Hotel space in Cripple Creek, Colorado, is slated to double as the community’s casino operators plan several projects.
Century Casinos, Triple Crown Casinos, American Gaming Group, and Full House Resorts all say they plan to begin construction on new hotels during the coming years.
Century Casinos plans to spend $5 million converting the empty Palace Hotel into a 30-room boutique hotel.
American Gaming Group early next year plans to start work on a three-story, 100-room hotel costing some $13 million. That would complement its Wildwood Casino, which American Gaming opened nine years ago, its 67-room Gold King Inn, and 17-room Cripple Creek Motel.
Triple Crown Casinos is planning a hotel with up to 150 rooms, plus event space, either near the Brass Ass Casino or another location on Masonic Avenue. Triple Crown plans to spend between $10 million and $15 million on the hotel development, and currently has 55 rooms among its Brass Ass, Midnight Rose, and JP McGill’s casinos.
Meanwhile, Las Vegas-based Full House says it might build a 100- to 200-room hotel complex next to its Bronco Billy’s casino. The up-to $30 million project initially would include a conference center, spa, and four- or five-star hotel, but two years of planning are in the works, first.
Casino gaming has been legal in Colorado for 25 years, and Cripple Creek, located west of Colorado Springs, only has 450 hotel rooms to serve the 12 casinos operating there.
The 450 hotel rooms currently average 90 percent occupancy rates, compared to about 65 percent in Colorado Springs.
Cripple Creek Marketing and Special Events Director Steve Kitzman says the lack of hotel space is limiting potential revenues as the gaming establishments, and doubling the town’s hotel space to about 900 will improve the quality of rooms available, and enable people to stay longer, The Gazette of Colorado Springs reported.
The dozen casinos in Cripple Creek took in $128 million last year, up 3.7 percent from a year earlier. Through the first half of this year, they generated $63.6 million in revenues, up 3.3 percent from the same period in 2015.
