Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

A closer look at the Virgin Las Vegas outdoor entertainment complex

Virgin Hotels Las Vegas

Courtesy

A rendering of the second-level bar at the dayclub at Virgin Las Vegas.

Set to open on January 15 at the site of the former Hard Rock Hotel just east of the Strip, Virgin Hotels Las Vegas is shaping up to be one of the most dramatic resort renovation projects in the history of the city.

Other casino remakes have taken place in recent years at the Sahara, the Palms, Park MGM and others. The rebranding of the Hard Rock into Virgin involves much more than a new name, a new look and some altered amenities. Almost every inch of the property has undergone a complete renovation, and one of the best examples of these major changes is Virgin’s five-acre outdoor pool and entertainment complex, dubbed the backyard.

“I think what makes us different from some of the other transformations and renovations is that it looks so much different. Bars have been moved, sightlines are different, our eco-systems and the way you can move around the property have changed,” said Richard Bosworth, president and CEO of JC Hospitality, owner of Virgin Las Vegas. “Out on our pool deck, where the Rehab pool party was, there’s no pool. It’s our event lawn and it has fire pits, birdcage seating, shrubbery and block walls, and it’s an area where you can have entertainment such as a concert in a Hollywood Bowl-type of experience, or you can put up a tent and have a wedding and get married there.”

Pool parties and concerts were common at the Hard Rock Hotel’s outdoor space but the Virgin renovations have created larger, more versatile spaces that will work together in an organic way. The new resort pool aligns with the Promenade, a pathway that winds around the event lawn and up to outdoor dining areas adjoining new restaurants Olives, Casa Calavera, Kassi Beach Club and the Money Baby sports bar. Different kinds of entertainment are planned for the resort pool area, which is set to open in March.

“The resort pool was never really utilized much over the last 12 years of the Hard Rock, and it’s been completely reimagined with daybeds and cabanas to really become an entertainment and dining environment,” Bosworth said. “It’s a place to go as a hotel guest or to dine while surrounded by palm trees and beautiful landscaping, and your server can bring you your food from any number of restaurants. We think it’s truly going to be an experience much different than what you see in any current resort.”

A separate two-story dayclub, set to open in April, is also a major part of the outdoor complex and is expected to compete with the major pool party facilities along the Strip. Two separate pool spaces from the Hard Rock layout have been bridged to create a club environment with upper and lower pools where DJs playing dance music is just the start of the entertainment programming.

“It will be EDM and I think very competitive from an entertainment perspective. The exception I think that will take it to a different level is adding some music festival elements, something you might see at Burning Man or EDC or Coachella,” Bosworth said. “We felt that was very important, with today’s generation of outdoor festival-goers, to not just be a pool party but give it more of a festival element.”

The flexible event lawn space also connects to a new indoor event space, the Manor, creating different areas that can be used for private and corporate events.

The resort was originally planned for a November 2020 opening but announced its new January arrival date in September. Bosworth said Virgin has had “the benefit of sitting on the sidelines watching best practices and seeing what works and what does not work,” as other casino resorts have resumed operations during the pandemic, and that perspective includes live entertainment events at indoor and outdoor venues.

“We’re very conscious of where we are from a COVID perspective and like everyone else, we’re hoping science catches up quickly and our industry normalizes as soon as possible,” he said. “If we can provide entertainment from separate pods socially distant on our event lawn that are still considered somewhat intimate, we think we can really change that experience. And we’ve been working very closely with the entertainment industry, not only music but also movies, in ways to provide some very unique entertainment and create a wow factor in ways that are COVID compliant.”

Virgin plans to announce more details surrounding its entertainment offerings in December, including the new name of the concert hall formerly known as the Joint. The resort is currently accepting hotel room reservations.