Vegas Opening Night - Trip Report

Trip Report, June 4-7

"Vegas is back, baby?"

Well, after my St Pats visit where I "closed Vegas", it seemed an imperative if not an obligation to be there for the "reopening."  And what a reopening it was!

Wednesday, 11:50pm, Fremont St.

The area surrounding Fremont St was minimal activity.. a few people walking towards Fremont, some cars parked nearby, some "mobile billboards" from The D, but definitely low-key.  There were officers posted at the pedestrian entrances, though I had the impression this was to mitigate intentional disruption from any protest-related activity; I'll refer to this as "non-gaming visitors".  They checked my ID and let me thru.

All the activity was centered at The D, with multiple local news reporters wearing masks, their cameramen and sound recorders nearby.  Some locals seemed to recognize individual reporters and were having quick conversations before they started filming.

The street bar to the side of The D was open for business, with bartenders and "gogo dancers" standing atop.  Seeing dancers wearing cloth masks was quite unexpected, and I assumed the most unusual sight I'd see.  (Spoiler: it wasn't; seeing them wear plastic face shields was!)

The atmosphere was absolutely electric.  The crowd was relatively small, a couple hundred people awaiting the opening bell, but the anticipation was very high.  There were a couple of "street performers", and I'm not certain whether they actually expected to take in any money that night, or were just there to get a feel for things as well.

A line started forming at the entrance to The D, about 50-75 people long, and as we approached 12:01, there was an inaudible countdown.  People holding their phones in the air, taking selfies, recording video of themselves in line, of the crowd, etc.

At 12:01 the doors were officially opened, people started inside, and moments later the overhead screen lit up with a 4th of July style animation, with fireworks and loud sound effects.  The screen had been lit up previously, but in the "between show" style.

As people reached the entrance, there was what appeared to be a metal detector, but it wasn't.  Rather, it was the familiar rectangular gray frame, with a yellow tab and a green light that visitors were asked to place the inside of their wrist against.  On the other side, it had an LCD readout showing the observed body temperature.

Once inside, there was several casino employees greeting people, and smiles all around.  Apparently The D's owner, Derek Stevens, had planned a ribbon cutting ceremony.  Well, I'm not sure if there was an additional part, but I was there for it, and have one of the ribbon pieces proclaiming "I was there! 6-4-20 Re-opening Las Vegas!"

Inside was a great atmosphere of people smiling, the Players Club staff were all upbeat, the machines were thirsty, and seats at the bar were quickly filled.

As the Fremont Casino was also open, I made a stop in there, to find a very different entrance protocol.

I'll preceed this by saying their entrances are much more spread out, so much more difficult to control as a funnel, and this was likely a factor in their planning and execution.  At the main doors, they had a significant Security and Police presence at the top of the stairs - again, I assume this was a concern about non-gaming visitors.  I didn't observe any temperature checks, though I recall someone checking my ID.  Staff was actively offering use of hand sanitizer stations and offering face masks, and this was at multiple locations and times throughout the casino.

In terms of play, things went well, but there was definitely some glitches.  Apparently the casino had switched over to a new technology system during the shutdown, and handpays were being processed differently.  Sadly I discovered this not because of a large payout, but a machine malfunction.  The floor staff was apologetic and nice, and I'm sure they were as unhappy about it as I was, though they did a great job of not showing their frustration.

Subjectively, I felt The D was much busier and had a significantly higher energy level, on this opening night.  That said, most people didn't even realize Fremont Hotel & Casino was open, until after The D had opened their doors and people were pouring in.  Whether this was by design or coincidence, I don't know, but I do believe this was the driving force in which casino felt more active and alive.

A couple hours later I left for the evening, walking past still-closed casinos with giant X's made with Caution tape across their doors, to get some rest for the evening before going to the Strip the next day.

To be continued...

Thanks for the report!

Thanks for TR. Good info.

Thursday, 3:30pm, Caesar's Palace

My plan had been to arrive at Caesar's in the morning, and see the opening affair.  Well, a late night on Fremont St didn't lend itself to this, so I arrived at CP a bit later in the afternoon.

Valet service was shutdown, and there was staff outside directing traffic to the self parking garage, where the gates were permanently in the "open" position.  On arrival, I'd say the first floor of the parking garage was maybe 25% full.  Was very easy to find a covered parking spot close to the elevators.  The elevators are the first indication of red bubble stickers on the floor, basically saying "stand here."  There's one in each corner of the elevator, and I suppose there's 6' diagonal.  I never did see any staff attempting to moderate the number of people to an elevator.

Walking from the garage to check-in, it was distinctly low traffic, even for a Thursday.  At the main check-in area, guests were being encouraged to use the self-checkin kiosks, after a temperature check.  Attended checkin lines were also open, and at the Diamond/7* check-in lounge, there was a security guard doing temperature checks (non-contact thermometer) before allowing entry.

Check-in was smooth, and the staff seemed exceedingly happy to be back and to have guests.  Definitely in an above average mood; "elated."  They also noted that there would be no daily housekeeping, but that guests could call down for additional towels, refreshment of toiletries, etc.

Off to the room, the next sign of changes was red stickers that were adhered to the door and the doorjam, saying "Cleaned and sealed for your protection", with the subheading "Learn about all our health and safety protocols at Caesars.com", with the Caesars logo.  Kudos to them for investing in quality design on this signage... it looks professional, and the sense of a "sealed" room conveys a sense of assurance.

The room itself was as one would expect any other time of year, and there was no overt scent of heavy duty disinfectants.  I don't know if this was a product of enough time passing for any such scents to fade, or if this will be the norm for subsequent guests.

The casino floor itself was light traffic but otherwise felt like an off-peak day.  The main difference here was the visibility of staff walking the floor and cleaning unused machines regularly, and every other machine being disabled with no seat in front of it.

Most of the shops and restaurants were closed, and the sportsbook was fully closed.  The food court was open, and a few of their restaurants -  Hell's Kitchen, Mesa Grill, Old Homestead.  A few of the shops were open, seemed to be the ones where someone is standing at the door hawking.  The buffet was most definitely closed, no surprise there.  For me there were two surprises: the convenience shop selling sundries and beverages was closed, and the "alcoholic ice cream" shop was open.  The pool was closed.

Seating at restaurants was staggered for "social distance", and this was mostly observed.

All employees were consistently wearing face masks, other than Security - some were, some weren't.  (For myself, I completely understand Security and Police not being willing to compromise clarity of verbal instructions.)  There was a notable presence of Security, SRT and Police on the property, and some of the Security seemed a bit more geared up than usual.  Again, assuming this is related to anticipation of non-gaming visitors and reaction to related events.

Guest mask use was very minimal... in the 2-3% range.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning (departure day) followed the same patterns, but with consistently increasing traffic, and opening of more amenities; the convenience shop was open on Saturday, and by Sunday the pool was open and several more restaurants had opened.

Flamingo was also open, and while I didn't visit the property, a number of restaurants outside of the Linq were open, both for take-out and dine-in.  Maybe a dozen restaurants in total.

All told, the property went from being less than 1/3 occupancy, to close to 2/3 occupancy in the course of those few days.

Mask wearing seemed to increase slightly by Sunday, with around 3-5% wearing masks.

From what I've seen in the days since, Vegas is fast-tracking the reopening of more properties, businesses, restaurants, etc., and bringing staff back from furlough to support the visitor numbers.  They may have been expecting a soft open in June, but that has not been the case.  While this may be attributable in part to promotions - eg Total Rewards offering a 5x TC bonus - this strikes me as pent up demand.

Well, that's about it for this Trip Report.  As things are changing so rapidly, most of what I've described will be little more than an anecdotal memory, but I hope folks have enjoyed reading it.

Best of luck!

Outstanding trip report. Thank you, Robert!

Again Thanks

Thank you, Robert, for the TR we were all wanting, first hand on opening  night.  Wonderful detail. 

One thing, I assume you drove in.  No flight?   We are flying in late July, hoping some of the strict rules the airlines (SWA) are announcing right now might be relaxed by then, e.g. drink service...LOL.   

I'm am on a SWA plane as I type.  They give canned water on flights over 250 miles 

Oh joy, canned water.  Are they letting people break out their own snacks/drinks brought on board?

Yes to your last question, Candy.