Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage Opens Expanded Gaming Area

^{Just in time for Coachella, the Agua Caliente Casino expanded its gaming footprint. (Image: Courtesy of Agua Caliente Casinos)}

The Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage celebrated the opening of its expanded gaming and promotions spaces in April, a move that will expand the number of slot machines available at the resort.

The Rancho Mirage resort is one of three casino locations owned by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, all of which are found in Coachella Valley in Southern California.

Agua Caliente Casinos Expanding Influence in Coachella Valley 

The expansion effort has added more than 250 new slot machines and additional table games to the Rancho Mirage Casino Resort. In a statement, the company said that the move has increased the total number of slot machines at the property to nearly 1,800, or more than half of the 3,400 total across its three properties.

“The ribbon cutting culminates months of planning and construction and our commitment to providing an elevated gaming experience for our guests at all three Agua Caliente Casino properties,” Agua Caliente Casinos COO Saverio R. Scheri III said in a statement. “This milestone is one more great accomplishment for the Tribe and further demonstrates their vision and foresight.”

Agua Caliente has been taking steps to make its casinos a bigger part of the Coachella Valley experience. Along with the Ranco Mirage location, the tribe also owns casinos in Palm Springs and Cathedral City. 

In late 2023, Agua Caliente Casinos announced a naming rights deal with the Palm Springs International Airport in order to gain more visibility with incoming travelers. That deal saw one of the airport’s two concourses renamed after the tribal casinos, with Agua Caliente gaining control of nearly all the signage in the concourse. The tribe paid over $1.4 million for three years of naming rights at the casino.

The Rancho Mirage location is the original and largest of the three Agua Caliente casinos. The facility opened in April 2001, and includes a 16-story hotel tower which is the third-tallest building in California’s Inland Empire region. 

Inland Empire Tribe Avoids Controversies Faced by Northern Neighbors

That area, which encompasses much of inland Southern California, may have allowed the Agua Caliente Band to avoid much of the drama embroiling tribal gaming in other parts of the state.

In Northern California, tribes such as the Koi Nation have worked with the US Department of the Interior (DOI) to gain approval for casinos on “restored lands” far from their traditional reservations. California Gov. Gavin Newsom was among those who blasted those plans, which were also opposed by other local tribes such as the Lytton Rancheria of California. 

However, the outgoing Biden administration ultimately approved the Sonoma Valley casino project in January 2025. That was part of a series of controversial off-reservation casino approvals pushed through by the DOI in California, Oregon, and other locations.