After on June 28 wrapping up nearly 18 months of construction Valley View Casino & Hotel in northern San Diego County unveiled its $50 million expansion and contemporary new look on July 3, 2019.

The year-and-a-half long project added 43,000 sq ft to the property’s existing 100,000 sq ft of restaurant and casino space, along with two new guest entrances, an indoor water wall, six additional restrooms, a promotions area for slot tournaments and gifts and a players club. The additional casino space is home to what was the casino’s, now relocated, valet parking area.

Year and a half project:

Renovations were also completed on 65,000 sq ft of existing casino floor, the former BLD’s restaurant, which is now called The Café, as well as The Famous Maine Lobster Buffet, as reported by San Diego Business Journal.

General Manager for Valley View Casino & Hotel, Bruce Howard, said in a statement…

“We are so excited for our guests to experience the All New Valley View Casino & Hotel.

“We would like to extend our sincere gratitude and appreciation to all of our guests and to our 950 team members for being so paitent and supportive with us during these past 18 months of construction. We look forward to welcoming our loyal, longtime guests and our new guests to San Diego’s newest, luxury casino and hotel,” according to the news agency.

$50 million is a lot but:

In an interview at the casino and hotel, Howard added…

“I know obviously $50 million is an enormous amount of money, but really in the scale of expanding casinos, many casinos even locally have $200 million, $300 million (expansions), but we didn’t think we needed any more than really what guests asked for,” according to The Press Enterprise.

New eats:

The two new restaurants are Patties & Pints and The Café. The former offers views of the casino floor and the outdoors and has seating in its main dining area for 140, along with 20 seats at the bar, and a standalone take-out area. The casual dining restaurant offers a full bar and its menu comprises burgers, sandwiches and salads. The latter, formerly BLD’s restaurant, offers views of the Palomar Mountains and serves breakfast, brunch and lunch.

The buffet at the casino, which is known for its Maine lobster, has been renovated adding 100 seats, bringing the total to 600, and has also added new carpeting and furniture, along with several new food options.

Casino floor accommodation:

Gaming floor changes include the addition of 250 new slot machines, of the casino’s 2,000, and 11 new table games, which replaced outdated ones. A huge wall of water that was located on the outside of the casino at the valet area, has been refurbished and is now located right on the gaming floor just beyond the 30-foot glass-enclosed main entrance. Every isle on the gaming floor is an additional 18 inches wider.

Commenting on the widened isles, Howard said…

“Our demographic runs from 30 to 70 so there are guests who use wheelchairs and other aids and we didn’t want them to ever feel like, ‘I’ve got to get around, I can’t get through,’ so now every aisle handles ADA compliance.”

Luxury 118-key hotel:

The property, that is an enterprise of the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians, also includes an eight-story hotel tower featuring 12 luxury suites and 96 deluxe rooms, all with views of the Palomar mountain range, an infinity pool, retail shop, and three unique bars and free live entertainment every week.

Located at 16300 Nyemii Pass Pl in the heart of Valley Center, California, just east of Oceanside, and south of Temecula, the newly renovated property held a ribbon cutting ceremony and continued grand opening celebration on Wednesday, July 3, 2019.

Timing is everything:

Valley View Casino & Hotel announced its $50 million expansion in October 2017, making it the sixth casino property -at the time- in the region to launch a construction project that increased its size and roster of guest amenities. The plans were unveiled on the same day as Pala Casino Resort & Spa, owned and operated by the Pala Band of Mission Indians and located on the tribes’ reservation near San Diego, broke ground on its $170 million expansion.

Including Pala, it was estimated that for 2017, spending on casino construction just in Southern California would exceed $1 billion for Pechanga Resort & Casino, which wrapped up its $300 million expansion in 2018, Sycuan Casino Resort, Harrah’s Resort Southern California, Viejas Casino & Resort and Barona Resort & Casino combined.

The completion of Valley View is the culmination of a five-year development spurt among eight of the region’s 10 casinos… to the tune of more than $1.5 billion.

Competitive region:

The casino’s location in Valley Center has it in direct competition with a total of four nearby casinos, which in addition to Pala, include Casino Pauma, located in Pauma Valley and owned and operated by the Pauma Band of Luiseno Mission Indians; Harrah’s Resort Southern California, located in Funner and owned by the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians and operated by Caesars Entertainment Corporation; and Pechanga Resort & Casino, located on the Pechanga Indian Reservation adjacent to the city of Temecula and owned by Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians.