Comanche Nation Purchases Lawton Properties
On March 28, Comanche Nation purchased Sure Stay by Best Western, Extended Stay and Arrowhead Apartments north of Comanche Nation Casino in Lawton, Oklahoma.
Comanche Nation Chairman Forrest Tahdooahnippah said the funding came from the New Business line item.
“And for the last several years, that line item wasn't touched, and so we had carryover money, and in addition, we have a land acquisition budget, and that also had some carryover, so we used a lot of carryover money to purchase the hotels,” he said. “We also borrowed money from a bank to complete the purchase, and we'll be using that new business money if we make any sort of renovations or need capital, but we're also, like I said, looking for investors and partners to help us out with that.”
Tahdooahnippah said the hotel will have several changes.
“The main change that you will see is that it'll become integrated with the Comanche Nation Casino,” he said. “We purchased the hotel in part because of its location next to our casino, so we could do things to tie them in a little bit as far as cross-marketing…using player’s cards to get things at the hotel or vice versa, you know earning free play rewards on your player’s card by staying at the hotel. So, you see, notice a lot of cross-marketing that will happen, and then there'll be shuttles that start to run back and forth between the two. So that's kind of the immediate short term for the hotel.”
Tahdooahnippah said there would be strict tenant policies for the apartment complex.
“In the short term, we're looking at being stricter on the policies for tenants doing increased background checks and trying to create a more family-friendly, entertainment-friendly type of atmosphere so that it will augment the casino and the hotel,” he said.
Tahdooahnippah said the hotel owners previously owned the Extended Stay, so there was already integration between the two properties.
“Whereas if you rent a room at the Extended Stay, you get half off at the breakfast at the hotel. You can use some of the amenities at the hotel, like the pools,” he said. “So, we're really trying to just integrate all three properties, all four properties, really the three that we bought plus the casino, and so we can integrate them so we can cross-market on all four properties.”
Tahdooahnippah said the tribe is considering moving the gift shop to the old tourism center.
“And the additional space in the hotel is letting that become possible because the old tourism center has been used by Comanche Nation Casino for some office space and HR functions, and so by buying the hotel, we get more space we can move those functions into the hotel as needed or other locations and then we can move the gift shop back to the old tourism center,” he said. “So, we're really trying to make the entire block of…the long-term vision being just a very fun entertainment-oriented and themed area, a resort destination type thing, increased tourism, increased traffic and kind of work all arms of the tribe. The casino arm, realty department, tribal government, gift shop, everything have worked together to make a great destination location.”
Tahdooahnippah said one of the big positives is the hotel's visibility from the highway and easy access.
There is still discussion on exact long-term plans; however, he said there have been many great ideas for renovations and improvements.
“There's also been some talk about partners and try to find investors, so we're right now kind of at the stage where we're discussing potential partnerships,” Tahdooahnippah said. “Looking at potential franchises and that sorts of things, and you know, making decisions about what will the real future plan be.”
He said tribal members and their families are encouraged to stay at the hotel.
“Every dollar that you spend at the hotel is one that is going back into the tribal economy and helping the tribe itself out,” he said. “The hotel has two pools. It has an outdoor pool, it has an indoor pool, it has a complimentary full breakfast with a room stay, and there is a Tribal Member rate. So, if you call to make a reservation and you're an enrolled Comanche, ask about the Tribal Member rate because you will get a discount. There's also discounts for military veterans, those sorts of things.”
There is also a grand ballroom for large events the tribe or organizations can utilize.
