Strat. Read more here.
- WSOP hasn’t been canceled yet. It’s still postponed with hopes of taking place this fall. WSOP is doing an online tournament this summer. Read more here.
- Human Nature at The Venetian is done. Read more here.
- First the Fremont Street Experience announced entertainment was returning on June 17. Then they announced it wasn’t returning. Read more here.
- Last but not least Five Finger Death Punch made a video mostly on an empty Vegas Strip. Check it out below.
