With around 1,500 hotel rooms, the Hard Rock was the largest property of Virgin's hotels, but it was also small compared to resorts on the nearby Las Vegas Strip. At the time of the purchase, the company operated one hotel, the Virgin Hotels Chicago, and there were plans to add approximately 10 more hotels. įor more than 20 years, Branson had wanted to get into the Las Vegas casino industry. The resort would retain the Hard Rock name until the completion of renovations, which would be done in phases, allowing the property to remain partially open. On the same day, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson hosted a party-like news conference at the Hard Rock pool, announcing that the resort would be renovated and rebranded as Virgin Hotels Las Vegas by the end of 2019. The Hard Rock Hotel sale was finalized on March 30, 2018. The three companies had partnered together a year earlier to begin looking for an existing casino resort property in Las Vegas. In January 2018, majority owner Brookfield Asset Management was in discussions to sell the Hard Rock to a group of buyers, including Virgin Hotels, Bosworth Hospitality, and investment firm Juniper Capital Partners. The resort originally opened in March 1995, as the Hard Rock Hotel. The resort also includes a music venue known as The Theater at Virgin Hotels. It is operated by Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment, an affiliate of the Mohegan Tribe, making it the first Native American tribe to operate a Las Vegas casino. The casino portion is known as Mohegan Casino Las Vegas. The hotel, part of the Curio Collection by Hilton, includes 1,504 rooms.

The opening had been delayed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Nevada. Virgin Hotels Las Vegas opened on March 25, 2021. The Hard Rock closed on February 3, 2020, to allow for a $200 million renovation. Virgin Hotels and a group of investment companies purchased the Hard Rock Hotel for $500 million in March 2018. Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Group, had wanted to enter the Las Vegas casino industry for more than 20 years. It previously operated as the Hard Rock Hotel from 1995 to 2020, before closing for renovations to be rebranded as Virgin Hotels. Virgin Hotels Las Vegas is a hotel and casino resort in Paradise, Nevada, east of the Las Vegas Strip.

Virgin casino