On October 29, the new We-Ko-Pa Casino Resort opened its doors.
In addition to offering a full complement of slot machines, table games, and bingo, the new casino features dining establishments, event venues, Native American design elements and other attributes that maximize the safety and enjoyment of all who visit the casino and stay at the adjacent AAA Four Diamond hotel.
Gaming options include 850 slot machines, a 400-seat smoke-free bingo hall with 50-inch monitors, 22 blackjack tables, and a five-table poker room.
The upscale Ember restaurant features steaks and seafood prepared over wood-fired grills. The WKP sports bar serves pub fare and craft beer. The Market provides quick-serve options 24/7 and the Ahnala Mesquite Room at the adjoining hotel features American-style comfort food. The new casino resort also offers private dining areas, patios, a piano lounge and several bars.
All gaming areas, hotel rooms and public spaces, dining outlets and entertainment venues are 100 percent smoke-free, with four outdoor areas designated for smokers. In addition, full compliance with all mandated COVID-19 precautions includes taking patrons’ temperatures (only granting entry to those with 100-degree temperatures or less), requiring masks, providing ample sanitation stations, encouraging social distancing, and limiting elevator and outlet occupancy.
The new 166,341-square-foot casino replaces the original Fort McDowell Casino that opened in 1984 as a bingo hall. Eight years later, the proud Yavapai Nation peacefully held off the attempts of federal agents to seize their slot machines, protecting their right to operate a casino on their reservation and provide livelihoods for their tribal members.
“We’re proud that we were Arizona’s first casino and are now the state’s newest casino,” said Bernadine Burnette, president of the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation. “Gaming has been a part of our tribal community for the past three decades and has allowed us to provide financial security for our members and employees. Our new casino allows us to take gaming to an entirely new level while keeping a Native American look and feel – with design elements of earth, water, fire and basket-weaving that are so important to our culture.”
The We-Ko-Pa Casino Resort is connected to a new four-story covered parking structure and the existing 246-room hotel that has received the coveted AAA Four Diamond award every year since it opened in 2006. The casino shares its name with the upscale We-Ko-Pa Golf Club across the street that boasts the consistently award-winning Saguaro and Cholla courses.
