Downstream Casino officially opens resort hotel

For months, visitors to the Downstream Casino have watched the Downstream Hotel go up.

Saturday marked the official dedication of the hotel with a ribbon cutting ceremony. The hotel started receiving guests in early November.

“Downstream is now a fully operating luxury destination resort,” said Chairman John Berrey. “The Quapaw Tribe is honored to be able to bring something of this scale and quality to the communities of the Tri-State Region. Our goal is to become a regional and national attraction to bring people here from all over the country, spur economic development, and benefit the citizens and cities of this area.”

Nearly 100 people showed up for the ribbon cutting and news conference.

“Today is a great day for us. We are excited about opening it up to the world,” said Berrey. “It is kind of our first step and it is kind of the first chapter. So it is an exciting day for us.”

The 12-story hotel is adjacent to the casino and has 222 rooms. Those in attendance had the opportunity to view the hotel from its banquet facilities, front lobby, rooms and the hallways.

From the polished terrazzo and marble-tiled floor of the spacious lobby, to the Egyptian cotton bed linens and towels in the guest rooms, Downstream Hotel was designed and decorated with attention to detail.

“There isn’t a finer or more beautiful hotel in the country,” said project manager Mickey Brown, who has built and managed luxurious casino resorts, including Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Conn., the world’s largest. “It’s up there with the best. The Quapaw Tribe started with a great location and a vision for developing a top-tier resort property. But this has turned out to be more spectacular than I even imagined.”

Service and amenities include personal hosting, wireless check-in, a 24-hour concierge and Guest Services staff, catering and round-the-clock room service.

Phase I of the Downstream Development, an investment of $301 million with 1-million-square-feet of total indoor building space, includes a state-of-the-art Vegas-style casino, five restaurants, two cocktail lounges, an outdoor concert venue and a 36-hole golf club. A swimming pool and deck area will open as part of the hotel next spring, and a wellness spa will be added at a later phase.

With the completion of phase 1, Berrey said it is a special achievement in the Quapaw history.

“As a Native-American Tribe, we have always been survivors, artists and creators, and we have always been a very generous people in giving to and helping others,” Berrey said. “I think Downstream Casino Resort captures all of that. Today is a good day for the Quapaw Tribe.”

Asked if he had ever anticipated the size of crowds that would come in, Berry said they had high hopes.

“We really think that this is a real jewel for the region and we think that the crowds are going to beat our expectations,” Berrey said. “Our crowds keep growing and growing. Hopefully we have good times ahead.”

After the dedication, Berrey told about the future of the hotel and the casino, saying they will just sit back and relax.

“We want to watch the market,” Berrey said. “We got a lot of great plans but we want to ensure some stability and be conservative so we ensure our employees a good safe warm place to work and we keep the place running well so we've got a lot of things on the table but we are going to watch the market for a little while.”

The resort is owned and operated by the Downstream Development Authority of the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma. The resort’s executive management team is comprised of gaming and hospitality industry veterans from across the country.  It is located just off of I-44, near the Oklahoma / Missouri / Kansas border.