Chicago Sun-Times: Resort in Michigan has Vegas idea about amenities

Chicago area casinos offer their players many amenities-- restaurants, lounges, some live entertainment, hotels--but for the full resort experience, players still look mainly to Las Vegas.

That's why I was intrigued when the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians purchased the Grand Traverse Resort in Acme, Mich., earlier this year. The Grand Traverse Band operates two casinos in the Traverse Bay area, and the resort gives the casinos access to amenities that will make customers' eyes pop. I know it impressed me when I drove up to check it out a couple of weeks ago.

The resort is set in the heart of Michigan's cherry-growing country, a scenic area of rolling hills and towering pine trees. Outdoor recreation on the bay and surrounding lands make it one of the favorite tourist destinations of the upper Midwest.

In the midst of this, Grand Traverse offers a 424-room, 236- condominium resort with indoor and outdoor swimming pools, three restaurants, a 100,000-square foot spa and a 12-store Gallery of Shops that includes outlets for resort wear, golf apparel and accessories, artwork and specialty foods. Its three golf courses include one designed by Jack Nicklaus and another designed by Gary Player. There's conference space and, perhaps most important, plenty of land to expand--860 acres' worth.

And one day, there may be a casino on the grounds.

"I would say that all options are being considered," says resort executive vice president and general manager Andrew Bateman. "Every conceivable option that is viable and open for discussion is a possibility."

The likelihood is that if state and federal regulatory obstacles are overcome, there will be a casino on the resort grounds. For now, the Band's two casinos--Turtle Creek and the Leelanau Sands--could hardly ask for anything more to take care of their high-end guests.

The prime casino beneficiary of the common ownership is Turtle Creek, three miles down the road. Leelanau Sands is about a 45- minute drive away, on the opposite side of the bay. It has its own lodge, though it uses Grand Traverse Resort to house high-end guests as well as entertainers who appear in its showroom.

Turtle Creek, on the other hand, has no hotel rooms of its own. It had been using several local hotels to comp out-of-town guests. The Grand Traverse Band had been contemplating whether to build its own hotel at the casino or to buy Grand Traverse Resort in on-again, off- again negotiations.

In the end, it purchased the resort for $66.4 million.

"Overnight, we became a trend-setter," says Rich Bailey, president of East and West Bay casino operations. "Practically all the tribes were on the phone, wanting to know about it."

Should a casino be built at the resort, Turtle Creek is likely to be closed. The current casino was a pleasant surprise. Originally built as an education center for the tribe, it's undergone several expansions to its current two restaurants, three bars, 1,350 slot and video poker games, and 24 table games.

The main casino has slot machines ranging from penny to $100 denominations and table limits from $5 to $5,000. Just added to a table pit that already included blackjack, craps, roulette, Three Card Poker and Caribbean Stud are Digital 21 and Bonanza Blackjack, with cards dealt on video screens in front of each player. About 45 percent of the electronic games are on video.

Slots include wide-area progressives--not available in Illinois or Indiana--that link jackpots at multiple casinos. Video poker was surprisingly good--not top-of-the-line pay tables but single-hand quarter games such as 9-7 Double Bonus Poker (99.1 percent with expert play) and 25-15-9-4-4 Deuces Wild (98.9 percent) that are rare at the quarter level in the Chicago area.

Combined with proximity to the resort, it made for quite an attractive package, one that Bailey hopes will draw more mid- to high- range play.

"I think it's the level of service that we provide [that attracts high-end players]," he says. "Certainly the dining experience. With the resort, we have the golf and an excellent dining experience, and they have the spa."

Vegas? No. But as a nearby option for the full resort experience, the Grand Traverse combination is a solid contender.

REVENUE BLAHS: The Illinois Gaming Board has released July revenue figures, and three of the four Illinois casinos in the Chicago area showed declines compared with the same month last year.

The biggest drop came at Hollywood Casino in Aurora, off from $25 million in July 2002 to $17.6 million this July. Hollywood was the first casino to announce intent to charge admission after higher gaming tax rates went into effect July 1.

Harrah's Joliet declined from $26.8 million to $22.4 million, and Grand Victoria in Elgin dropped from $33.9 million to $31.8 million. The only gainer was Empress Joliet, operating on its new barge instead of on the two riverboats in operation last year. Its revenue rose from $20.1 million to $21.4 million, making it the only one of the state's nine casinos to show a gain.