Friday December 6th was the ribbon cutting for the Chemeheuvi Tribe’s entirely new hotel, casino and marina project, Havasu Landing Resort and Casino at Havasu Lake, Ca., replacing their original, long standing casino.
The decision to open a hotel was a difficult one for the tribe. They recognized they had gained substantial experience in operating a casino, but lacked any experience in developing and operating a hotel.
To overcome this problem, they turned to Tristar Hotel Group (www.tristarhotels.com) , a hotel management company based in Scottsdale, with deep experience in opening and operating hotels for tribes as well as commercial developers.
Nick Thompson, Tristar Hotels’ director of operations states, “We are very proud of this project because it gave us the opportunity to assist the tribe from start to finish. This included the initial concept development, including planning, procurement, staffing, employee training and more, right down to decorations and opening. “We’re very happy with the performance to date, and the hotel has been well received by the tribe, local residents, and government officials,” he added.
Tristar Hotel Group, with twenty plus years hotel management experience, provides and implements all management, accounting, revenue generation, sales operations and every other element to make a hotel successful.
“In our consultation with tribes, we are able to put in place a complete operating system that we can continue to operate in their behalf or turn back to the tribe at some future date for their self-management, if that is their goal,” Thompson said.
Tristar provided the same services several years back for the Yavapai Nation in Ft. McDowell, Arizona, by guiding the development of their new resort, then managing it until it was running smoothly and at a profit, before turning it back to tribe three years later.
Tristar Hotel Group’s founder and CEO, Ken Edwards, stated, “A key reason for Tristar’s success, in addition to its development, operational and sales know-how, is the depth of training we are able to provide to managers and employees through our proprietary on-line hospitality education courses provided by HMBookstore.”
HMBookstore was developed when Tristar CEO, Ken Edwards, realized there was a need for consistent employee training in the hospitality industry. Until then, most hotels had a very random training system, relying on the management in place to train new employees when able, often handing down wrong information and not such great habits and systems” states Ken.
With www.HMBookstore.com, each employee is able to go online and go through their required courses at their own pace, and then receive a certificate upon completion of each course. This is the same program in use at hotel schools of 23 colleges and universities.
While the Havasu Landing Resort and Casino is currently open and operating, the formal grand opening will be held in early January of 2020.
For more information, please call Nick Thompson, nickt@tristarhotels.com, 602-714-4208.