At a place like Foxwoods, he could expand the experience, create on a grander scale, and-most importantly-give new guests reasons to come and stay. When he heard about the opportunity, he was excited for the chance to make an impact. In 2017, Luis received a call from a headhunter: Foxwoods Resort Casino was looking for someone with experience in hotels and developing additional land holdings. “If you can create that feeling, you’re doing your job right and that’s what we’re creating here at Foxwoods.” “In hospitality, you’re doing your job right when someone walks into your place and whatever problems they have, whatever issues, everything goes to the back of their mind and they become present in that space,” Luis explains. Serving as vice president of resort development, Luis’s charge is to make the casino the region’s top destination for fun-seekers of all sorts.

Ariel Merrillįrom fast food, he craved bigger canvases to create hospitality experiences: first in hotels and now at Foxwoods Resort Casino on Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation Land in Connecticut. The Golden Dragon restaurant features decadent modern decor interiors and an immersive dining experience.

“When you get a success like that, you just can’t wait to do the next one,” says Luis, laughing. His enthusiasm was contagious, and they got their location, which became the highest-grossing Taco Bell in the region at the time. His department head was convinced it would never work, but Luis dragged him to a nearby competitor’s location to watch the lunch rush. He remembers one of his first wins: a Taco Bell location in New York City.

Jesse Luis has always loved the puzzles of real estate development: how businesses wind up on the land they have, how to fit a big idea into the available space, and most of all how to sell the vision to the crucial playmakers.

Restaurants at foxwoods casino