Casino Rama Hotel reopens its doors
Casino Rama Hotel reopened its doors Thursday after nearly 17 months of being closed.
It’s an anticipated step forward for one of Simcoe County’s largest employers.
One hundred employees have been called back to the hotel that will operate at full capacity as each room is treated as a primary residence.
“It’s just part of our grand reopening plan if you like. It’s stage two of our reopening,” says Rob Mitchell from Gateway Casinos Ontario.
“Our ultimate plan is to see the entertainment centre open, but this lets our patrons stay overnight, which is an option they didn’t have before,” Mitchell says.
Even though the hotel was maintained during its closure, the reopening was a big chore, due to repairs and upgrades.
“Thousands of light bulbs had to be replaced, everything from re-starting dishwashers to laundry equipment to all of the computer systems that we rely on for our jobs had to be checked,” says Helen Cooper, General Manager of Hotel Operations at Casino Rama. “Even getting inventory and making sure we have the right PPE in place for our guests and our staff,” she says.
The gaming floor has been open and operating, but there are limits on how many people can be on the gaming floor.
“At any given moment, we can have 1000 people on the gaming floor, but the wrinkle in this is social distancing. With two-metre distancing for players, you can’t really have 50%, so we’ve opted for a cap of 1000,” Mitchell says. “That ensures us the health and safety of our employees and our guests.”
Casino Rama hopes to reopen spa and recreation services by September 1.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Spectacular aurora light show to be seen across Canada Friday night
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
'Tactical evacuations' underway near Fort Nelson, B.C., as wildfires encroach
The BC Wildfire Service says 'tactical evacuations' began Friday near Fort Nelson, B.C., due to an out-of-control wildfire that has grown rapidly since it was discovered earlier in the afternoon.
Snowbirds in Vancouver for puck-drop flyby as Canucks face Oilers
The Canadian Forces Snowbirds will be performing a flyover across downtown Vancouver at the start of tonight's Stanley Cup playoff game between the Canucks and the Edmonton Oilers.
McGill University seeks emergency injunction to dismantle pro-Palestinian encampment
McGill University has filed a request for an injunction to have the pro-Palestinian encampment removed from its campus.
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
Barron Trump declines to serve as an RNC delegate
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's youngest son, Barron Trump, has declined to serve as a delegate at this summer’s Republican National Convention, according to a senior Trump campaign adviser and a statement from Melania Trump's office.
U.S. says Israel's use of U.S. arms likely violated international law, but evidence is incomplete
The Biden administration said Israel's use of U.S.-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law but wartime conditions prevented U.S. officials from determining that for certain in specific airstrikes.
'State or state-sponsored actor' believed to be behind B.C. government hacks
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.