The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas is to be overhauled over the next several months following its purchase on Friday by billionaire Richard Branson.
The property with about 1,500 rooms and suites off the Las Vegas Strip is to eventually become Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. It will continue to operate under the Hard Rock brand through the end of next year, when the renovations are expected to be completed.
“Virgin is all about fun, entertainment, not taking ourselves too seriously,” Branson said. “Virgin Atlantic has had a lot of fun flying tonnes of people to Las Vegas from Britain for many years. Virgin America has done the same and we wouldn’t have just come to Las Vegas unless we could’ve found the property that was very Virgin, and I think that’s what we’ve achieved.”
Photo: AP
The 23-year-old property is to remain open during renovations, which are to take place in multiple phases.
The company said it would invest “hundreds of millions of [US] dollars” to transform the property, but it was not immediately clear whether the hotel-casino would keep its current entertainment venues, including a popular day club.
The property is to retain its casino floor, which is to be managed by a partner. Some of the large rock memorabilia that the Hard Rock casino-hotel owns might go to storage.
“The guitar may not survive,” Branson said referring to a massive guitar outside the hotel. “But we have a giant ‘V,’ which is sort of guitar-shaped, which may take over.”
Virgin Hotels 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 on the fountains outside the Bellagio casino-resort to promote his businesses, promised an “equally fun” event for the hotel’s official launch.
Branson has run a number of businesses under the Virgin brand, including records, airlines, wireless carrier and a commercial space venture.
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