SLS Las Vegas making final preparation on eve of opening day

The firm is preparing itself with about 200 new hire orientations. Executives told them they were chosen based on their great personalities.

This is a place where visitors can go for luxury, but can also be themselves. In fact, the new employees weren't going to be taught a whole lot on this day. As Chrystal Herndon, VP of human resources for SLS Las Vegas put it, "It's almost not about learning. It's really more about getting dunked in our culture." 

"You know what, it's a casual culture," she said. "And we have of course certain phrases that describe it, but our intention was to be more casual with each other. You don't hear us refer to people as Mr. or Mrs. You won't hear us overly script our service and say you have to use the guest’s name four times within 30 seconds. It's just meant to be very casual and let them feel out what is the customer wants." 

But it wasn't easy to nab one of the 3,400 jobs here.  "We received about 120,000 job applications to work here. It was more than double what we anticipated," said Herndon. "And I think it speaks both to people's desire to return to work but also their belief that this property would be successful."

The final day of new employee orientation takes place on Friday when about 600 new hires will walk through the doors for their first day on the job. One thing they're all learning during this session is what the letters S-L-S stand for. 

"SLS actually stands for style, luxury, service. That was what it was originally meant to stand for," explained Herndon. "Over time, it shifted. Sometimes it's sexy little secrets or sweet little soirees. And it's just meant to be whatever the guests wants it to. But originally it stood for style, luxury, service."