Native American gaming in the West is moving ahead, expanding with new resorts, entertainment venues, and larger gaming facilities, providing more options for meeting planners.
California
Already the top Native American casino state in the nation, California is poised for further growth.
At press time, new renegotiated gaming compacts between the state and six tribes were awaiting ratification by the state legislature. In return for increased taxes, each tribe would be allowed much more than the current maximum of 2,000 slot machines per tribe.
In the meantime, there is still plenty going on.
In August the Pauma Band of Mission Indians announced plans for a $300 million resort with a 500-room hotel and a 2,000-slot casino that will replace its smaller Pauma Casino, 50 miles north of downtown San Diego. It is seeking approvals for the project.
It would compete with three nearby meeting-friendly casino resorts. With more than 80,000 total square feet of meeting and event space, they are the 507-room Pala Casino Resort & Spa, the 653-room Harrah’s Rincon Casino and Resort, and 522-room Pechanga Resort and Casino.
San Diego County has two standout properties within 30 minutes of downtown San Diego: the 400-room Barona Valley Ranch Resort & Casino, with amenities that include golf and more than 100,000 square feet of meeting space; and the 103-room Sycuan Resort & Casino, which can take meetings groups of up to 200 and has 54 holes of golf.
The Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, which has a casino and outlet center east of downtown San Diego, recently announced plans for an $800 million project expected to be completed in 2012 that includes a hotel with conference space.
Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley is a hot spot for expansion.
The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians has expansion projects for its two casinos. Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage will open a $205 million, 344-room hotel with 32,000 square feet of meeting space and a spa next spring. For its Spa Resort Casino in downtown Palm Springs, the tribe is seeking approvals for a development that would include a 420-room hotel to replace its existing 288-room property.
In March, the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians broke ground on a development at its Spotlight 29 Casino in Coachella that includes a 200-room hotel.
Cabazon, west of Palm Springs, boasts the two-year-old, 310-room Morongo Casino Resort & Spa. The resort features a 12,000-square-foot ballroom.
In the San Joaquin Valley, Lemoore gained 6,000 square feet of meeting space last fall when the Tachi Yokut Tribe of Santa Rosa Rancheria debuted the 255-room Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino.
Two recently announced projects are in the Sacramento area. The 200-room Cache Creek Casino Resort, currently offering 5,000 square feet of meeting space, is planning a 467-room hotel and conference center addition. Thunder Valley Casino is planning to build a 650-room resort with 30,000 square feet of meeting space.
Washington
The Tulalip Tribes plans to open a $125 million, 370-room luxury hotel with 30,000 square feet of meeting space next June north of Seattle in Marysville. It will be located between the 2,000-slot Tulalip Casino and the tribe’s 100-store Seattle Premium Outlets, which it opened two years ago along with a 2,300-seat amphitheater.
Thirty miles east of Seattle, the Snoqualmie Tribe recently broke ground on a $235 million casino and entertainment project, slated for a fall 2008 opening. It will include a 1,000-seat events center, a 200-seat cabaret and nine restaurants and lounges.
The Suquamish Tribe opened an 85-room hotel in fall 2006 at its Clearwater Casino Resort Hotel & Spa on Puget Sound. The project included a renovated casino, a spa, restaurants, and meeting rooms.
The Lummi Nation unveiled the 105-room Silver Reef Hotel & Spa adjacent to its casino in fall 2006 in Ferndale, north of Bellingham. The $24.5 million addition includes a restaurant and meeting areas.
The Kalispec Tribe, which operates the Northern Quest Casino in Airway Heights, broke ground in July on a $275 million resort that will include a 350-room hotel, a new casino, a spa, and a 2,300-seat events venue, slated for completion in January 2010.
In Shelton, north of Olympia, the Squaxin Island Tribe opened a 98-room hotel addition to its Little Creek Casino Resort last spring, bringing the room count to 190. The resort, with 11,000 square feet of meeting and function space, is planning to open a golf course in 2009.
Next March, the Chehalis Tribes is set to open a 399-room Great Wolf Resort with a spa, waterpark and a 40,000-square-foot conference center on its reservation in Rochester, 50 miles southeast of Tacoma.
Seventy miles north of Seattle, Bow is home to the 103-room Skagit Valley Casino Resort. Operated by the Upper Skagit Tribe, it features a 650-slot casino, 4,000 square feet of meeting space and a 450-seat showroom.
Notable also is the 159-room beachfront Quinault Beach Resort and Casino in Ocean Shores, surrounded by more than 200 acres of protected wetlands. Owned by the Quinault Indian Nation, it has 16,090 square feet of flexible meeting space, accommodating up to 900 delegates and including the 8,600-square-foot Great Hall. The resort recently completed the renovation of its luxury oceanview suites, the first phase of a $10 million upgrade.
Oregon
Oregon will get its sixth casino hotel later this year when a 93-room hotel opens at the Three River Casino in Florence. The project also includes an 8,500-square-foot events center and a new casino that will be quadruple the size of the existing facility.
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde at Willamina broke ground in February on a new complex at its 254-room Spirit Mountain Casino, which has almost 5,000 square feet of meeting space. The project includes an events and entertainment center and additional conference rooms.
In Coos Bay, the Coquille Tribe is nearing completion on a $40 million expansion at its 112-room Mill Casino Hotel. The addition will add 93 guest rooms and five new meeting rooms.
Arizona
At Desert Diamond Casino located near Tucson International Airport, the Tohono O’odham Gaming Enterprise is set to complete a $120 million expansion later this year. Billed as southern Arizona’s first casino hotel, the project features a 151-room hotel, a new casino and 9,000 square feet of meeting and event space.
The Yavapai reservation at Fountain Hills near Scottsdale, home to the We-Ko-Pa Golf Club, unveiled a second golf course, the Saguaro, designed by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore, last December. It also boasts the state’s newest casino resort, the 240-room Radisson Fort McDowell Resort & Casino, which opened in November 2005 with 25,000 square feet of indoor meeting space, including an 18,000-square-foot ballroom.
Near Phoenix, the 500-room Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa includes 100,000 square feet of meeting space and two 18-hole golf courses, and is located on the Gila River Indian Community reservation.
Among other casino resorts are the 146-room Harrah’s Phoenix Ak-Chin in Mariposa, which offers four meeting rooms, and the 80-room Cliff Castle Casino in Camp Verde, located 90 minutes north of Phoenix, which houses a 3,500-seat entertainment pavilion and a six-room conference facility.
New Mexico
Twelve miles north of Santa Fe, the Pueblo of Pojoaque is building Buffalo Thunder Resort. Scheduled to open fall 2008, it will feature a 390-room Hilton, a spa, entertainment venues, and 66,000 square feet of meeting space.
New Mexico’s newest casino, the 228-room Sandia Resort and Casino, opened in Albuquerque in December 2005. It features 35,000 square feet of meeting space, a 700-slot casino and an 18-hole golf course.
Another major resort with a casino is the 350-room Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa, with 20,000 square feet of function space and an 18-hole golf course on the Santa Ana Pueblo north of Albuquerque.
And near Ruidoso, the Mescalero Apache-owned Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort & Casino features a 273-room hotel with 40,000 square feet of meeting space and a Ted Robinson-designed championship course.
