ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida says it will open its doors later this week for the first time since March when coronavirus concerns forced it to close.
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, Seminole Casino Coconut Creek and Seminole Classic Casino in Hollywood will reopen with a combined workforce of 3,200 team members at noon on Friday.
The properties will have new guidelines, including multiple new initiatives designed to create a quality entertainment experience in an environment that helps to keep guests and team members safe.
Some table games are being retrofitted with plexiglass shields and gaming chips will be sprayed with a sanitizing solution. Capacity will be limited to 50% and guests and workers are expected to maintain social distancing, according to new guidelines. The company said all of its properties have been equipped with air purification and disinfecting systems.
For the reopening weekend, more than 600 Guitar Hotel guestrooms at the Seminole Hard Rock will be available. Several restaurant venues at all three casino complexes will open with social distancing requirements in place. Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock and The Pavilion at Seminole Casino Coconut Creek will remain closed until further notice.
“Hard Rock and Seminole Gaming have made a tremendous commitment to sanitary protocols and a safety-first mentality for both guests and team members,” Seminole Gaming CEO Jim Allen said in a statement. “We are making sure our resorts and casinos are safe and sound so our guests and team members have peace of mind when they return.”
Seminole Hard Rock Tampa opened in mid-May. Seminole Casino Brighton will reopen on Tuesday. No date has been confirmed for the reopening of Seminole Casino Immokalee.
Meanwhile, Disney officials outlined new hotel protocols as they prepare to reopen Walt Disney World resorts next month.
The company said it would devote extra cleaning to high-traffic areas like elevators, escalators, handrails, benches, and restrooms. Restaurants and fitness centers will have limits on the number of people allowed in, and cashless options will be emphasized at shops and restaurants, the company said.
The COVID-19 outbreak shuttered a huge swath of Florida’s economy, and officials are gradually trying to get the state back to business.
On Wednesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that nearly $1.3 billion in federal funds would be heading to counties across the state to help them recover from the financial strains spawned by the outbreak.
The money announced Wednesday is intended for the state’s smaller counties with populations below 500,000. The state had earlier announced that it was distributing nearly $2.5 billion to the state’s more populated counties, as part of the $2 trillion CARES Act approved by Congress in March.
Copyright 2020 The Associated Press.
