Downtown Las Vegas casino-hotel adds 100 more rooms

Circa, which opened in December 2020 as the first ground-up casino built in the downtown area since 1980, completed a nine-month expansion to add 106 rooms, including four suites, in late October. On a room tour Monday, Circa CEO Derek Stevens said the company had the opportunity to add more “high-quality hotel rooms.”

Stevens said his team worked carefully to keep the designs the same as the rest of the now 618-room hotel. Amenities include an Alexa smart device, high ceilings, multiple outlets for device charging, and a mini-fridge in every room.

“When you come to such a wonderful culinary mecca like Vegas, people want to take their leftovers,” Stevens said. “There’s much higher demand for refrigerators in Vegas, I think, than other cities. And more and more people have medication that they need refrigerated.”

After about three years in business, Stevens said they learned their highest demand product was the sunset suite: a nearly 1,200-square-foot western-facing suite. It includes a living room with a pull-out couch and a wet bar, along with a primary bedroom that is tucked away from Stadium Swim and the Fremont Street Experience for “a quiet place to nap or sleep.”

Management calls this a third-phase expansion. Its second phase — the ballroom and meeting space — opened in September 2022. Three other floors are also shelled out for future development.

Another catalyst for the expansion was the notable group-related leisure travel. Circa added more premium single king rooms, a type that is larger and connects with two separate rooms, because of the increased number of travelers who come with friends or family and want to stay close together.

Management also owns a nearly 6.5-acre parcel near Symphony Park, across from the railroad tracks that cuts through downtown Las Vegas. Stevens said there are no immediate plans for that land. Instead, he’s waiting for new hotel and apartment projects – easily viewable from Circa’s sunset suites – to open.

“I thought downtown needed more high-end hotel rooms when we were designing Circa and the rooms filled up,” Stevens said. “I think downtown could still use a lot more hotel rooms. I’m excited about what’s going on next to us.”