Las Vegas boom: New resorts to bring 4,000 more rooms

By Jay Jones

July 16, 2020 7 AM PT

Las Vegas is moving forward with openings of new resorts on the Strip that were planned long before the coronavirus pandemic.

Circa, a complex that occupies an entire block along the Fremont Street Experience, plans to open restaurants in October and rooms in December.

Five miles south, construction cranes are busy at Resorts World along Las Vegas Boulevard. The 3,500-room project, built where the famed Stardust hotel-casino once stood, is slated to open in summer 2021.

Together, the projects bring more than 4,000 new hotel rooms to Vegas.

“There was an awful lot of people coming downtown who said, ‘[We] wish there was some better room product,’ ” said Circa owner Derek Stevens, who operates the D and Golden Gate. “That’s why, with Circa, we really tried to make sure we had better standard rooms and a lot more suites.”

The plan is to open five restaurants on the first five floors on Oct. 28, two months ahead of the launch of the property’s 777 hotel rooms. Circa will be downtown’s first new-from-the-ground-up hotel in 40 years. The 458-foot tapered tower soars above neighboring properties.

Reservations for opening night, Dec. 28, are available now. Standard rooms, which range from 402 to 752 square feet, start at $299 a night, with a two-night minimum. Prices skyrocket to $799 a night for New Year’s weekend, with a three-night minimum. Those prices don’t include a nightly resort fee of almost $34.

In a nod to downtown’s burgeoning arts scene, Circa will feature works by local artists. Guestroom bathrooms will feature a whimsical wall graphic by Jelaine Faunce that pays homage to the dancing dealers who once entertained Vegas visitors.

Bookings for Circa’s sportsbook are also now available for sessions starting Oct. 28. “[It is] the first three-story sports book ever, the biggest screen, the most amount of seating,” Stevens said.

Circa’s multilevel adults-only pool complex called Stadium Swim will be open year-round. “When you think about this tiered, outdoor pool-amphitheater with six pools and multiple spas,” he said, “there’s really never been anything that’s been built like this.”

The $4.3-billion Resorts World, which hasn’t yet opened, put on a splashy virtual Fourth of July fireworks display on a 100,000-square-foot video screen. Set into the Strip-facing side of the West Tower, the 294-by-340-foot display contains more than 3,500 LED panels.

Meeting planners and travel agents are previewing rooms by the Hilton and Conrad brands. The Las Vegas Hilton name, which disappeared six years ago with the arrival of the Westgate brand, will return with contemporary, 400-square-foot rooms that feature sitting areas overlooking the Strip.

Rooms at the Conrad start at 550 square feet. They will contain curated pieces of art inspired by the fluid moves of “water sleeve” dancers from Chinese opera.

The resort complex also will include the Hilton luxury brand, LXR Hotels & Resorts. The Vegas location will be LXR’s fifth, and the first in the U.S.