Monte Carlo has a muted re-opening.
The Monte Carlo opened up yesterday after being closed for 3 weeks after the fire on Jan. 25. The burned parts of the roof were patched up and the hotel was deemed safe to resume operations.
MGM Grand officials estimate they lost $100 million during the 3 week closure. About 1/3 of the rooms were open today with another 1/3 to open in a few days. The top floors will re-open at a later date. The casino is fully operational as are most of the restaurants & also the Lance Burton show is back open.
I stopped by late last night and checked it out first hand. There was a decent amount of people there, but not the usual weekend crowd. I think the smaller crowd was due to the lack of promotion about the reopening. Things will pick up over time.
The brewpub was closed though, I’m sure it’ll re-open in a couple of days.
The fire could have long-reaching effects though for other strip properties. Several other hotels built around the same time frame have the same fake concrete-foam facade the MC does. Regulators might make them either alter or re-design their buildings so they are more safe.
Newer construction had different safety codes than the MC was built under when it opened in 1996.
All in all it could have been much worse and we’re all thankful no lives were lost and there was no serious injuries.