Pinnacle Entertainment has announced that L’Auberge du Lac Hotel & Casino has broken ground on a $45 million hotel tower expansion, slightly more than a year
after the casino resort opened to the public.The additional 250
rooms and suites will be complete in Fall 2007.
  The new tower will be nine stories tall and will be connected to the
existing 26-story hotel tower, bringing the total number of rooms, suites
and villas at L’Auberge to approximately 1,000. The hotel tower expansion
project is expected to boost L’Auberge’s employee count to more than 2,250.
  The expansion project will feature expanded retail space, a VIP lobby,
VIP lounge and a VIP elevator providing private access to the tower’s new
luxury second floor suites.
  The expansion project’s ground floor will feature nine luxury garden
suites with private terraces. Some of the new suites will face the swimming
pool area, while others will feature private outdoor spas.
  The garden suites will feature many of the same high-end amenities
found in the L’Auberge villas, such as luxurious bathrooms, custom designer
furnishings and in-room bars. Each ground floor suite will be nearly 1,200
square feet in size and allow L’Auberge to attract a high-end customer
accustomed to Las Vegas-style gaming amenities. The new tower’s second
floor also will be dedicated to suites.
  “Calcasieu Parish has proven to be a superb location for a premier
destination resort, and L’Auberge’s success has validated our initial
investment of $370 million in this market,” said Daniel R. Lee, Pinnacle’s
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “We are excited to break ground today
on L’Auberge’s new hotel tower, and look forward to further enhancing Lake
Charles’ destination appeal when we begin construction on Sugarcane Bay in
2007.”
  L’Auberge Vice President and General Manager Larry Lepinski said,
“Bringing our total room count to approximately 1,000 makes L’Auberge more
competitive in attracting larger groups for state and regional mid-week
conferences and meetings. This will also allow us to be better able to
satisfy customer demand for rooms on the weekends. The additional rooms and
retail space will create even more jobs for Calcasieu Parish.”
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