LAKE CHARLES, La.
-- A $365 million riverboat casino and luxury hotel, LAuberge du
Lac, is scheduled to open here in the spring.
Located on
Contraband Bayou, right over the Louisiana/Texas state line, the
site is about two hours from Houston.
Designed for
Texans who dont have casino gambling close to home, it will be the
closest casino to Austin and San Antonio. It also will be the
largest, single-deck riverboat casino in the U.S.
But thats not
all. The property will be a 227-acre resort, planned as a getaway
and vacation destination, not just a place to gamble for the day
and leave.
Although there
are two other casinos in town -- Harrahs and the Isle of Capri --
LAuberge management said it plans to make its development more
extravagant.
In addition to
the riverboat casino, theres plenty more planned to lure visitors
to this new establishment, including a huge hotel, a golf course
and five eateries.
Designed in Texas
Hill Country style, LAuberge du Lac Hotel and Casino will be a
26-story complex with a gaming area of 48,490 square feet; a hotel
with 746 rooms, including 100 suites; an 18-hole golf course
designed by Tom Fazio; 40,000 square feet of meetings space; a pool
with a sandy beach; and a lazy river.
In addition, it
will have a spa and fitness center, retail stores and top-name
entertainment.
Here are some of
the details:
The
casino: The single-level riverboat will be 225 feet wide
and 330 feet long, with a gaming area that will accommodate 60
table games and some 1,600 slot machines. The casino will be
located just beyond the three-story, beamed-ceiling lobby that will
feature massive, stone fireplaces; a ring of balconies; and large
skylights.
The
hotel: The 746 rooms will include deluxe suites ranging
from 550 square feet to more than 2,100 square feet, including a
private villa complex adjacent to the hotel tower, each with a
private court- yard and spa.
Restaurants: The eateries will include a
400-seat buffet; an upscale steakhouse with fireplace and
Western-themed murals; a 24-hour cafe, a noodle bar with
Asian-fusion cuisine; a Cajun barbecue pub with an old-fashioned,
roadhouse-style, honkytonk bar; an ice cream parlor; a coffee
wagon; and several bars.
Meetings and conference space: Designed in
early 20th century arts-and-crafts architecture, the conference
center will encompass about 40,000 square feet of meetings and
conference space. Its ballroom, the largest in the area, will
accommodate more than 1,200 banquet guests and can be broken out
into six separate meetings areas. Two boardrooms and two meetings
rooms, a banquet hall that seats 200, a 50,000-square-foot event
lawn and a courtyard will complete the complex.
The
golf course: The par-71 course will be built around eight
lakes and will have views of the surrounding marshes and Louisiana
lowlands. There will be four sets of tee boxes on each hole, a
driving range and a putting and chipping practice area.
The
pool center: It will feature a heated pool and a lazy
river with swim-up bars. Guests will be able to access a large,
green event lawn by one of two bridges. A 16,000-square-foot sandy
beach and a large cabana complex will complete the scene.
The spa
and fitness center: With a full range of spa treatments,
it also will include a hair salon and a cardio-fitness
room.
Not enough to
keep you busy here? Guests will be able
to bring their gear and do a little hunting and fishing or take a
guided wildlife tour in this lush Louisiana countryside.
Rates have not
yet been set for this establishment. Additional information soon
will be available at (866) 370-7222 or at www.ldlcasino.com.
To contact
the reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail to [email protected].