In a guest post published in The Nevada Independent on April 19, Matthew Maddox, CEO and president of Wynn Resorts, Ltd., outlined a plan to begin accepting guests at the luxury Wynn Las Vegas in May. Wynn has been a leader in responding to the pandemic, preemptively closing its properties before it became mandatory in Nevada, and the company has so far spent more than $3 million a day over the last two months to keep employees on the payroll and cover income from both wages and tips.
In the post, Maddox commended the Nevada governor on instituting the shutdown, and acknowledged that if new cases of COVID-19 spike as properties begin to reopen then Wynn’s plan will be curtailed. But he also published a 32-page plan detailing the health-and-safety measures the hotel will institute for the proposed reopening in mid- to late-May, possibly as early as May 15. The plan, which could serve as a blueprint for other hospitality businesses, includes obvious measures for sanitizing rooms and public areas, handling arrivals, and enforcing social distancing by increasing spaces between restaurant tables. Significantly, the hotel will also be pro-active about screening guests by using thermal cameras to monitor for high temperatures. The plan states, “Anyone displaying a temperature over 100.0 degrees F will be taken to a private area for a secondary temporal temperature screening. Employees or guests confirmed to have a temperature over 100.0 degrees F will not be allowed entry to the property and will be directed towards appropriate medical care.”
Wynn employees have been trained to report both guests and workers who exhibit symptoms of illness to management and those cases will be referred to Southern Nevada Health District officials.
Wynn Las Vegas guests can expect elevator buttons and other high-touch areas to be wiped down regularly and can use Amazon's Alexa in each guest room to adjust the temperature, lighting, or call for room service rather than touch in-room buttons.
While the plan includes increased touch-free sanitizer in meeting rooms, it is not clear when meetings and events will return to the venue. Small meetings can presumably be accommodated with physical distancing, and Las Vegas has fewer visitors now than in recent memory, but will planners find their attendees are willing to risk leaving their homes so soon, even with increased measures to protect them?
There are currently no plans to reopen nightclubs, although “Le Rêve,” a show at the Wynn, will begin performances when the hotel opens, with fewer audience members seated further apart.
Maddox finished his guest post by indicating that Wynn will move cautiously, but out of necessity, saying, “The only way to cross this river is one stone at a time, and we need to put our feet in the water before it is too late.”
Click here for the full post and to read the Wynn Las Vegas Health and Sanitation Guidelines.
