22-story hotel planned for Choctaw Casino Resort in Durant

[KayneMo]

Durant Daily Democrat - DEDC gets first look at new casino plans

Big plans, including a movie theater, for the Choctaw Casino and Resort, were unveiled to the Durant Economic Development Council during the monthly meeting Tuesday. The new plans include a children’s area, new 22-story hotel with a top floor spa, new restaurants, a five-screen movie theater and 20-lane bowling alley. The children's area will contain a Kid's Quest and Lazer Zone. The south end of the casino will be more family friendly, containing the movie theater and bowling alley and will be country themed to make it a comfortable environment for locals. The 22-story hotel will contain 500 new rooms. The new spa will take up the entire top floor of the new hotel and have its own pool. The event center will be moved to the north end where the bingo currently sits. Also on the north end will be a new 50,000- square-foot conference center. The Oasis Pool will receive a large expansion as well. A beach design is being discussed that may include real sand at the pool area.She said that the new business coming to the casino will bring more people into the City of Durant. It is scheduled to begin August of 2013 and be completed in April of 2015. Janie Dillard, Choctaw Nation Executive Director of Gaming, also informed the council that the new additions will bring approximately 780 new jobs and $17 million in annual salaries to Durant residents. According to Dillard, the Choctaw Nation is currently the largest employer in Durant, employing more than 5,400 people.

How exciting for my little hometown! The planned hotel will be 10-stories taller than the current tallest in Durant, the current 12-story hotel at the resort.

[KayneMo]

Choctaw Casino Resort in Durant confirms expansion

[Jeepnokc]

Lets hope they bring in someone to professionally run it or at least train them in customer service. We were there a couple of weeks ago and although the facility and staff were nice, the service was horrible. We rented a cabana for the day (300.00) by their pool which is amazing and was told that there was cabana service. Cabana was dirty with no towels. The grill guy didn't show up so no food, (no thought of moving another cook out from one of the other restaurants inside), no cabana service, and even though room service normally delivers to the pool...they were too busy so they wouldn't. People were going inside to get food and bring out but the pool service attendants wouldn't pick up any of the trash so the food trash set there all day till closing. They built a nice swim up bar in the pool but then they roll out a table for the bar instead of actually building a bar with a speedwell, soda gun, and refrigeration. The bar was out of diet cokes by noon, out of bud light by two and no limes after 2 either. The outside grill was literally a gas grill from Sam's that was behind a table.

I used to be in the service business and understand a bad day and can be fairly forgiving of bad service but it was clear that the place is poorly ran.

[KayneMo]

Choctaw Casino announces major expansion, 700 new jobs

"The city had a big day at the casino Thursday. But the winnings came in the form of new jobs - 700 permanent new jobs, to be exact. Choctaw Casino held a groundbreaking ceremony to announce their plans for a major expansion. The casino plans to add a 22-story hotel tower, movie theater, bowling alley, laser tag, 3-story convention center and addition gaming and dining space. Janie Dillard, Gaming Department manager, said they wanted to make the facility more family friendly, offering amenities Durant currently lacks."

[MWCGuy]

Lets hope they bring in someone to professionally run it or at least train them in customer service. We were there a couple of weeks ago and although the facility and staff were nice, the service was horrible. We rented a cabana for the day (300.00) by their pool which is amazing and was told that there was cabana service. Cabana was dirty with no towels. The grill guy didn't show up so no food, (no thought of moving another cook out from one of the other restaurants inside), no cabana service, and even though room service normally delivers to the pool...they were too busy so they wouldn't. People were going inside to get food and bring out but the pool service attendants wouldn't pick up any of the trash so the food trash set there all day till closing. They built a nice swim up bar in the pool but then they roll out a table for the bar instead of actually building a bar with a speedwell, soda gun, and refrigeration. The bar was out of diet cokes by noon, out of bud light by two and no limes after 2 either. The outside grill was literally a gas grill from Sam's that was behind a table.

I used to be in the service business and understand a bad day and can be fairly forgiving of bad service but it was clear that the place is poorly ran.

A coworker of mine received invitation from the Choctaw Casino in Durant. She is a regular at Kickapoo and Lucky Star. Her and her husband went down there and they said the service was terrible as well. They ate at the steak house they have out there and were disappointed. They tactfully commented on how the Caesar salad didn't taste right. The waitress chimed back with "Apparently you have never ate at an upscale steakhouse before." They cancelled their order and paid for the salads and left.

[KayneMo]

Construction on the hotel tower:

[KayneMo]

Progress on the hotel tower and expansion to the casino, taken on 18 June 2014:

[KayneMo]

Also, just found this webcam of the construction site!
Choctaw | Durant Casino/Resort Expansion Webcam « Manhattan Construction Group

[Bunty]

All should go quite well as long as the state of Texas continues to decide there can be no casino resorts allowed to be built in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area.

[soonerguru]

My experience at WinStar was far better than Choctaw Casino.

[KayneMo]

The Grand Theater opened last week with Aerosmith as the opening act. The new hotel, called Spa Tower, is almost complete (opening this month), though it was reduced to 14 floors. On the lower floors of the tower will be shopping, restaurants, and convention space. The new hotel will have 286 rooms bringing the total room count for the resort to 717 rooms. Still under construction is The District, slated to open this September with bowling, an arcade, laser tag, and a cinema.

Spa Tower has pretty cool lighting! I took this screenshot of a live feed a few minutes ago. In the foreground is the Grand Theater, and in the background is the Grand Tower, built in 2010.

[Zorba]

All should go quite well as long as the state of Texas continues to decide there can be no casino resorts allowed to be built in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area.

Yeah, I think all the southern Oklahoma casinos will be in a world of hurt if/when Texas changes their laws, especially if they let in non-Indian operators. I don't know why, but even after all the upgrade to Oklahoma casinos, they still don't hold a candle to casinos in other states, except in size.

[Easy180]

Not sure if there is a more recent thread or not but wanted to highly recommend this place for a quick grown up getaway. Their pool complex is amazing and the infinity adults only pool with swim up bar makes for a perfect fun in the sun day. We also enjoyed the Gilley's bar for late night entertainment. They are proud of their rooms but wanted to let everyone know we have a gem here in SE Oklahoma.