Virgin Hotels Las Vegas

The resort originally opened in March 1995, as the Hard Rock Hotel.[3] In January 2018, majority owner Brookfield Asset Management was in discussions to sell the Hard Rock to a group of buyers, including Virgin Hotels, Bosworth Hospitality, and investment firm Juniper Capital Partners.[4] The three companies had partnered together a year earlier to begin looking for an existing casino resort property in Las Vegas.[5] The Hard Rock Hotel sale was finalized on March 30, 2018.[6] On the same day, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson hosted a party-like news conference at the Hard Rock pool,[6][7] announcing that the resort would be renovated and rebranded as Virgin Hotels Las Vegas by the end of 2019.[8][9] The resort would retain the Hard Rock name until the completion of renovations, which would be done in phases, allowing the property to remain partially open.[7][8]

For more than 20 years, Branson had wanted to get into the Las Vegas casino industry.[3][7] At the time of the purchase, the company operated one hotel, the Virgin Hotels Chicago, and there were plans to add approximately 10 more hotels. With around 1,500 hotel rooms, the Hard Rock was the largest property of Virgin's hotels, but it was also small compared to resorts on the nearby Las Vegas Strip. The resort fit Virgin Hotels' desire for a smaller, boutique hotel in the Las Vegas market.[7] The newly renovated resort would compete against newer hotels such as Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Delano, and NoMad.[10]

Richard Bosworth was named as the new chief executive officer of the resort.[7] Bosworth and Juniper Capital were longtime business partners.[5] The two had previously wanted to purchase the unfinished Fontainebleau resort in Las Vegas, and they approached Brookfield as a possible equity partner in early 2017. Plans to buy the Fontainebleau did not work out, and Bosworth and Juniper Capital ultimately began discussions with Brookfield about buying the Hard Rock instead.[11] The resort was purchased for $500 million, in part with a $200 million loan from JPMorgan Chase. Ownership was split between seven investment companies, four of them being Canadian.[12][13] The majority owner was Laborers' International Union of North America's Central and Eastern Canada Pension Fund, which contributed more than $100 million to the purchase of the resort.[12]

Virgin Hotels Las Vegas will have a modern desert design.[2][14] The design phase was underway in June 2018, with the renovations expected to start no earlier than April 2019.[11] Base Entertainment had been building a stage facility on the property to host The Voice: Neon Dreams, a live stage show. Base Entertainment pulled out of the project following the Virgin purchase, leaving the facility only partially built.[15] In January 2019, a hotel partnership was announced between Virgin Hotels Las Vegas and Hilton's Curio brand. At the time, JC Hospitality had become the majority owner of the resort.[15] JC Hospitality is a joint venture of Bosworth Hospitality, Juniper Capital, and Virgin.[16] It is led by president and CEO Bosworth, and by Virgin Hotels, the latter of which will manage the resort.[15]

Renovation work was originally scheduled to begin and end in 2019, but the amount of work was increased as additional improvements were deemed necessary. During the first year of ownership, Bosworth and the other owners observed how the Hard Rock operated, which helped them in their renovation plans. The design changes increased the cost of renovations from $150 million to $200 million. In April 2019, it was announced that the renovation project would now begin in February 2020,[17][18] with a grand opening celebration at the end of the year.[19] Design work was nearly finished at the time of the announcement. The design team included Klai Juba Wald Architecture + Interiors, Rockwell Group, and Studio Collective. McCarthy Building Companies and Taylor International Corporation were selected as the general contractors.[17][20]

It was announced in August 2019 that the Hard Rock would close entirely for about eight months beginning in early February 2020, to allow for the renovations to take place. Although there were initially plans to keep the resort partially open during renovations, Bosworth said, "We determined that a phased closing of four months, followed by a total closure of four months was not efficient from a construction process nor could we provide a hospitality service experience our guests deserve."[21][22] In September 2019, a deal was announced for Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment, an affiliate of the Mohegan Tribe, to operate the casino at the new resort. It will be the first Native American tribe to operate a Las Vegas casino.[23][24]

Bosworth sought to retain the Hard Rock's 1,850 employees after its closure, through a program that would give them a paycheck bonus if they returned for the opening of Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.[25] The resort also signed a three-year extension to continue hosting the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo,[26] although the 2021 expo was cancelled as an in-person event due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[27] A former Hard Rock Cafe building, located on-site, was demolished in November 2019, to make room for valet parking and ride-sharing vehicles.[1][28] The Hard Rock Hotel closed on February 3, 2020, allowing for renovations to begin.[2][29] In July 2020, it was announced that the casino portion would be operated under the name Mohegan Sun Casino.[30]

In 2019, a grand opening celebration was planned for mid-November 2020, shortly after the U.S. presidential election. The opening date was chosen to increase publicity for the resort, as Bosworth felt that the opening would be overshadowed if it were to occur during the presidential campaign season.[19] The resort was later scheduled to open on November 6, 2020.[31] Construction remained on track despite the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the state.[29][32] However, Bosworth announced in August 2020 that the opening could be delayed because of the pandemic, which had resulted in poor economic conditions. The pandemic had also imposed restrictive health precautions such as limited customer visitation.[32]

In September 2020, Bosworth announced a new opening date of January 15, 2021, as the owners wanted to ensure that pandemic conditions and restrictions continued to improve.[33][34] The resort's pool was scheduled to open in March 2021, followed a month later by an outdoor dayclub.[35] Six weeks before the resort's scheduled opening, JC Hospitality delayed it again, due to the pandemic.[36] The opening has been rescheduled for the second quarter of 2021.[37]