A preview of the Palms Resort & Casino, Monday April 25, 2022, before their grand reopening this week. The Palms has been closed for nearly two years after shutting its doors due to the pandemic in 2020. After being purchased by San Manuel tribe the property will re-open to the general public at 9pm on Wednesday April 27.
Wednesday, April 27, 2022 | 2 a.m.
As he stood in a sky villa suite at the Palms, Las Vegas native Brandon Beach wondered aloud why he had never spent any time at the Palms before the property closed in March 2020 for what would be a two-year hiatus.
During a two-decade run working at some of the top resorts in Las Vegas — Venetian, Bellagio, MGM Grand and New York-New York — Beach had never set foot into the off-Strip resort on Flamingo Road, which is set to reopen at 9 tonight under new ownership.
“It’s been eye-opening to come to work here,” said Beach, who was recently hired as director of hotel operations at the Palms. “I never even visited this property prior to this. I always had the perception that there are the locals’ hotels, then there’s the casinos. I didn’t know much about this operation. I didn’t realize how beautiful this property is.”
After closing in 2019 at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, the Palms sat dark even as other resorts returned after nearly 90 days of closures. Red Rock Resorts — the parent company of Station Casinos — sold the resort last spring to the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians for $650 million, paving the way for tonight’s return.
Since it’s about a mile west of the Strip, the Palms, which opened in 2001 under the ownership of the Maloof family, has traditionally been viewed as more of a Las Vegas locals casino. That likely won’t change, but the San Manuel group also knows the property can compete with some of the best resort offerings on the Strip, especially with a $690 million renovation of the property in 2019 by Red Rock Resorts.
“They spent a lot of money on this hotel,” Beach said. “The majority of the stuff we’ve had to do is electronic updates. A lot of what we’ve done is just re-contracting with all the different vendors. From an aesthetics perspective, this place was turnkey. It’s like walking into a home that’s perfectly furnished.”
In addition to the swanky two-story sky villa, which has its own pool on an outdoor balcony that overlooks the Strip, it also boasts a basketball-themed “Hardwood Suite” on the 32nd floor. That two-story suite comes complete with its own basketball court, locker rooms, and a secret whiskey room. At a price of $25,000 per night, the suite has been rented for Thursday, the opening night of the NFL Draft in Las Vegas.
Some of the resort’s most notable dining and entertainment options will also return, including the Scotch 80 Prime, the A.Y.C.E. Buffet and Mabel’s BBQ, a Michael Symon restaurant. The Pearl Theater at the Palms, a small concert venue, is expected to begin hosting shows this summer.
Additionally, San Manuel will introduce the California-themed Serrano Vista Café, which is similar to a restaurant the tribe has at its Yaamava’ Resort in Highland, Calif., which is in San Bernardino County. There’s also a revamped sportsbook lounge.
New ownership has also revamped the back of the house as the employee locker room has been refurbished, along with a call center office area, and an employee dining room space.
“I know that our employees appreciate that attention that’s been given to those back-of-house areas,” Beach said. “It’s going to get even better as we go. There’s been a lot of attention to the human element.”
Employees went through final preparations Monday. In the casino pit, table games dealers huddled to discuss the details of their jobs while a worker used a power drill to install a roulette wheel at a nearby table. Employees, dressed in white uniforms, were also gathered at the A.Y.C.E. Buffet.
At the Scotch 80 Prime, about two dozen employees were gathered to go over last-minute details about cocktail prices, and workers outside at the pool area labored to install lights. Outside the steakhouse, a nearby table was vacant, though a sign next to the table read “team member orientation.” For the most part, employees were ready to get back to work.
About half of the 1,400 person workforce at the Palms, according to officials, are returning employees.
“In my department, about 95% of our people are returning employees,” said Raul Daniels, vice president of catering and event sales for the Palms and a returning worker himself. “Property-wide, we had a lot of success with people who wanted to come back. It does sound cliché, but this is family for a lot of people. Luckily for us, we haven’t had a big problem finding labor, though we do still have positions open.”
The resort, which has 766 rooms in all, will be the first casino property in Las Vegas to be 100% owned by a Native American tribe. There will be a fireworks display shortly after the doors open to the public tonight.
