First, the good news. “Low and friendly.” Those are how room prices on the Las Vegas Strip are described. Resorts in Las Vegas opened to 
(restricted) capacity bookings and attendance. Since this is Vegas Lite, one in which fewer rooms are available and win/slot/day reflects far fewer machines, it’s as yet unclear whether it’s a harbinger of a faster-than-expected recovery or an initial burst of business that was months in abeyance. Fitch Ratings took a cautious view, reporting that “There will be a slower recovery in Las Vegas given the market’s cyclicality, longer booking windows and reliance on air capacity [expected to be low] and conventions,” the latter not due to start returning until autumn.
On the other hand, Deutsche Bank Securities analyst Carlo Santarelli divined that “Incremental scheduled openings speak well to a ramping book of demand for Strip assets in the near term.” He added, While many properties are taking reservations beginning on July 1, no formal announcements have been made about their reopening and we believe many of these will likely be pushed back in the coming weeks.” 65,000 rooms—or 75% of the Strip—is anticipated to be available July 1, which certainly has to be reckoned as surpassing expectations.
Firsthand reports received by S&G suggest that the Strip is still feeling its way back into business. Not so locals casinos, which are reporting robust 
foot traffic. Santarelli wrote, “we believe gaming spend per patron has been nicely higher, with some properties experiencing gross gaming revenue that approximates prior-year results in the early days post opening.” But … “We expect the drive-to/locals markets to open strong and taper off to better align with local macro dynamics in the near to medium term.” This is congruent with what is happening in regional casinos, where an initial rush of business has yet to coalesce into a steady trend.
Now for the bad news. Social distancing in Las Vegas has been a flop. Since most people under 50 are at a lower risk factor for Coronavirus, they clearly assume that they are immortal (or at least immune). Most 
casinos have tried to do the right thing, a few not so much. In the latter group would go The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, where “the coronavirus pandemic is in the mental rear-view mirror of many visitors, and mask shaming is in vogue for some tourists trying to return to normalcy.” Or so reports the Los Angeles Times. Sin City is almost certain to be a vector of Covid-19 resurgence and is unquestionably Ground Zero for a pandemic of stupidity, a disease for which there is no known cure. Even Bellagio is already slacking off, not checking the temperatures of gamblers, just of hotel guests—as though the virus will discriminate between the two.
However, if “It was hard to forget the pandemic at the [sic] Bellagio … The Cosmopolitan, however, appeared as if it was six months ago when there was no pandemic and social distancing had yet to enter our lexicon.” 
Table games were “packed” with no plexiglas dividers and no evidence of social distancing. If you want to shoot dice with Death, head on over to the Cosmo. “Day beds and cabanas … were sold out,” which was much the same story up and down the Strip. Even so, “Some casino floors may have looked packed over the weekend, but the Strip is still very a much a ghost town with no traffic.” Given the imprudent (to put it kindly) behavior of tourists, that may be a good thing.
Perhaps having read the LAT, a poster took to Vegas Message Board to partly exonerate the Cosmo, partly to damn it. Their observations included: “Plenty of social distancing at cab drop off. No special goodies with checkin [sic] at the hotel. No mask or hand sanitizer given … the floor at 9pm [sic] had enough room to walk comfortably. Table games have 3 chairs to the table. No barriers. Craps tables have 3 on each side, but groups of people would
congregate behind. All slot machines appear to be on, but every other chair is removed.” Access to the chandelier bar has been restricted to one line but only one out of three video poker machines has been disabled, meaning two people can play side-by-side. “Hand sanitizing machines are around but not in prominent locations, and you would have to go out of your way to find one. Mask usage is 100 percent from employees, and probably 10 customers. I saw no one actively cleaning slot machines or chairs last night.” It’s crystal clear that the Cosmo is cooperating with “Vegas Safe” in the most grudging way possible and is giving everyone else a bad name by association,
Jottings: Set your alarm clock. Circa developer Derek Stevens will announce the specific opening date tomorrow at 9 a.m. Sin City time. No doubt it will be before New Year’s Eve … Speaking of Circa, we’ve been vouchsafed an advance peek of Jelaine Faunce‘s interior decor and it is, in a word, fugly. Or as our source said, ” It looks like she tied one on and then rolled herself into a hedge to wear” … Eldorado Resorts is, not surprisingly, hard up for cash. It’s selling 18 million shares and talking deals with Vici Properties. Stay tuned.
