Virgin Hotels Las Vegas and Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment May 7 jointly announced that the partnership, where Mohegan managed the casino, will now transition to where Virgin will fully operate the property.
Cliff Atkinson, president at the 1,500-room Virgin Hotel Las Vegas, said in a statement: “We are grateful for the collaboration with Mohegan, and we will continue to work together to ensure a well-ordered transition of casino operations.” He added, “This transition is a natural progression in our journey to provide guests of Virgin Hotels Las Vegas with a seamless resort experience.”
Mohegan President and CEO Ray Pineault, added, “Mohegan’s partnership with Virgin Hotels Las Vegas was, upon inception, and is today in the very best interest of the guests and hard-working team members whose patronage and contributions to the business are deeply appreciated.” He continued, “While Mohegan’s role will come to an end, we are confident that the Resort’s unwavering focus on guest and team member satisfaction will continue.”
This means that the casino will no longer be called “Mohegan Casino at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas,” which was the name since September 2019. It was the first Indian casino to operate in Las Vegas.
The transition is planned to be completed by the end of 2024. Casino.org writer Scott Roeben observed that the casino has “underperformed” ever since 2019 and “Part of the challenge has been the structure of Virgin overall. Each part of the resort is farmed out to third parties.” He continued, “This has led to Virgin feeling disjointed, and has created a number of operational headaches, some of which are felt by customers.”
Critics said that Mohegan’s attempt to enter the Las Vegas market owed much to its own poor marketing efforts Roeben observed, “If you’ve ever gotten a marketing e-mail from Mohegan, you know it’s nearly impossible to figure out which resort the casino is in. Problematic.”
Reportedly Virgin will introduce a new loyalty club and attempt to attract new customers.
In a separate but related development, 700 hospitality workers at Virgin conducted a 48-hour strike beginning May 10 and ending May 12. The Culinary Local 226 union and the casino have been in negotiations since earlier this year. Most off-strip casinos reached agreements with the union in February.
A threatened Feb. 5 strike deadline was postponed when the union agreed to give the casino more time. However, on May 8 Ted Pappageorge, secretary-treasurer for the union said in a statement: “It’s been nearly one year since the contract at Virgin Las Vegas expired on June 1, 2023 and workers are still working without a contract, that’s why the Culinary Union has called for a 48-hour strike at the Virgin Las Vegas and urge the community and customers to not cross the strike line.”
He added, “Workers at Virgin Las Vegas deserve fair wage increases and they are organized and ready to strike for it. As Virgin Las Vegas workers go on strike on Friday, May 10th, the Culinary Union has their back every step of the way and we will win.”
Previously, Atkinson said that the transition wouldn’t affect hospitality workers and that negotiations were continuing in good faith.
The hospitality workers include guest-room attendants, cocktail and food servers, porters, bellmen, cooks, bartenders, laundry and kitchen workers. However, the union says that restaurant operations will also be affected.
