On a recent second-quarter earnings call, Golden Entertainment CEO Blake Sartini remained largely discreet about the company’s plans regarding its shuttered Colorado Belle property in Laughlin, Nev., which has been closed for nearly 30 months.
Sartini called the property “one-of-a-kind,” but refused to give further details about its future, saying, “I won’t get into what we’ve explored.”
The riverboat-themed, 1,200-room hotel and casino is the largest property in southern Nevada that has yet to reopen from the 78-day pandemic shutdown in mid-2020. Fellow operator Red Rock Resorts recently announced that its three shuttered properties in the area—Fiesta Henderson, Fiesta Rancho and Texas Station—would all be closed and demolished.
Golden operates two other properties in close proximity to Colorado Belle, Edgewater and Aquarius—the three properties account for nearly half of Laughlin’s total room capacity. Sartini addressed this on the call, saying that the company’s current holdings are “sufficient for what we see going forward (in Laughlin).”
He added, however, that the market “at some point could use a significant traffic driver.”
Laughlin was one of just two Nevada markets that didn’t set new gaming revenue records last year, but visitation has remained incredibly steady—according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the city has seen just under 625,000 visitors through the first half of 2022, which is nearly identical (less than 1 percent decline) to the first half of 2021.
