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California tribes seek out new customers with casino expansions

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

The CAVE wine bar and restaurant at the Pala Casino Resort and Spa in Pala, California. Photo from Pala Casino

Tribes in southern California are hoping to lure a new generation of patrons to their gaming facilities.

The Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians broke ground on a $285 million expansion in December. The project's big items focus on the non-gaming aspects at the Pechanga Resort & Casino and include a 568-room hotel, a 67,000 square-foot events center, a 23,000-square-foot building with a spa, salon and fitness center, two new restaurants and a four-acre pool complex.

The Pala Band of Mission Indians completed a $5.7 million expansion last May that included a new restaurants and an outdoor stage at the Pala Casino Resort and Spa. The tribe is spending another $5.6 million on a recreational vehicle resort that's due to open this May.

"I think we are all trying to expand our offerings to reach out to a new audience," Mike Crenshaw, the vice president of operations at the casino, told The Los Angeles Times.

Elsewhere in the region, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians spent $50 million to upgrade the gaming floor and eateries at the the San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino, the Times reported. The Morongo Band of Mission Indians debuted some new changes last October and is planning a larger project, the paper said.

"We want to offer an array of things for our guests," chief operating officer John James told the paper. "We want to keep the newness here."

Get the Story:
Southern California casinos going all in to lure millennials (The Los Angeles Times 1/31)