Durango Casino & Resort
This upscale, $780 million-dollar project is the next-level vision for Las Vegas casino hotels, especially those away from the Strip, offering rooms and suites with floor-to-ceiling windows and bathrooms with oversized showers. Although it was built by Red Rock Resorts—the leader in upscale "locals casinos"—this one breaks the template of older properties and deliberately blurs the lines between amenities for hotel guests and those for local patrons. The casino area is a giant boxed-in rectangle (so much for the deliberately confusing layouts of the old days), surrounded by wide pathways and eateries that take advantage of windows and natural light (as well as their own entries). The Bel-Aire Lounge, for instance, has glass doors that flow into the pool area. The George is another indoor-outdoor space, one in which the sports book with giant screens is blended with a restaurant that is this property's version of the 24-hour coffee shop. Eat Your Heart Out is a "food hall" with theme park-like facades on each outlet and shared tables in the open as well as "indoor" seating inside its Hawaiian, Asian, and pasta shops. The property has been so successful since its late-2023 opening that a $116 million expansion is already underway.
