Resorts World Las Vegas announces opening details; casinos increase gaming floor capacity
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Las Vegas isn’t quite back to its pre-pandemic level of activity, but in recent months, there have been signs of life and many visible changes in the city’s casino landscape.
Resorts are bringing back more of their popular shows and announcing new entertainment options, casinos have continued to increase their capacity limits on gaming floors and long-closed amenities are reopening as coronavirus vaccinations increase.
Coming attractions
Resorts World Las Vegas has honed in on an opening date and announced some of its planned musical acts.
The north Strip resort casino property, which has a price tag of $4.3 billion, will officially open its doors on June 24, 2021, it announced last month. More recently, the resort announced that Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan will be “founding headliners” at the resort’s 5,000-seat theater.
Each of the artists will do small residencies spanning multiple dates at Resorts World. Dion’s residency opens Nov. 5, Underwood’s opens on Dec. 1, Perry’s opens on Dec. 29 and Bryan’s on Feb. 11. Since the initial slate of shows was announced more dates have been added for each of the artists.
Resorts World will have 3,500 rooms from three different Hilton Brands: Hilton Hotels & Resorts, LXR Hotels & Resorts and Conrad Hotels & Resorts in addition to 117,000 square feet of gaming, including slots, table games, a dedicated poker room and high-limit areas.
Las Vegas resorts have slowly started bring back shows and more are on the way.
Cirque Du Soleil will soon do shows again. The entertainment company announced that it will bring back “Mystère” at Treasure Island June 28 and bring back “O” at the Bellagio July 1. Blue Man Group, which is also owned by Cirque, will return to Luxor on June 24.
A taste of “Uptown Funk” is coming to Las Vegas as Bruno Mars will do a six night residency the Park Theater at Park MGM in July.
Gwen Stefani is also planning her Las Vegas return. Stefani announced Monday, May 24, that she was bringing back her Just A Girl residency from Oct. 22-Nov. 6.
Many Las Vegas resort properties have announced that they’ve gone back to full capacity on their gaming floors after receiving approval from the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
On May 10, Wynn, Encore and The Strat Hotel, Casino & SkyPod announced they would return to 100% capacity on their casino floor.
On May 12, MGM, Caesar’s Entertainment and Station Casinos announced that they would also return to 1005 capacity on their gaming floors.
Those casino properties have been able to expand the capacity of their gaming floors after a strong push to get their employees vaccinated, which included giving out awards such as electronic gift vouchers as an incentive, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The push by casinos that the board would only consider increasing gaming floor capacity in cases “where licensees have taken measurable and material steps to vaccinate, and thereby, protect their workforce, visitors and the community.”
The capacity increase applies only to those properties’ gaming floors. In other areas of the resorts, 80% capacity limits and 3-foot social distancing requirements remain in place. Those went into effect on May 1, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace reopened Thursday, May 20, and on the same day it reopened, MGM Grand announced that it would bring its buffet back as well.
Multimillion dollar improvements were made to Bacchanal’s entrance, dining room, seafood, carving and American and Latin kitchen areas. Thirty new items have been added to the menu.
A person who answered the phone at Caesars Palace on Friday, May 21, said Bacchanal Buffet is self-serve. However, safety precautions are in place. There will be more frequent cleaning and sanitization; employees have to go through a health screening. Caesars updated its policies May 14 so masks are not required for employees and guests who are fully vaccinated. However, representatives for the resort have not specified whether going maskless requires proof of vaccination or is based on the honor system.
The MGM Grand Buffet will reopen Wednesday, May 26, according to a news release. The buffet will be self-serve.
The release lists healthy and safety procedures that include advanced cleaning, multiple hand sanitizer stations and increased signage telling patrons that they must use a new dish or glass every buffet trip.
