Harrah's Ak-Chin Casino
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| Harrah's Ak-Chin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | Maricopa, Arizona (Phoenix area) |
| Address | 15406 Maricopa Road Maricopa, Arizona 85139 |
| Opening date | December 27, 1994 |
| No. of rooms | 300 |
| Total gaming space | 40,000 sq ft (3,700 m2) |
| Notable restaurants | Agave's Restaurant Copper Cactus Grill The Buffet The Range Steakhouse |
| Casino type | Land-Based |
| Owner | Ak-Chin Indian Community Owner Caesars Entertainment Corporation Operator |
| Website | harrahs.com/our_casinos/akc/ |
Harrah's Ak-Chin Casino Resort is a casino and resort located 39 miles (63 km) south of Phoenix, Arizona near Maricopa, Arizona. It is owned by the Ak-Chin Indian Community and operated by Caesars Entertainment Corporation. The 40,000-square-foot (3,700 m2) casino has video poker and slot machines, as well as blackjack, keno and bingo, and is open 24 hours a day. In July 2011, the casino underwent a $20 million expansion with the addition of a new 152-room hotel tower. The resort now has 300 rooms, and an outdoor swimming pool with swim up bar, which was completed in 2012. The resort also features five restaurants, an entertainment venue, meeting and conference space and the only Bingo hall in the Caesars organization, which continues the proud heritage of William F. Harrah, who opened his first Bingo hall in Reno in 1937.
History
Harrah’s Ak-Chin has served more than one million customers since 1994 and has hosted more than 750,000 hotel guests since 2001.[citation needed]
Timeline
- December 27, 1994 – Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino opens in Maricopa, Arizona. It is Arizona’s first, and only, Indian casino to have a management partner.
- October 1997 – A Harrah’s Ak-Chin guest wins $330,000 on a malfunctioning Quartermania slot machine. Some debate follows as to whether or not the guest will be paid because the machine was faulty, but Harrah’s eventually awards her the full sum.
- June 2003 – Ak-Chin bingo operations move from inside the casino to the newly built Bingo Hall.
- March 2001 – Harrah's Ak-Chin opens its resort with 144 guestrooms and four guest suites.
- February 2003 – The casino begins to offer tables games such as poker and blackjack.
- November 2009 – Harrah’s Ak-Chin completes a total remodel of the 148 rooms on property.
- December 2009 – The Ak-Chin Indian Community extends the Harrah’s management agreement for five more years.
- June 2010 – Harrah’s Ak-Chin breaks ground at the future site of its hotel expansion: a five-story, 152-room hotel tower on the existing property. All 152 rooms will include upgraded amenities such as granite countertops, 50-inch flat screen televisions and larger showers.
- July 2010 – The Ak-Chin Indian Community purchases Southern Dunes Golf Club, which is managed by Troon Golf. The club is open to the public but is offered as an amenity to resort guests.
- November 2010 – Harrah’s Ak-Chin completes a remodel of The Buffet.[citation needed]
- July 2011 - Harrah's Ak-Chin completes $20 million expansion and opens new hotel tower for business.
- May 2012 - Harrah's Ak-Chin completes remodel of pool with swim-up bar
- August 2013 - Harrah's Ak-Chin completes a $1.25 million renovation of the 2765-square-foot Lounge.
- December 2013 - Harrah's Ak-Chin completes renovation of the Total Rewards Center and adds Dunkin' Donuts.
Casino
The 40,000-square-foot (3,700 m2) casino has reel and video slot machines, video poker, live poker, table games such as blackjack, keno and bingo. The Ak-Chin Bingo Hall is the only bingo hall in the Caesars organization, continuing the activities of William F. Harrah, who opened his first bingo hall in Reno, Nev. in 1937. Gamblers must be at least 21 years old to gamble at Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino. The casino is open 24 hours a day.
The casino has 1,089 slot machines, the maximum allowed in an Arizona casino per the State of Arizona Gaming Compact.
Amenities
Dining
- Copper Cactus Grill – open 24 hours a day, it is a snack bar that offers food on the go. Fare includes breakfast burritos, hamburgers and pizza, as well as snacks like nachos and pie.
- Agave’s Restaurant – a casual café with indoor and outdoor seating that serves traditional breakfast and lunch cuisine daily.
- The Buffet – open daily for lunch and dinner, the remodeled 8,000-square-foot (740 m2) buffet features live action food stations, in which guests can get a wide array of foods, such as sautéed pasta, grilled steaks and rotisserie chicken, wok items, hand-served gelato and omelets made to order at Sunday brunch. Its well-known Friday and Saturday Night Seafood Buffets are very popular, as is the Sunday Champagne Brunch.
- The Range Steakhouse – open for dinner nightly. Menu items include appetizers, fresh salads and steak and seafood entrees, as well as The Range’s over-sized desserts.
- Dunkin’ Donuts – Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino is the Dunkin’ Donuts franchise partner in Maricopa and will offer a complete menu of Dunkin' Donuts’ internationally recognized coffee, lattes, donuts and bakery goods.
Entertainment
Harrah’s Ak-Chin provides free live entertainment for guests in The Lounge, featuring Country, Variety, Top 40, Dixieland, Rhythm and Blues, Jazz and Nostalgia with local bands, as well as regional and national touring acts. Some of the bigger acts who have performed at Harrah's Ak-Chin in 2014 include Neal McCoy, Diamond Rio, Color Me Badd, JT Hodges and Tonic.
Additional amenities
The Ak-Chin property features an outdoor pool, complete with a large spa and Corkscrew’s, a swim-up bar. Cocktail and food service is available for guests while they use the pool area.
In July 2010, the Ak-Chin Indian Community purchased Southern Dunes Golf Club, located near the resort in Maricopa. Southern Dunes is managed by Troon Golf, the world’s largest golf management company. The course spans more than 320 acres and features an 8,000-square-foot (740 m2) clubhouse. In 2009, Southern Dunes was named among Golfweek’s “Best You Can Play, State-By-State” list of courses in the United States.[1]
The club is open to the public but is offered as an amenity to resort guests.
In the fall of 2012, The Ak-Chin Indian Community opened the UltraStar Multi-tainment Center at Ak-Chin Circle, operated by California-based UltraStar Cinemas.
Awards and accolades
Harrah’s Ak-Chin was named a 2010 Most Admired Company by Arizona Business Magazine and BestCompanies AZ, and Phoenix Business Journal has named the property one of the “Best Places to Work in the Valley” in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Harrah’s Ak-Chin was awarded the 2011 Volunteer Service Award from the Arizona Governor’s Commission on Service and Volunteerism.
Total Rewards program
Total Rewards is the Caesars Entertainment brand’s casino loyalty program that lets guests earn Reward Credits every time they play with their Total Rewards card at participating casinos. A guest’s Reward Credits balance is their comp balance, and can be used towards hotel stays, dinner comps, spa visits, and more. Guests can not only earn Reward Credits when playing slots, tables and other games at the Ak-Chin property, but also by purchasing items in the gift shop and food and beverages at any of the four restaurants, which can then be redeemed at the nearly 40 Caesar's casinos across the United States and Canada.