Caesars Virginia will open on Tuesday, December 17, five days later than originally planned. The $750 million integrated resort casino in Danville will become the third permanent casino to open in the commonwealth. (Image: Caesars Virginia)
Caesars Virginia, a $750 million development from Caesars Entertainment and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), is pushing back its grand opening by five days. The resort and casino will now open on Tuesday, December 17.
The destination’s 320 hotel rooms, originally slated to open this Friday, have been delayed to next Tuesday, too. Caesars didn’t provide a reason for the opening pushback.
We know that there is tremendous excitement for our grand opening, and we appreciate everyone’s patience with this short delay,” said Chris Albrecht, Caesars Virginia general manager. “The team has been working around the clock to officially open the doors.”
Many eager gamblers who had room reservations for this week were none too pleased to learn of the delay when Caesars Virginia made its announcement on Saturday.
Kind of messed up to completely change things up at the last second when people already had plans. Not a good look starting out,” read one Facebook comment.
Caesars responded that its team is “contacting guests who have reservations” to reschedule their trips or refund their bookings.
Room Rates Face Criticism
Casino.org’s earlier coverage of Caesars Virginia’s planned opening garnered many comments about the resort’s seemingly excessively high room rates that began at $999 before taxes and fees. The total price for a two-stay night in a basic room with taxes and a $35 nightly resort fee came to $2,370.56.
The Caesars Virginia online booking platform shows the property is sold out from December 17 until Friday, December 20. Presumably, many of the room bookings for the first three nights of the property’s existence have been comped for coveted members of the Caesars Rewards program. Many rooms are also likely allocated to accommodate Caesars and EBCI execs in town for the opening shindig.
In announcing the opening setback, Caesars Virginia revealed that Dennis Rodman will make the first bet at the property’s Caesars Sportsbook. A fireworks show that night will light up the Danville sky and historic Three Sisters smokestacks, a remnant of the property’s past being home to a major textile manufacturing plant.
Guests of Caesars Virginia will find a gaming floor with 1,500 slot machines, 79 live dealer table games, a Caesars Sportsbook, and a World Series of Poker Room. Caesars Virginia will become the third permanent resort casino to open in Virginia following Rivers Casino Portsmouth in January 2023 and Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol last month.
Rates Remain High
For gamblers looking to check out the newest Caesars casino, weekend rates following the grand opening remain high. For a Friday to Sunday reservation, the total cost inclusive of taxes and fees comes to $2,736.32.
Rates will lessen in the new year, with midweek rooms beginning at $299 and $599 on the weekends. However, for Danville, those prices are seemingly disproportionate.
A two-night weekday stay at the nearby Hampton Inn, highly rated on Kayak with an 8.8/10 score, goes for $183 a night inclusive of taxes and fees.
