River Spirit Casino Resort offers a luxurious 483-room hotel rising 27 stories into the sky, a 30,000-square -oot convention and meeting center, a 2,500-seat Paradise Cove Theater for live entertainment and sporting events, a tropical-themed resort pool and bar area, a variety of bars and restaurants, plus a 50,000 square foot Margaritaville Casino and Margaritaville Restaurant.
Talk about a comeback. River Spirit Casino Resort, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s flagship resort in Tulsa, Oklahoma, made national headlines in May 2019 when the Arkansas River flooded. The resort was engulfed by the river, it’s iconic glass tower jutting above a still sea of brown water.
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While the elevation of the resort property was built to sustain a 100-year flood — and it did — the high water levels required the resort to shut down.
“Our property was completely surrounded by water,” Pat Crofts, CEO of Muscogee (Creek) Nation Casinos, said in an interview with Native Business, “and we were shut down for a 30-day period. It was a major feat — getting operational just 30 days after.”
In the wake of the flood and decision to remain closed, Crofts and the River Spirit Casino Resort leadership team demonstrated the integrity and compassion of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and its gaming arm by choosing to commit to maintaining its $2.5 million bi-monthly payroll for the 1,600 area employees while the resort was not operational.
“We made a decision while we were shut down to pay all of our employees their full salary and benefits,” Crofts told Native Business.
More than 400 restoration workers took on three shifts per day over the course of 24 hours to remediate the property, which reopened to the public on June 21, 2019.
The resort rebounded well — and its recent Four Diamond Award from AAA is a testament to that. The Four-Diamond rating places River Spirit Casino Resort in the top 6% of all AAA-approved properties in North America.
“To achieve this rating for the third consecutive year is a great compliment for our team,” Crofts remarked. “We received this rating within the first six months of opening in 2017, again in 2018, and this year even after having to close the hotel for a few weeks because of the historic flooding.”
Among a host of honors and awards, River Spirit Casino Resort also sits at No. 1 on the U.S. News & World Report’s 2019 Best Tulsa and Best Oklahoma Resort, and it was recognized as the most Uber’d destination in 2018 and listed as one of the 2018 top companies to work for in Oklahoma Magazine.
Pat Crofts was additionally named a Top 30 CEO in Indian Country by Native Business Magazine. Profiles of all 30 CEOs can be found in our “Leadership” issue.
Today, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation operates 11 gaming facilities throughout northeastern Oklahoma, the largest of which is River Spirit Casino Resort.
The flagship property opened in 2009, and the $365 million expansion debuted in phases starting in August 2016, doubling the gaming space with the attached Margaritaville Casino. “It’s a fantastic facility in Tulsa,” Crofts told Native Business, adding, “That was a first for both Margaritaville and Ruth’s Chris — being in a Tribal casino environment. It was also a big deal bringing international companies like that to Tulsa.”
Early 2017 marked the opening of the resort’s stunning 27-floor all-glass hotel tower, in addition to a special-events venue, an upscale spa, a resort pool, a 2,500-seat showroom theater, and multiple new bars and restaurants. Within its first six months of opening, the hotel garnered the prestigious Four Diamond Award from AAA, placing River Spirit Casino Resort in the top 6 percent of all AAA approved properties in North America — a ranking the resort is holding steady.
Receiving the prestigious Four Diamond distinction from AAA on the heels of an historic flood — that occurred just two years after the hotel’s debut — reflects the significant investment made by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation in its luxury hotel.
“And now, with this prestigious ranking from AAA for the third year in a row, we expect business to continue to grow at an exponential rate,” Crofts said.
