Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tampa reopens following COVID-19 closure

On Thursday last week, the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa welcomed customers back. First to arrive were about 1,000 invitees, the casino’s best customers, with doors scheduled to open to the public at 7 p.m.

Reopening a casino in the midst of a pandemic means everything from installing thermal-imaging cameras to watch for gamblers with a fever to sanitizing the poker chips.

The hotel and casino reopened under new and stringent “Safe and Sound” program guidelines, which include:

• Temperature checks for all guests and team members prior to entry. Any guest or team member with a temperature above CDC guidelines will not be allowed entry.
• A requirement that all guests wear masks or cloth face coverings that meet CDC guidelines, without exception. Masks will be provided to guests, as needed.
• Thousands of alternating slot machines will be turned off, to help ensure social distancing on the casino floor.
• New Plexiglas barriers will divide players at table games, poker games and customer service areas.
• 850 signs will be posted throughout the complex to encourage social distancing and help ensure adherence to Safe and Sound Program guidelines.
• More than 100 team members will be part of a new “Safe and Sound Clean Team” to focus on cleaning and disinfecting surfaces throughout the complex, with special emphasis on high-touch surfaces and common areas.
• Hand-sanitizing stations will be available on the casino floor, at the entrances and throughout the resort.
• Constant purification and disinfecting of the air flowing into the complex through the AtmosAir bipolar ionization system designed to destroy virus particles in the air and on surfaces.
• An overall 50 percent reduction in guest capacity throughout the resort.

“First of all, we’re excited about the opportunity to bring 2,000 people back to work. ... We did not mandate our employees to come back to work. So if someone felt uncomfortable, we respected their wishes. In this particular case, we revised our (attendance) policies to be compassionate to employees that just fundamentally feel that they do not want to be in this environment,” Jim Allen, CEO of Seminole Gaming and Chairman of Hard Rock International explained.

“Hard Rock and Seminole Gaming have made a tremendous commitment to sanitary protocols and a safety-first mentality for both guests and team members. We are making sure our resorts are safe and sound so our guests and team members have peace of mind when they return,” Allen added.

Restaurant venues including Hard Rock Cafe and Rise Kitchen & Deli will be open with social distancing requirements in place. At opening, 200 of the 800 Seminole Hard Rock guest rooms will be available. The Rock Spa will be open by appointment only. The Seminole Hard Rock Event Center will remain closed until further notice. No events will take place at the pool complex until further notice.

Seminole Hard Rock Tampa is the first of six Seminole Gaming casinos to reopen in Florida. Opening dates for Seminole Gaming’s other Florida casinos have not been confirmed.

Source: GMB / CW44 News / TampaBay.com