With the haunting chant of Potlatch songs, several speeches and the snip of giant scissors, the Cowlitz Tribe on Monday added another jewel to its woven cedar crown — the ilani Hotel.
The new first-class hotel features nearly 300 rooms, ranging from 400 square feet of comfort to 2,000 square feet of luxury. At 14 stories and 185 feet tall, the hotel’s blue glass tower is the tallest building in Clark County.
Monday’s opening coincided with the sixth anniversary of ilani, the tribe’s casino and largest business enterprise.
Marsha Williams was the vice chair of the Cowlitz Tribe through most of the 1980s and 1990s, before the tribe received federal recognition or established its reservation.
