Coushatta Casino Resort Ups the Ante: Unveils New $150M Luxury Hotel Expansion

Posted on: March 15, 2024, 02:48h. 

Last updated on: March 18, 2024, 01:50h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

The Coushatta Casino Resort will break ground next week on its biggest expansion project in years — a $150 million luxury hotel with 204 guest rooms and suites.

Coushatta Casino Resort hotel expansion
A rendering of the forthcoming $150 million luxury hotel at the Coushatta Casino Resort in Kinder, La. The Tribe will break ground on the hotel on March 15. (Image: Coushatta Tribe)

Louisiana’s largest casino, the Coushatta Casino Resort, is owned and operated by the Coushatta Tribe.

Coushatta Casino opened in 1995 and today has nearly 2,000 slot machines, 55 live dealer table games, a bingo room, off-track betting, and a sportsbook. Resort amenities include eight dining options, 20,000 square feet of meeting space, an 18-hole championship golf course, an outdoor pool complex, and a concert venue with capacity for more than 4,000 people.

The tribe will break ground on its luxury hotel on Wednesday, March 20. The 204 occupancies will take the tribal casino resort’s total number of hotel rooms upwards of 1,000. About half of the new rooms will be suites, said Bobby Thornton, the casino’s marketing director. The hotel has not yet been named.

The property is in Kinder, about 40 miles northeast of Lake Charles, where three commercial casinos operate, including the Golden Nugget, L’Auberge, and Horseshoe.

Resort Upgrade

The 204-room luxury hotel will stand eight stories tall and be located just steps away from the casino floor. After the hotel is built and opened sometime next year, the Tribe will embark on a renovation of the existing casino and restaurants. Additional restaurant spaces are also being considered.

As construction commences, we are excited about all the new venues and upgrades that we will be able to offer our guests, starting with this new hotel,” said Coushatta Tribal Chairman Jonathan Cernek. “Our goal is to offer our players an elevated gaming experience, and that includes top-quality lodgings and high-end dining options.”

The hotel is expected to create an additional 150 to 200 permanent jobs.

The Coushatta Tribe is one of only three federally recognized Tribes in Louisiana. The state has two other Tribal casinos with Las Vegas-style slots and table games, including Cyprus Bayou Casino Hotel in Charenton and Jena Choctaw Pines Casino in Dry Prong.

Unfazed by Texas

Las Vegas Sands continues to lobby lawmakers in Texas to legalize commercial casino resorts. Though those efforts remain fruitless to date, many noteworthy individuals, including former Gov. Rick Perry (R) and Dallas billionaire Mark Cuban, have lent their influential voices to gaming expansion.

The Coushatta Casino Resort and three commercial Lake Charles casinos rely heavily on Texas and Houston. The possibility of Texas becoming a casino state isn’t scaring off investments in neighboring Louisiana.

Along with the Coushatta Tribe investing $150 million to expand its tribal casino, Caesars Entertainment opened its fully renovated Horseshoe, which was previously known as Isle of Capri, in December 2022. That’s following a nearly $113 million overhaul.  

About 150 air miles north of Lake Charles, Maryland-based Cordish Companies is spending $270 million to renovate the former Diamond Jacks property in Bossier City into a land-based gaming resort. Live! Casino & Hotel Louisiana will bring more competition to the Louisiana gaming market when it opens in 2025.

Louisiana casino revenue from slots and tables at the 15 riverboat and land-based casinos totaled $2.028 billion during the state’s 2023 fiscal year. That was about flat — a marginal 0.4% decline — from 2022.