Mandalay Bay Casino Reopening
The casino was sometimes located where Harrah’s is located. Other times it was where Mandalay Bay is located. Ahhhhthe memories. It’s been about two months since I’ve been inside of a casino and I honestly didn’t miss it until watching Brooks and Dunn on a 24-hour heater at the craps table. I’m not sure I’ll be rolling bones when. MGM Resorts International’s MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay casino properties are being sold for $4.6 billion in a deal involving private equity giant Blackstone Group. A new joint venture between.
© Robert Mora, Getty Images file The Luxor Hotel and Casino is seen on May 30, 2002 in Las Vegas.MGM Resorts announced that it will be reopening Mandalay Bay, Luxor and Aria in the next few weeks after seeing a “strong opening weekend” from its first round of resort reopenings earlier this month.
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MGM Resorts kicked off the return of its Las Vegas hotel-casino operations on June 4 with the reopening of the Bellagio, MGM Grand and New York-New York. The resorts were shut down back in March as part of Gov. Steve Sisolak’s mandatory closure of non-essential Nevada businesses.
“It was exciting and emotional to see the energy in Las Vegas last week as we welcomed back our employees and reopened our doors to guests for the first time in months,” said Bill Hornbuckle, acting CEO and president of MGM Resorts. “We are eager to get more of our employees back to work and enhance the Las Vegas experience with additional resorts.”
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Earlier this week, the company announced a reopening date for the Excalibur, which will be back in business on Thursday, June 11. This was followed by today’s announcement for the reopening of several more MGM properties:
- The Luxor and The Shoppes at Mandalay Bay Place will reopen at 10 a.m., June 25.
- Aria Resort & Casino will reopen at 10 a.m. July 1.
- Mandalay Bay and Four Seasons Las Vegas will reopen at 11 a.m. on July 1.
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The reopenings will come with several new safety protocols to reduce the risk for COVID-19 exposure. These include screenings and temperature checks for employees, who will be required to wear masks. Social distancing also will be implemented throughout the properties, with plexiglass barriers to be installed in areas where doing so might be difficult.
MGM Resorts runs 29 hotel and gaming properties in the United States and Macau.
Jason Hidalgo covers business and technology for the Reno Gazette Journal. Follow him on Twitter @jasonhidalgo. Like this content? Support local journalism with an RGJ digital subscription.
This article originally appeared on Reno Gazette Journal: MGM Resorts announce reopening dates for Vegas' Aria, Luxor and Mandalay Bay
Las Vegas has been off to a swell start with its reopening of casinos that came on June 4. Not all casinos reopened at once, but slowly and surely, the city is beginning to open back up its famed resorts.
On Tuesday, MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment Corp, who opened up only a handful of their properties to start, announced that they will be expanding their list of available hotel-casinos in Las Vegas.
Currently, the MGM properties that are open to the public include the Bellagio, New York-New York, MGM Grand, and its MGM Grand Signature properties. Of Caesars Entertainment, Caesars Palace, Flamingo, and Harrah’s are currently open.
Both MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment are the Strip’s largest casino operators. So what do these two operators plan on bringing back to life next?
MGM to Reopen Luxor, Mandalay Bay, Four Seasons, and Aria Next
Las Vegas Reopening Mandalay Bay
In a news release, MGM Resorts International revealed that they will be opening up three more resorts before Independence Day.
We are pleased to announce that @LuxorLV and The Shoppes at Mandalay Bay Place will reopen on June 25, followed by the reopening of @AriaLV, @MandalayBay and @FourSeasons Las Vegas on July 1. Let’s get #BacktoVegas, safely.
Learn more: https://t.co/TlqH0sR084pic.twitter.com/y3gEJkuGWv
— MGM Resorts (@MGMResortsIntl) June 9, 2020
First up will be the pyramid-shaped resort, Luxor, alongside The Shoppes at Mandalay Bay Place on June 25. The shopping esplanade runs between Luxor and Mandalay, so it’s only proper that the two open alongside each other.
The resort and The Shoppes will open up at 10 a.m. on June 25.
On July 1, at 11 a.m., MGM then plans to reopen its Four Seasons and Aria properties, just in time for the 4th of July weekend.
The three properties and shopping esplanade will open limited dining options, but it’s not clear what those dining options are just yet.
All three casinos do however plan to open up their pools with the initial reopening.
What’s left to reopen for MGM Resorts after July 1 will be Park MGM, NoMad, the non-gaming Vdara, and the Mirage.
Caesars Entertainment to Reopen Aria Next
Caesars announced they will be opening up the gaming floor at The Linq Hotel this Friday, June 12. The Linq Hotel and parking garage will remain closed initially.
The Linq Promenade reopened last Thursday, as well as The High Roller Observation Wheel.
Within the promenade, the following restaurants and dining options reopened: Chayo Mexican Kitchen + Tequila Bar, Flour & Barley Brick Oven Pizza, Haute Doggery, In-N-Out Burger, Maxie’s, Off The Strip, Tilted Kilt, Yard House, Gordon Ramsay Fish & Chips, Jaburritos, and Virgil’s Real Barbecue.
As far as beverage options, Breeze Daiquiri and Ice Bar are now serving drinks. The promenade’s retail candy shop, I Love Sugar, also reopened.
What’s left for Caesars to reopen is Planet Hollywood, Bally’s, Paris Las Vegas, The Cromwell and the off-Strip Rio.
June 4 Reopening Day Excitement and Success
The energy on June 4 was palpable. After a near-three-month shutdown, the pent-up demand for guests to return to casinos once again and start playing was high.
Caesars CEO Tony Rodio was on-site on opening day with Vegas icon Wayne Newton, and said it was a pleasure to welcome back staff members and guests to some of Caesar’s Las Vegas properties and across the country.
“We are encouraged by customer interest and visits, strong demand, and the implementation, so far, of our enhanced health and safety protocols,” Rodio said.
MGM Resorts acting CEO, Bill Hornbuckle, was also waiting to greet guests at the Bellagio’s lobby, alongside other company executives.
Hornbuckle said it was exciting and emotional to see the kind of energy that was present the week prior when the company welcomed back employees and reopened its doors for the first time in months.
“Our guests are having a great time and are thrilled to be back in the city they love. We are eager to get more of our employees back to work and enhance the Las Vegas experience with additional resorts,” Hornbuckle said.
‘Strong Opening Weekend’
MGM Resorts executives described the opening weekend as ‘strong’ and used the opening weekend as a measure to gauge customer’s demand.
Since it was a successful weekend, the company is moving forward with its plans to reopen the aforementioned properties in the coming weeks, and we think guests will be excited to have more MGM properties to visit and choose from in their Vegas stay.
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We’re thrilled to see that Las Vegas opening back up again, one property at a time.
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It was sorely missed during the long shutdown period and we hope that it will return to its formal glory in no time.
Which of the properties that are reopening in the coming weeks are you most excited about returning to or visiting? We’d love to know! Share your thoughts with us below and be sure to check back for more Las Vegas reopening coverage.