Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment, the gaming arm of the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut, is on track to open its 60,000-square-foot Mohegan Sun Casino at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, part of the Curio Collection by Hilton, before January 1. The property is the former Hard Rock Hotel and Casino located just east of the Strip; it closed in February. An investor group, including Virgin Group Founder Richard Branson, bought the resort in 2018.
The property will offer three hotel towers with more than 1,500 rooms and suites, a dozen dining options including luxury brands Nobu and MB Steak, a 5-acre tropical pool area, 4,500-person-capacity indoor performance area and 117,000 square feet of meeting and events space. MGE will manage the property.
Gaming industry veteran and former longtime Station Casinos executive Joe Hasson has been named general manager and Tyler Conover has been named director of marketing.
MGE Chief Executive Officer Mario Kontomerkos said, “To put our international brand into one of the most legendary gaming and entertainment markets in the world is very important for us. To lead Indian country and be the first Native American tribe to open up an integrated resort on the Las Vegas Strip resorts corridor is a really big honor for this tribe. We’ve spent a lot of time thinking about Las Vegas because we want to make a big impact. And we’ve got a lot of players on the East Coast who want to visit Las Vegas. And so we think it’s going to be a great match.”
He added, “Having Virgin’s brand and what they represent is so different to what is already in the Las Vegas market. It’s kind of an irreverent brand. It’s a really cool design that they’re putting on this facility.” The property will offer MGE’s Momentum Loyalty Rewards Program. “Folks from all over the country who are using it are going to be able to use that in Las Vegas, so that is going to be a key differentiator,” Kontomerkos commented.
Kontomerkos stressed MGE’s Covid-19 safety and health protocols are “the highest level in the industry.” They include social distancing, automated thermal temperature screens at all entrances, ultraviolet air handlers, nightly hotel room disinfection and plexiglass and hand sanitizer at every transaction station.
Hasson noted, “There’s no stone left unturned as far as reinvention and reimagination of the resort. Virtually every square foot is being touched in order to give it an identity of its own. Construction is ongoing five or six days per week right now. It’s beginning to take shape. You’re beginning to see what’s coming with the emergence of a new and refreshed palette.”
However, the property may offer many familiar faces, since Hasson said MGE plans to reach out to 300 former Hard Rock employees. “I have people back on board already, and others I’ve been in touch with directly tell me they’re looking forward to coming back.”
Hasson emphasized the Mohegan Tribe’s theory of business called the Spirit of Aquai. “It permeates everything they do, from business relationships to personal relationships. It’s about being welcoming, cooperation, mutual respect and the cultivation of lasting relationships. Those cornerstones are real for the tribe. That’s how they do business. Now they have the opportunity to bring those cornerstones here and plant their flag, so to speak, in Las Vegas for the first time.”
Kontomerkos elaborated: “We come from a tribal organization where culture and community and values are very important. When you think about a tribal business, you’re talking about a business that is not a quarterly business and it’s not a monthly business. It’s a generational business. It’s a business that’s built with the express intent of lasting and sustaining generations for hundreds of years.”
