Among his first acts after being named president of the management company that oversees the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in August, Cliff Atkinson wanted to meet jointly with representatives from the 29 entities that operate businesses inside the off-Strip resort.
What might have first seemed like herding cats became a rally session as Atkinson, 49, jumped into a familiar role — ensuring the diverse companies overseeing the hotel, casino, restaurants, bars, lounges and retail inside Virgin were working in harmony to make the most of the huge business opportunity roughly three months away.
Virgin’s location along Harmon Avenue — less than 1 mile east of the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix headquarters — was an opportunity that wasn’t around when the property reopened in March 2021 following 20 months of renovations. The $500 million Grand Prix building was the centerpiece for the three days of racing, with high-priced grandstand seating, luxury suites, the start-finish line and pit row garages.
“We knew there were going to be 50,000 people. That was almost the size of Allegiant Stadium less than a mile from our front doors,” said Atkinson, who previously served as president of Luxor Hotel and Casino. “We needed to have the property ready for that event.”
Virgin’s rideshare lot at Harmon and Paradise Road became the pickup and drop-off location for Grand Prix attendees. Space in the property that housed the center bar when the building was known as Hard Rock Las Vegas was “reactivated” from 10 a.m. to 4 a.m. daily with DJs and renewed energy. Atkinson said Virgin rented several golf carts to help shuttle guests between the resort and the race facility.
In addition to paddock area skybox suites, Virgin had grandstand seating access at the start-finish line.
“We kind of went for it. We sponsored…