When Resorts World Las Vegas opened in June 2021, it seemed like a very risky venture. The massive $4.3 billion resort casino had its not-so-grand opening during the pandemic. It was a time of low visitor counts, low room rates, and low expectations across the entire city.
That's a pretty bad time to open a huge resort casino on a section of the north Strip that was essentially deserted. While Caesars Entertainment (CZR) and MGM Resorts International (MGM) properties clog the south and central Strips, creating an area packed with tourists, the north Strip has few draws.
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Aside from Resorts World, the north Strip has The Strat and Circus Circus, two again properties badly in need of a retheme. Aside from that, once you pass the Wynn Resorts (WYNN) properties while heading north, Resorts World was sort of an island sitting on its own.
As the pandemic's impact lessened, however, Resorts World shows that customers would make the trek to the North Strip. The new resort offers some unique features like its impressive food hall as well as some top-tier entertainment options. It wasn't an instant runaway hit, but it was enough to show that people would come to the less-populated section of the Strip.
That realization gave new life to multiple theoretical projects on the Strip that sill may or may not happen. It also helped a resort casino that had been languishing for nearly 20 years the ability to go get the billions needed to complete the project. But, even once that money was raised, many remained highly skeptical that Fontainebleau Las Vegas would reach the finish line.
Now, however, as work has steadily progressed, the new north Strip restor casino, which is adjacent to Resorts World has made a huge move to show it's on track for its planned late-2023 opening.
Image source: Resorts World
Fontainebleau Las Vegas Has Started Hiring
The sketchy history of Fontainebleau Las Vegas includes a lot of stops and starts. And Las Vegas funding in general has become more precarious as interest rates have risen so even projects that seem like they are on strong footing have seen funding fall through.
That does not appear to be happening at Fontainebleau Las Vegas, which has launched a jobs portal to start the process of staffing the large resort casino. The careers portal, careers.fblasvegas.com launched May and the resort's owners called it a "milestone" for the 67-story property which will offer a casino, hotel, and multiple dining and entertainment venues.
The company plans to use a phased hiring approach. Management and leadership positions will be filled in the spring and summer with a wide range of hiring following that.
“Fontainebleau Las Vegas represents a rich heritage of luxury hospitality, chic elegance, and unforgettable experiences -- all of it rooted in the creativity and contributions of our 'members' [staff],” says Fontainebleau Las Vegas Chief Operating Officer Colleen Birch. “We have only just begun to build the foundation of the culture and member community at Fontainebleau Las Vegas, and we look forward to cultivating a culture that celebrates our collective passion for delivering distinctive luxury experiences.”
Fontainebleau Las Vegas Should Help Other Projects
The Caesars and MGM properties on the south and central Strips feed off each other. That's helped by T-Mobile Arena and the many other venues that fill those areas. Those sections of the Strip are crowded, and that makes each piece of land incredibly valuable.
Multiple major south and central Strip projects are underway including multiple new resort casinos and significant retail developments. In addition, Caesars is expanding its Paris Las Vegas by retheming one of the towers from its neighboring Horseshoe property.
The success of Resorts World and the launch of Fontainebleau Las Vegas start to make the north Strip an attractive destination. There's still a lot of open land in that area, but multiple projects are planned and each one helps the others.
Fontainebleau isn't a last step for the area -- it's still very early in the journey -- but it's easy to see how the foundation is coming into place to make the area a rival to the south and central Strip
