Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino 1st In Florida To Reopen

TAMPA, FL — After shutting down its poker tables and one-eyed bandits nearly two months ago, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa will be the first Seminole Gaming casino to reopen in Florida.

The Seminole Tribe-owned casino, hotel and entertainment venue at 5223 Orient Road announced on its website that it will reopen at 7 p.m. Thursday under a new a Safe and Sound program.

Safe and Sound Program guidelines include:

• Temperature checks for all guests and team members prior to entry. Any guest or team member with a temperature above Center for Diseases Control and Prevention 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 an 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.

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 guestrooms will be available.

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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.

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

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.

Facing increasing pressure from Florida Rep. Jackie Toledo, R-Tampa, to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Hard Rock Tampa closed its doors March 20.

Related story: Casinos Agree To Close Doors In Response To Coronavirus Crisis