Atlantis Casino Resort Spa is a hotel and casino located in Reno, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc.. The three hotel towers have combined 824 guest rooms and Jacuzzi suites. The casino floor spans 64,814 sq ft and is one of Reno's most profitable and luxurious properties. Nearly $150 million has been spent on upgrading the facility. Atlantis competes directly with Peppermill Hotel Casino for customers.
History
Golden Road Motor Inn (1972–1979)
Prior to 1972, the present-day Atlantis was home to the Golden Road Motor Inn, a 142-room motel. In that year, the property was purchased by the Farahi family. The purchase included with it a restaurant on the site known as the Copper Kettle.
In 1991, the hotel was renamed again; under the Choice Hotels lease agreement, they branded the hotel as a Clarion and through the Farahis, constructed a 12-story hotel tower that opened in 1991. The Farahis pledged it would be the first of many expansions to come. Clarion Reno had a tropical theme and when the first tower was built, along came with more casino and more restaurants. In 1993, Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc, the Farahis' corporate firm, took over financial responsibility for the Clarion. With this came a public offering on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. With the additional capital from the public offering, Clarion began its second major expansion, which included a second 18-story hotel tower with an additional 400+ rooms and more gaming space and another restaurant, a buffet.
Atlantis (1996–present)
Desiring to have an independent identity, in 1996, the Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. Board of Directors made the decision to rename the resort Atlantis. With the new name came plans for yet another expansion. The phase III expansion included a third 27-story hotel tower with close to 650 rooms, an expanded casino, three new restaurants, and the addition of a entertainment facility. Additionally, the expansion plans called for a "sky terrace" over Virginia Street that would be anchored by two Greco-Roman columns topped with flame shows that would be hourly. Ground was broken in June 1998, with completion just over a year later, in July 1999. The Sky Terrace opened first before the new hotel tower and casino expansion. The latest expansion cost $60 million to construct, the most expensive and largest to date in the resort's history, and it redefined the resort entirely. Atlantis in 2002 remodeled its original tower built back in 1990 and renamed it the "Royal Dolphin Tower", its rooms furnished with mahogany accents and warm color tones. They charged extra per night for those rooms. The next tower to be built in 1994, was too remodeled in 2004 with similar furnishings and in 2005 got its own pricing distinction and name, "Atrium Tower", because of the lobby atrium behind its signature glass elevators. The "Luxury" tower rooms became known as floors 3-20 of the third most and newest of the Atlantis towers. Atlantis has two floors of exclusive VIP suites, they sit on the 26th and 27th floors of Atlantis' third tower and are not available to regular guests unless booked through a party. Atlantis is home to the region's only Concierge Tower, with a concierge lounge on the 25th floor. Atlantis kept in operation their two-story Motor Lodge rooms that was part of the original Golden Road/Travelodge/Quality Inn but closed it down on October 16, 2010, and demolished in the weeks following. In 2003, Atlantis built a spa consisting of and as a result of the spa addition, "spa" was added under "Resort-Casino" below Atlantis' signature logo. That spa was expanded to during the most recent expansion that was completed in January 2009. To match their new "Spa Atlantis" the hotel sequestered a set of rooms on the 3rd floor to be designated as "Spa Rooms" with yoga mats, soothing color tones, yoga channel and specialized bath products. To date, all rooms in Atlantis' Concierge and Luxury Towers have been completely remodeled; rooms in the Atrium and Dolphin towers are being updated with modern technology to match the newly remodeled Luxury/Concierge Towers.
Expansion and improvements
Since 2006, the Atlantis has been on a constant improvement program, starting with a $50 million expansion project that was completed in the summer of 2008; that project saw the expansion of the casino floor to include a new Race and Sports Book, high end poker room, and a new bar-lounge. The property also added onto its convention space and constructed an enclosed walkway link to the Reno/Sparks Convention Center, which is next door to the resort. Following that project, a series of renovation projects were embarked on, including the renovation of all the hotel's guest rooms in phases, a remodel and expansion of the hotel's spa, completed in January 2009, to the remodel of its signature restaurants. The main casino floor was renovated to match the hotel's new refined tropical motif. New marble, furnishings and accent lighting now flow throughout the property. In 2010, the property demolished its two-story motor lodge buildings on which the resort was founded to add more parking and make room for intended future expansion later. In the summer of 2012, the Atlantis announced it had earned the Triple AAA Four Diamond Award, a rating only 5.4% of hotels receive. The only other property in Reno to win it was the Atlantis' chief competitor, Peppermill Reno. CEO John Farahi of resort owner Monarch Inc said the company has no plans to stop improving the facility. It is likely they will announce plans to build a parking structure to hold some 1700 cars in the near future, also, the company is preparing a nightlife/entertainment district as well to complement the resort.
Monarch expands company
Seeking to diversify its holdings, Monarch successfully acquired the Riviera Black Hawk Casino 40 miles outside of Denver for $72 million. The sale closed in Spring of 2012, since then, Black Hawk has increased Monarch's overall profit margins by 6%. The company announced in the first quarter of 2013 that they are planning an expansion and major renovation of the property. The details are being finalized but a brief overview was given, the company will expand the casino floor and add a 300 ft hotel tower. The project is expected to be announced the 4th quarter of 2013.
