Virgin Hotels Las Vegas delays opening due to COVID-19 pandemic

LAS VEGAS – The opening of Virgin Hotels Las Vegas – a forthcoming resort on the former site of the Hard Rock – has been delayed due to COVID-19.

The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino closed after the Super Bowl in February 2020 for remodeling and rebranded as a Virgin Hotel after it was purchased.

The hotel was set to open on Jan. 15, but the pandemic derailed those plans.

“The construction for the project is on time and this decision was predicate on the current conditions in the market as it pertains to the pandemic,” said Richard Bosworth, CEO of JC Hospitality – owner of Virgin Hotels Las Vegas – in a statement on Twitter.

A new opening date has not been finalized. 

COVID-19 travel fallout has transformed Las Vegas from a global destination to a regional gambling hub dependent on drive-in business from Arizona and California. Casinos downsized, operating hours atrophied – and airport traffic thinned.

Visitation is now down to levels the state hasn't seen since 1993.

With concerts and conventions cancelled and hotel towers closed, Nevada will remain in financial trouble with thousands of jobless residents stuck in a jammed unemployment system until COVID-19 restrictions are rolled back and travelers regain their confidence.

Billionaire investor and Virgin Group founder Richard Branson purchased the property with a group of partners, including Los Angeles-based investment firm Juniper Capital Partners. The terms of the purchase from Brookfield Asset Management were not disclosed.

Branson, who has previously rappelled down a casino-hotel and got on a jet ski in the fountains outside the Bellagio casino-resort to promote his businesses, promised an “equally fun” event for the hotel’s official launch.

Contributing: Associated Press. 

Ed Komenda writes about Las Vegas for the Reno Gazette Journal and USA Today Network. Do you care about democracy? Then support local journalism by subscribing to the Reno Gazette Journal right here.