Fun and Games

River Rock’s transformation into a world-class destination resort

The Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians is wagering that out-of-town visitors to its River Rock Casino near Geyserville will opt to stay—as well as play—once its plans for a four-star resort become reality.

Following extensive negotiations with Sonoma County, the tribe is now poised to construct a $330 million destination resort that will feature a new home for its existing casino, a 255-room hotel and services ranging from spa treatments to weddings.

It’s a pricey gamble (pun intended), aimed at drawing players who are looking for luxurious lodging and dining in addition to the casino. “Once the hotel is built,” says River Rock Casino Advertising and Promotions Manager Chris Wright, “the casino will actually become an amenity to the hotel, instead of the other way around.”

Since 2003, the tribe has operated a casino in a temporary structure on its 75-acre hilltop rancheria. Local players currently plying their bets in the smoky, noisy casino aren’t necessarily there for the ambience; the casino’s charm lies in the gaming opportunities it affords, rather the expansive view of the Alexander Valley below.

The plan is for the setting atop the rancheria to look much different. According to Eugene Dvorak, director of project development for Dry Creek Rancheria, taking the current structure’s place will be a Tuscan village-inspired complex with courtyards, terraced landscaping, a luxury hotel, a wedding chapel, a pool, a spa, five restaurants and a snack bar, an entertainment venue, a world wine tasting area (called the “wine gallery”) and even a waterfall.

“This facility will set the bar for quality, size and amenities as a world-class destination resort. There will be nothing as spectacular in this area, and it will have the added advantage of gaming,” says Dvorak.

Expansion of the casino into a resort won’t add to the number of machines or games at the casino, but will create other ways to generate revenue. By building resorts, Indian tribes are continuing a decades-old trend of gaming establishments seeking ways to improve the rather static profit margin gambling alone provides. Says Shawn Smyth, CEO of River Rock, “It’s nothing really unique. There’s an evolution within the gaming industry. You start off with a casino, add a restaurant, build a hotel, then develop a full resort complex. Obviously, Las Vegas is substantially farther along in that process than California.”

In Las Vegas, gambling accounts for approximately 50 percent of the revenue garnered by gaming properties, with lodging, food and beverage service and entertainment providing the remaining 50 percent. In California, according to Smyth, the breakdown is much different: 90 percent of the revenue comes from gaming and 10 percent from other hospitality services.

With a resort worthy of the truly wealthy, the tribe hopes to attract players who can afford—and expect—the royal treatment. “We’ll have the amenities for the high rollers,” says Wright. “We’ll be able to comp them their room, provide them entertainment and offer them a world-class meal. Right now, we can’t compete with other gambling destinations, such as Las Vegas.”

Once the hotel is built, the tribe hopes overnight accommodations and high-end services will encourage patrons to spend more time and money at River Rock. Says Smyth, “If we didn’t feel we could increase our patron count or hold our existing patrons longer, obviously we wouldn’t be building what we consider a world-class resort. But with the availability of local air service, we think we’ll attract additional regional business from Los Angeles, Washington and Portland.”

Most patrons will still originate from within the Bay Area, but the hotel will give River Rock the opportunity to tap into the market of out-of-towners wanting a weekend away in a nearby but scenic locale. “Guests from the Bay Area are sometimes deterred because we don’t have a hotel,” says Wright. “After gaming and a glass of wine, driving back to San Francisco or Oakland can seem just a little too far.”

Remembering your roots

Wright is quick to point out that the casino isn’t forsaking the local base of clients on which it grew and prospered. “Even though we’ll go global in our marketing with construction of our resort, we don’t want to discourage the Sonoma County people who’ve embraced us,” says Wright. “We’ll still have marketing, services and promotions designed for the local market.”

Smyth also underscores the casino’s commitment to local players. “Our number one goal is to take care of our existing customers, because we want to accommodate the entire spectrum of people interested in our product. One of the ways we’re doing this is by emphasizing service. People go where they’re respected and well treated.”

Granting of the facility’s liquor license in June has been an interim step toward creating a more welcoming atmosphere for local patrons, says Wright. “We’ve always wanted to serve alcohol as an amenity to the gaming.”

Smyth says it’s too early to tell how much of an economic impact the liquor license will have on the casino or food operations, particularly since the casino introduced alcoholic beverage service rather gingerly. “We were very careful to phase-in alcohol service over a period of six or seven weeks. We knew it was a sensitive issue, so we wanted to make sure we did it correctly, without any negative effect on surrounding property owners and visitors.”

In approving the license, the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control also placed restrictions on when and where alcohol—particularly hard liquor—could be sold.

River Rock is striving to retain its good neighbor status with other local businesses, too, even after evolving into a “destination.” “Right now, we have ‘stay and play’ packages with several local hotels,” says Wright. “We also have deals in San Francisco for our players. This will still be true after the hotel opens, because 250 rooms aren’t enough to accommodate all of our patrons. With 1,600 machines, 60 table games—and, ultimately, five restaurants, a 125-person show lounge and weddings—we’ll still need to have partners to serve the number of people visiting River Rock.”

Smyth considers other surrounding attractions and recreational opportunities a bonus for the proposed resort. “I’ve been in this business for 40 years, and I haven’t seen—anywhere in my travels—a location with so much to offer. Guests can enjoy wine tasting, shopping, canoeing on the river and deep-sea fishing all within a short drive. It’s not just about the resort; it’s about the entire Northern California Wine Country experience.”

“Having a world-class resort to join our other world-class attractions can only benefit the area,” says Tim Zahner, director of public relations and marketing for the Sonoma County Tourism Bureau. “The hotel rooms will bring in money to local communities, because any time you have people coming to a destination, they move beyond just the hotel or the resort.”

According to Carolyn Lewis, owner of Locals, a 10-winery collective tasting room, and The Konrad Gallery (an art gallery), both in Geyserville, business owners in the area near River Rock have mixed feelings about the casino expansion because of continuing concerns over traffic and other issues. That said, though, she admits “having a full-on resort is more appealing to me as a business owner than a casino, because the types of customers drawn by a resort are more likely to want to explore the surrounding area and become my customers as well.”

The project is also expected to contribute to the local and regional economy in other ways. The resort will provide up to 1,500 jobs, a significant increase over the casino’s current workforce of approximately 650. And that’s not counting the hundreds of jobs that will be created during construction.

Building a resort is one way the tribe hopes to diversify its business interests. Says Wright, “Indian tribes have realized you can’t rely on just the gaming. You have to take your cash flow and use it elsewhere for economic development. Some of the tribes that have been in gaming much longer have taken their money and developed businesses all over the world. Some have trucking companies, quarry companies or malls. Those are the tribes that are going to succeed.”

In the meantime, greater profits from the casino will provide more funds for the tribe in the areas of education, housing, health care and services for seniors.

Construction challenges

Before it could proceed with the hotel, the tribe spent several years convincing the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors and neighbors it could address concerns that River Rock’s expansion would increase traffic, overwhelm governmental services and dominate the largely grapevine-studded landscape.

In March of this year, however, the tribe and the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors reached a memorandum of agreement that will deliver approximately $100 million in service fees and hotel taxes to the county over a period of 12 years to help offset the increased demand on services. In return, the country dropped its opposition to the tribe’s application for a liquor license and plans for the resort development.

While the hotel’s proposed perch on a hillside promises spectacular views, the rancheria’s steep slope and small scope pose design and construction challenges. “Only 5 percent of the rancheria’s 75 acres are buildable. We had to place all facilities and amenities in a relatively small footprint,” says Dvorak, a licensed architect. “But we feel the constraints of the site led to creative solutions.”

Also key to the design was positioning the seven-story hotel so that it obscures the facility’s large parking garage, which appears imposing and institutional on approach from Highway 128. “The facility and landscaping were designed to mask the parking garage,” affirms Dvorak.

Also challenging was trying to orient the resort so the hotel and eating areas could take advantage of the spectacular views of Alexander Valley. Says Smyth, “The typical design for a casino is to have the gaming area up front and the restaurants and kitchens at the back. It’s a very efficient arrangement, but if you did that on this site, it would take away the views.

“But in the end, we were able to guarantee you can sit out on a terrace at almost all of our dining areas—from our little espresso café to the high-end restaurant—and enjoy the views.”

And then there was the matter of the winding, narrow and steep road up to the rancheria from Highway 128. Before the tribe completed the infrastructure required for the hotel, only one road provided access to the casino. To help keep traffic moving, the tribe is building a second, separate road called Acorn Road, so patron traffic and construction traffic can remain separate. “You don’t want patrons stuck behind backhoes and dump trucks,” says Dave Hyams, spokesperson for the tribe.

The casino’s 24/7 operation also creates logistical issues. According to Dvorak, the solution lies in carefully staging the construction, possibly requiring employees to park off-site and offering valet parking to keep confusion and congestion to a minimum. The casino will stay open continuously during the construction process, with a minimal interruption when the slot machines and tables move to their new, more posh home on the ground floor below the hotel.

Despite the site’s construction challenges, the tribe sought Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for the hotel out of a conviction to keep the project as “green” as possible. Says Dvorak, “The tribe is very environmentally oriented, by virtue of its heritage and governance. The band has a history of living harmoniously with the land.”

Project plans call for reuse of reclaimed wastewater for toilets and landscape irrigation, construction of a new wastewater treatment facility, installation of energy-efficient mechanical systems, selection of “finish” materials that enhance environmental quality and recycling of waste construction materials whenever possible, according to Dvorak.

“Only the hotel part of the resort is LEED-certified, however,” he says. “Because the casino allows smoking and consumes more energy, we didn’t seek LEED certification for that portion.”

A view of the future

If demand warrants, the tribe will ultimately move ahead with a second phase of construction that will expand the hotel by up to another 330 rooms. “We’ll be listening to our guests,” says Wright. “If we’re full every night once the hotel is built, that will tell us.”

In the meantime, visitors patronizing River Rock on a regular basis will see a gambling destination gradually emerge on the hillside that’s now home to a rather humble casino.

“It’s going to be an eye opener for everyone,” says Wright. “Going from a sprung structure to a four-star resort is huge. When we’re done, I think everybody is going to love it up here. And we’ll complement the Wine Country with our resort.”