Less than two months after reopening, three Las Vegas luxury hotels are
cutting back on midweek operations.
The Wynn Las Vegas is closing some casual restaurants on
select weekdays, including Charlie’s Bar + Grill and The Buffet. Some fine-dining
venues also will operate on a limited basis throughout the week.
At Wynn’s Encore resort, the spa and salon will be closed
during weekdays.
Meanwhile, the Venetian Resort has suspended weekday hotel
bookings at its Palazzo tower. The Venetian will offer suite reservations
exclusively in the Venetian tower on weekdays, while utilizing both towers on
weekends.
Most public areas in the Palazzo will be open all week, said
parent company Las Vegas Sands.
Along with cutting back operations, Wynn is placing an
unspecified number of employees on furlough.
“Although we retained all our people while we were closed,
we now know how challenged business volumes in Las Vegas are. We are staffing
to the significantly reduced demand,” Wynn Resorts said in a statement.
Wynn employees impacted by the furloughs will continue to
receive health benefits through October 31.
The downsizing efforts come as Covid-19 cases climb in the
state of Nevada. Hotel occupancy levels in Las Vegas remain low.
Las Vegas Sands president and COO Rob Goldstein said during
the company’s Q2 earnings call that its hotels “cannot make money with limited
hotel occupancy or a negligible occupancy midweek, with maybe a 50% capacity
weekend.”
“In essence, we’re running a regional casino predicated on
drive-in business,” Goldstein added. “We have airlift somewhere around 40% of
what it was. We need more customers, and we need lots more. You’re not getting
by with 30%, 40% occupancy. If you’re making money on a weekend, which we can,
you’re losing it back midweek.”