The $300 million expansion project completed this spring at Pechanga Resort & Casino has many elements: a new 14-story AAA Four Diamond hotel tower with 568 rooms and suites; 67,000 square feet of event space; a luxury two-story spa and salon with 17 treatment rooms and a fitness center.
The new hotel tower is made up of two buildings near the Journey at Pechanga golf course, and its rooms and suites include amenities such as large-screen TVs with HDMI outlets, floor-to-ceiling windows and native decor.
The new convention and meeting space will serve a rising meetings business at Pechanga, California’s largest Native American resort.
But the heart of the expansion is the new 4.5-acre pool complex, a vacation-style attraction made up of eight pools—five swimming pools and three smaller pools, with four whirlpool spas—one with a natural rock waterfall feature—a drought-tolerant roof garden, a family pool and an outdoor cafe.
The central pool covers 7,600 square feet and features a swim-up bar with underwater seating and a Baja ledge for chaises and daybeds that skim the water. The family pool (2,400 square feet) features two twisting water slides that splash guests into a beach-entry pool. Next to the pool is a large run-through sprinkler feature.
There also is a 1,200-square-foot “VIP Pool” and two other small soaking pools.
The new area, called the Cove, includes a large, grassy field used as an outdoor concert and event center.
The waterfall feature was created by Lifescapes International, a landscape architect with its signature all over the pool complex. Lifescapes was part of a design team led by San Diego-based Delawie Architects, the original designers of the Pechanga resort. Lifescapes, based in Newport, California, was selected as the pool-area landscape architect.
The firm has designed iconic landscapes at resorts such as the Bellagio, Wynn and Venetian in Las Vegas. This was Lifescapes’ first project with Pechanga Resort, owned by the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Mission Indians.
Lifescapes created an outdoor atmosphere surrounding the pools and central bar area. The landscape is dotted with a variety of oak trees, considered sacred to the Pechanga community. The project also features mostly drought-tolerant, desert-sensitive plant materials, reflecting the tribe’s commitment to sustainable landscaping.
Finally, an indoor/outdoor restaurant and bar serves poolside dining in an area that is already one of the highlights of the property.
Tutor-Perini was brought on as the project’s builder. Cleo Design was tasked with all interior designs of the new spaces.
OWNER: Pechanga Band of Luiseño Mission Indians
ARCHITECT: Delawie Architects and Planners
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT: Lifescapes International, Inc.
INTERIORS: Cleo Design
CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTOR: Tutor-Perini
INVESTMENT: $300 million
