Game on

Texas billionaire's glitzy hotel and casino rolls the dice with big reopening

The Golden Nugget hotel and casino is back in business.

Photo courtesy of Golden Nugget

Billionaire Tilman Fertitta is betting on travel-hungry Texans looking to brave the pandemic and escape the confines of home with the reopening of his Golden Nugget Lake Charles hotel, pool, and restaurants on Friday, May 15.

High rollers and gamblers, take note: The casino — which boasts 75 table games, a high-limit salon, a poker room, and 1,600 slot machines — will reopen on Monday, May 18.

Several Golden Nugget restaurants will also reopen their dining rooms on May 15, including Landry's Seafood House, Vic & Anthony’s, Saltgrass Steak House, and Bill’s Bar & Burger.

The splash-worthy H20 Pool and Lazy River, private beach, marina, and all retail will also open on May 15. Other amenities will open based on business demands, according to a press release. Also a major draw (forgive the pun), the 7,000-yard golf course, will be available for tee time from 8 am to 4 pm Wednesdays through Sundays.

All facets of the Golden Nugget operation will follow COVID-19 safety guidelines as suggested by the Center for Disease Control, according to a statement.

According to Fertitta and Gerry Del Prete, senior vice president of gaming operations, the hotel/casino has worked with public health professionals on the reopening and will follow new safety protocols including:

Addressing team member and guest health
Maintaining temperature checkpoints
Ensuring physical distancing
Making hand washing and hand sanitizer available
Providing COVID-19 training and PPE equipment to staff
Requiring guests to wear masks on the gaming floor
Enhancing cleaning products and protocols in public spaces and guest rooms
Encouraging physical distancing on the casino floor (which will run at 25 percent)

The casino complex is in Lake Charles, Louisiana, about 345 miles from Dallas. Travelers can make reservations online or by calling 844-777-4653. (Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently ended the 14-day self-quarantine mandate for travelers entering Texas from Louisiana.)

Fertitta is the Houston-based owner and CEO of Golden Nugget Casinos, as well as the Landry’s restaurant chain and the Houston Rockets. In March, his Landry's, Inc. laid off approximately 40,000 workers across its casinos, hotels, and restaurants.

“We have anxiously awaited this reopening and look forward to welcoming the Lake Charles and surrounding communities back to our hotel and casino,” Fertitta says in a statement. “This is a step in the right direction to getting our employees back to work. We are following CDC, state and regulatory guidelines and taking all the prudent and essential measures to maintain a safe and clean environment for our guests and employees.”

hotels openings

Holiday News

American Airlines expects record-setting travel on Thanksgiving 2024

Photo courtesy of American Airlines

American Airlines ready for takeoff.

The holidays are looming and American Airlines is ramping up. Over the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend, the Fort Worth-based airline expects to process nearly 8.3 million customers across more than 77,000 flights.

According to a statement from American's COO David Seymour, the airline is having a good fall season and canceled fewer flights than its peers during October.

“Thanks to the hard work of our 130,000 team members, we canceled fewer flights than any of our major competitors this October and beat our own records for on-time departures and arrivals,” Seymour says.

That's surely good news. One hates to rain on their parade, but in June 2024, the only flight I booked this year, my flight was canceled less than 24 hours before take-off. I had made hotel reservations, scheduled a pet sitter, planned events, and arranged for a friend to pick me up at the destination airport. One employee speculated that it may have been "insufficient crew." Their only solution offered was: Feel free to reschedule your flight.

Thanksgiving facts and figures
The travel window runs from November 21 to December 3, and the airline expects to carry more than 500,000 more customers than it did last year.

The most-traveled day will be Sunday, December 1. The second most-traveled day will be Monday, December 2.

The peak of peak: 1,035 mainline and regional aircraft will be enroute at 10:45 am on Sunday, December 1 — the highest number of flights handled at any given time during American’s travel period.

The airline expects to serve more than 6.8 million Biscoff cookies on board from November 21 to December 3.

Travel tips
Download the American Airlines app and check in for your flight, noting added any bags to your trip. This will save you time at the airport.

If traveling internationally, download the Mobile Passport Control app, which can speed up your entry into the U.S. Global Entry members can download the Global Entry app, which allows you to submit your entry and go straight to the officer.

Upon arrival at the airport lobby, scan your mobile boarding pass to print bag tags quickly at a kiosk. If you’re not checking bags, go straight to TSA security with your mobile boarding pass.

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