The long-expected opening of Durango Casino and Resort in Nevada had been scheduled for November 20. However, as the day comes close, it becomes clear that the resort won’t be open when expected. 

The reasons for the delay:

As Red Rock Resorts announced, the opening will be delayed by more than two weeks, which means we won’t be able to gamble in the new casino in November. However, the new opening date is released: the resort is opening on December 5. 

The reason why this $780 southwest Las Vegas casino won’t be opened yet is because portions of it aren’t finished. 

The analysts were surprised when the company announced the delay on its usual third-quarter earnings conference call, held on Tuesday, November 7.

Steven Cootey, the CFO of Red Rock, explained that the opening was postponed “to ensure a first-class opening of the property.”

Lorenzo Fertitta, the company’s Vice Chairman, added that some areas of the resort weren’t completed yet since they were marked as “critical to the opening.”

However, it’s unclear whether the areas belong to restaurants or the casino floor.

He commented the days before opening, saying: “We didn’t feel like it gave us enough time to properly train our staff and our team members in the venues and be able to have the appropriate load-in days and then play days. The most important thing is that the level of service on the day that we opened is at the highest quality that it can be.”

Nobody got affected:

The good news is that the costs of the construction won’t be increased despite the delay. The construction has been ongoing for almost 20 months now, and the resort is located on a 50-acre land that is situated near 215 Beltway and South Durango Drive. The location is carefully planned and chosen since it will be the only casino in the 5-mile radius, and it will be the perfect location for more than 250,000 adults in this area.

Once finished, the resort will occupy 83,000 square feet of space, and it will feature a hotel with 201 rooms, as well as the casino with about 2,300 slot machines, 63 table games, and 15 dining options, including four full-service restaurants and impressive food hall placed across 25,000 square feet. On top of that, the property will feature 20,000 square feet of convention and meeting space, as well as a resort pool area.

The resort will provide 1,700 people with jobs. According to The Nevada Independent, the delay won’t affect the employees because the company will start paying them salaries and tips starting on November 20, as previously planned.

The visitors who planned to stay in the hotel between November 20 and December 5 are offered to change the reservation for one of the six Station Casino properties in Las Vegas. If they still want to stay at the resort, their reservations will be a priority once the resort is open. The same works for restaurant reservations.