The hotel, which remains open, is currently refreshing and updating its room décor. The four diamond-rated hotel and spa first opened in 2003. The Pala Band’s casino opened in 2001, the first in Southern California to debut in a brick-and-mortar structure rather than a tent. The programming has been adapted to broaden its appeal to a younger audience as well as seniors. “We’re going to try to keep the entertainment going as we can, monitoring safety closely,” McAvoy said.

With arrival of colder weather Pala has moved concerts indoors, with greatly reduced pre-positioned seating, safely spaced. They also expanded their security staff to ensure compliance. McAvoy explained that, in addition to gaming, they want to continue providing live music and other entertainment, both for their hotel and casino guests and for the local community as a break from the pandemic, but in a safe environment.ĭuring the summer, Pala held outdoor concerts, but cut their maximum capacity from 2,000 to under 600, while rearranging their seating with different-sized group configurations to comply with minimum six-foot separations. (For latest updates on what’s open and what’s happening at Pala, visit their website at /property-updates.) Pala also limited seating in their seven other restaurants and bars and restricted use of their pool, now closed for the season, to hotel guests only.

They pulled numerous slot machines from the casino floor to create safe spacing and temporarily closed down their spa, dining buffet and their more intimate dining areas, The Oak Room and Sushi Sake. In addition to adopting the safety and sanitation protocols developed by the National Indian Gaming Association in conjunction with the governor’s office, during the spring closure Pala designed strategies that greatly reduced the occupancy of the casino, restaurants, entertainment areas and other public spaces. “Our goal is to provide an area with exciting table game action in a clean, safe and Asian-friendly environment, where guests can find all of their favorite games in one convenient and beautiful location,” Ly said.Ĭonversion of the more tightly packed poker room into the less dense Asian Gaming Room was only one of many design and operational changes Pala made because of the pandemic.

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