Cliff Castle Casino’s six-story, 122-room hotel will start hosting guests Tuesday, April 4, but locals need not wait that long to see a portion of what’s been completed. On New Year’s Eve, the casino will unveil its new 5,000-square-foot multipurpose room and 300-car parking garage.
“It’s a long time coming,” Marketing Operations Manager James Perry said. “People are excited about it.
“It’s the biggest project in a long time in the Verde Valley.”
According to Perry, the $29 million expansion will allow Cliff Castle to compete with larger state casinos, drawing crowds from the Phoenix area.
“Every other casino resort has a hotel attached to it,” Perry said. “The attached hotel is a game changer for us.”
Perry added that he believes the hotel will earn a 4-star rating from the American Automobile Association.
The rating is based upon a hotel’s amenities, overall value and quality of service.
Amenities in the rooms include state-of-the-art entertainment systems, top-of-the-line bathroom hardware and proprietary mattresses from the hotel’s developer, Dreamcatcher Hotels.
In addition, the hotel will feature an enclosed atrium pool. Plans are to keep it open all year long.
“We’d like to use that pool for a lot of events,” Perry said, adding that such a feature makes the hotel even more attractive. Larger groups and individual families often look specifically for hotels with year-round pools.
Though the hotel will not feature a restaurant of its own, it will have a coffee shop with baked goods, beer and wine. The attached casino features a variety of dining options.
The corridor connecting the hotel to the casino will also feature a non-smoking gaming section.
Cliff Castle is expected to add upward of 80 employees — 50 for the hotel, 30 for the multipurpose room and parking garage.
“When we finish with the hotel, we’ll start the renovation process to the other property, late 2017 or early 2018,” Perry said of the existing hotel positioned below the property.
Renovations there will modernize outdated rooms and facilities.
