LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The Palms Resort and Casino is celebrating its grand opening under new leadership. After two years, the doors officially opened Wednesday at 9 p.m.
Hotel guest stays will be available Thursday.
On Wednesday afternoon, the festivities kicked off with a special tribal drum ceremony and ribbon-cutting.
The property was purchased in May 2021 after Red Rock Resorts sold the hotel to the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians in a $650 million cash deal. This makes the new Palms the first Native-American-owned casino in Las Vegas.
Following the purchase of the resort, efforts to get the 766-room property ready quickly began.
Since then, crews at the Palms have been ramping up hiring. They tell 8 News Now that 1,400 jobs have been created at the resort and over 50% of the hires are former employees such as Raul Daniels who spoke to 8 News Now about the big day.
“For me, it’s a little bit different, one of my banquets servers said to me she was crying she said I’ve never seen an owner of a resort in Las Vegas look like me. It’s people of color, it’s the tribe of San Manuel, it’s a wonderful change to the city and hopefully just one of many,” Daniels expressed.
The Palms will celebrate the opening with a fireworks show on opening night just before 11 p.m.
