Lucky Star Gives Update on Watonga Hotel Open Date

WATONGA – The hotel at Watonga’s Lucky Star Casino could open as soon as Sept. 1, casino officials said last week, marking the fulfillment of a years-long project to transform the local gaming hub.

The hotel was scheduled to have opened already but ran into construction delays earlier this year when a pipe burst on the fifth floor and soaked the floors underneath it. A ransomware attack also suspended casino operations for two weeks earlier this summer.

Lucky Star’s Michael Simon addressed the Watonga Kiwanis Club last Wednesday and said the hotel, once fully open, will have 80 rooms, including four suites. It’s likely the hotel will open most but not all of those rooms on Sept. 1, he said, to add some finishing touches.

The rooms will run $109 per night on weeknights and $129 on Friday and Saturday night.

Kiwanis Club member Jennifer Gauer is helping the casino rent out its new conference room, which is expected to open alongside the hotel. The ballroom overall runs 4,500 square feet, but can be subdivided up to four different ways.

The full event space can host up to 360 guests at once, Gauer said, but parties as small as 20 guests are welcome, too.

There will also be a retail store on site. Casino officials said the store will prioritize Cheyenne and Arapaho art – the tribes own and operate all Lucky Star locations – but may include space for Watonga merchants, as well.

The hotel and convention center will join the already operating onsite casino, which features machine games, as well as a bar and restaurant, The Rez. Overall, the project cost about $46 million, Lucky Star officials said.

Hotel rooms are available to book from Sept. 1 online at luckystarcasino.org/Watonga-Hotel-and-Casino.