{"id":26835,"date":"2020-04-22T07:30:36","date_gmt":"2020-04-22T15:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=26835"},"modified":"2020-04-22T07:30:36","modified_gmt":"2020-04-22T15:30:36","slug":"hornbuckle-sternlicht-send-conflicting-messages-virgin-is-ailing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/hornbuckle-sternlicht-send-conflicting-messages-virgin-is-ailing\/","title":{"rendered":"Hornbuckle, Sternlicht send conflicting messages; Virgin is ailing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Add MGM Resorts International<\/strong> to the short list of Las Vegas<\/strong> hoteliers announcing reopening strategies. In a five-minute video presentation<\/a>, CEO William Hornbuckle<\/strong> summarized many of the company’s charitable \"\"efforts during the crisis (bolstered by a $500,000 contribution from Dubai World<\/strong>). He promised changes to the look of the casino floors, the frequency of cleaning, the greeting of guests and to restaurants. Specifics were not to be had. “This is a completely uncharted path,” said Hornbuckle, who may be seeing how Wynn Resorts<\/strong>‘ extensive reopening strategy plays out (we find it reasonable but our readers respectfully dissent). He began and ended with advocacy of social distancing. How that will be enforced in a ‘reopened’ Las Vegas Strip<\/strong> remains to be seen but we’ll be following it with interest.<\/p>\n

If it were up to Barry Sternlicht<\/strong>, late of the Riviera<\/strong>, we’d all be up to our own devices. The hotelier wants a future in which guests sign waivers (“like they would at any high-risk activity,” he laughed) to hold resorts harmless from, oh, let’s say contracting Covid-19<\/strong>. One of those dollars-over-people<\/a> people, Sternlicht railed that “You have \"\"to look at the social cost against the human cost, which I know is awful … We have to get going. The cost is too great. The government can’t carry a $23 trillion economy.” While not as reckless as Georgia<\/strong> Gov. Brian Kemp<\/strong>‘s kamikaze reopening plan (starting with massage parlors), Sternlicht would see the economy brought back “zip code by zip code …\u00a0There\u2019s a financial suicide and a death of small businesses and restaurants and the economy and the global economy that has to be weighed.\u201d His regimen for his Starwood<\/strong> properties would entail deep cleanings and guest-temperature checks, along with the aforementioned waivers, but mostly his message is: Reopen now!<\/p>\n

A more helpful spirit was offered by Station Casinos<\/strong> and other operators who are keeping earned loyalty points on ice until such time (Dec. 31 in Station’s case) as they can be redeemed. Here’s a rundown<\/a> of the each of the majors’ policies. The general sentiment might be summarized by Ocean Casino Resort<\/strong>, which stated,\u00a0\u201cOur guests will continue to be at the center of every decision we make.\u201d Amen to that.<\/p>\n

* More worrisome news for Virgin Hotel Las Vegas<\/strong>. Air-carrier affiliate Virgin Australia<\/strong> has entered bankruptcy, seeking new investors and\u2014drum roll, please\u2014owners. Unable to get a loan from Australia<\/strong>‘s government, the airline is staggering under $3.2 billion in debt. Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic<\/strong> continues to pursue a government bailout in the United Kingdom<\/strong>. The dreaded private equity sector is said to be circling Virgin Australia like sharks drawn to chum<\/a>. Despite having a 31% share of the Australian market, Virgin has turned only two profits in the last decade. Could Sir Richard Branson<\/strong>‘s empire be crumbling before our eyes?<\/p>\n

* Though she may think otherwise, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman<\/strong> can’t simply will Sin City’s economy back into vibrancy. The latest blow comes from the Life Is Beautiful<\/strong> festival, which has canceled its September convocation and will return in 2021.<\/p>\n

* Congress has passed another $500 billion<\/a> in economic relief, including replenishment of the depleted Paycheck Protection Program<\/strong>. Now let’s see how much gaming can get of the latter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Add MGM Resorts International to the short list of Las Vegas hoteliers announcing reopening strategies. In a five-minute video presentation, CEO William Hornbuckle summarized many of the company’s charitable efforts during the crisis (bolstered by a $500,000 contribution from Dubai … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[24,51,134,14,152,283,53,245,57,9,100,263,233],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26835"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26835"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26837,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26835\/revisions\/26837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}