Since the pandemic, the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation has reimagined its We-Ko-Pa Casino Resort, located 30 miles northeast of Phoenix.
The resort closed in March 2020 due to Covid-19 and reopened this past May, soon after renovations were completed. Spokeswoman Gail Manginelli said, “We have everything right here: fine dining, a casino, golf, outdoor activities and a spa. And you feel like you’re away from it all, even though you’re close enough. All you see is desert.”
Prior to the pandemic, the Fort McDowell Casino and We-Ko-Pa hotel operated as separate entities, but now they’re united, Manginelli said, allowing We-Ko-Pa to build “a more cohesive brand” and operate more efficiently. She said the casino opened in 1984 as Ba’Ja Bingo, Arizona’s first casino. The hotel opened in 2006 as the Radisson Fort McDowell Resort & Casino; in 2014 it was renamed the We-Ko-Pa Resort & Conference Center.
The revitalized AAA 4-Diamond hotel has 246 rooms, 25,000 square feet of meeting space, two outdoor pools and a spa. Native American design elements are woven into the lobby décor, Manginelli said.
The 166,341-square-foot casino offers more than 900 slot machines, 16 blackjack tables, craps and roulette, eight sports-betting kiosks and a 400-seat bingo hall.
A major distinction from other area casinos, said We-Ko-Pa Director of Sales Christi Windle, “No one has ever smoked in it. With other casinos, even if it’s smoke-free, you can still have lingering smoke from when smoking was allowed.”
The property also offers new dining experiences, including Ember, a fine dining restaurant specializing in steaks and seafood. “It really is a freestanding destination. Some people come just for the restaurant,” Windle said. Ember was named one of OpenTable’s Top 10 Arizona restaurants offering the best service.
In addition, for the second consecutive year, Wine Spectator honored Ember for outstanding wine curation with a 2022 Best of Award of Excellence. Ember’s wine selection includes 800 wines by the bottle from 22 countries and 26 wines by the glass, including 32 wines that scored a perfect 100 points on Wine Spectator’s world’s best wine lists. Zac Gallo, We-Ko-Pa’s executive director of food and beverage, said, “That we won this award two years in a row, which also happens to be how long Ember has been open, is a testament to our entire staff’s commitment to excellence.”
Other dining options at We-Ko-Pa are WKP Sports & Entertainment; the grab-and-go Market; the Dining Studio, offering both Mexican and Asian selections; and Ahnala, with an American comfort-food breakfast and lunch menu.
The We-Ko-Pa Golf Club, across the street from the casino resort, has two award-winning golf courses with desert and mountain views. It’s located near Fort McDowell Adventures, which hosts outdoor experiences such as horseback tours and desert Segway tours.
Windle said future plans include upgrading the poolside cabanas to “super deluxe.”
She stated occupancy is up as a result of We-Ko-Pa’s upgrades, in fact “well exceeding” pre-pandemic levels. “Everybody’s just super excited to come out and have an experience,” Windle said.
