by advertising April 4, 202570

Gambling is an incredibly popular pastime in California, with many punters either using online casinos or visiting their brick-and-mortar counterparts to feel the thrill of the game. As such, the state is a prime location for casino hotels, with many of these institutions regularly welcoming gamblers from across the globe.

Although general hotels opening up across the state of California in 2024 did not do as well as they had in previous years, casino hotels owned by Native Americans, and on native american soil, were an exception to this rule. This comes, in part, from the passion the people of California have for the gambling scene. In 2023, it was revealed that 1 in 4 Californians gamble in one way or another. For many people, that involves immersing themselves in online casinos due to their accessibility.

Additionally, many online casinos also have various bonuses to entice gamblers. Some instant play casinos enable gamblers to enjoy games without having to download any software, whereas new crypto casinos expertly blend gambling with the incredibly popular world of cryptocurrency.

However, some people believe that nothing can replicate the traditional casino experience, which is one explanation for the rising popularity of casino hotels across the state. In fact the largest hotel in all of California to open last year was a casino hotel in the Bay Area.

This hotel, named the Chick Ranch Casino Resort is located in Jamestown and boasts a respectable 197 rooms. It sits within a community of less than 4,000 and is around an hour’s drive from the famous Yosemite National Park.

The success of this hotel, and other casino hotels across the state, stands in stark opposition to other hotels in California. Real estate agency Atlas Hospitality Group focuses on California hotel sales and reported how unsuccessful regular hotels had been last year, and did not have positive predictions for the future.

For one, only 35 hotels opened in 2024 compared to the 53 that opened in 2023. The majority of these hotels were part of larger chains, such as Hilton Hampton Inns, and there were very few impressive luxury resorts. The reasoning for this comes mainly from the huge expenses involved in building and financing hotels. This is also the reason why those built on native american soil tend to do better, as their location makes them significantly more affordable to build.

Luckily, there are multiple other tribal casinos in the works, with the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians planning to erect a $700 million casino hotel in Vallejo, which is to be conveniently placed by the Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Amusement Park. Similarly, the Koi Nation has plans to build a $600 million hotel casino in Sonoma County.

The success of these hotels compared to the more traditional types is a testament to the popularity of gambling in California and the value of Native Americans building these institutions on their land.