San Diego County, home to more Indian casinos than any other county in the country, is rarely entirely quiet when it comes to the casino improvements and renovations that tribes do to remain competitive— but now the casino arms race has heated up in earnest again.
Valley View Casino & Hotel in Valley Center last week announced a $50 million expansion, joining five other casinos in Southern California that have announced such projects totaling about $1 billion. The project will begin next April.
The casino, owned by the San Pasqual Band, will be enlarged by 42,000 square feet, and the entrance will be redone and a new restaurant, Patties and Pints, added for a total of seven eateries.
Joe Navarro, president of the San Pasqual Casino Development Group, Inc., said in a statement: “It’s exciting to see our casino grow and continue to evolve. The improvements we are making to Valley View Casino & Hotel in the coming year will enhance the experience for all of our guests that have been with us since the beginning as well as for our new guests visiting us for the first time.”
But the BIG project of the week was the groundbreaking by Pala Casino Resort & Spa for a $170 million expansion—a project that is a direct challenge to Pala’s nearby neighbor, the largest Indian casino in the state: Pechanga, which is also in the midst of adding a hotel in a $285 million expansion, and this summer held several job fairs to fill 750 positions. Its new 568 room hotel will open this December.
Pala’s groundbreaking on October 17 was highlighted by tribal Chairman Robert Smith climbing aboard a small excavator and driving it through a brick kiosk to make way for the new project, slated for completion in May 2019.
Pala is adding a new 349 room hotel tower, a large pool feature, enlarged spa, and, of course, enlarged gaming area. The existing hotel and casino will also be updated. When completed, the total number of hotel rooms will be 854.
In an interview with the Union Tribune, Pala CEO Bill Bembenek said, “Our guests are very discerning. We’re adding new elements and there essentially isn’t going to be an inch of the existing property that will be untouched. It’s been a high-volume property for 17 years that has served us well and it’s time.” He added, “We’re still, especially in the hotel, in the early stages of design, and we’re still determining what we’ll provide. We’re exploring all the technology we can.”
Pala will be phasing out the food court-like central dining plaza and each of the restaurants that are there will be expanded and given their own space.
Bembenek told the U-T: “These restaurants have proven themselves to be popular and can stand on their own. We’re going to play to their strengths.”
Although Pechanga won’t be losing its title as California’s largest casino, Pala will be running hard to catch it, in third place—with Harrah’s Resort Southern California, just a few miles away in Valley Center, in second.
Also in the region: Viejas’s addition of a 158-room hotel tower, due to open in 2018.
Sycuan is building its first hotel as part of a $226 million expansion that will open in about two years.
