VALLEY CENTER ---- The flat-bed and concrete trucks have finally stopped rumbling along Valley Center Road to the Valley View Casino.
At last, the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians has completed building its 108-room, eight-story hotel, carved out of the side of a foothill that offers breathtaking views of 6,140-foot-tall Palomar Mountain.

The $72 million hotel is scheduled to open to the public on Nov. 19. But you can forget about booking a room for that weekend ---- they're all filled up.
Workers recently removed a curtain that separated the casino from the hotel's cavernous lobby, giving a glimpse of the eggshell-colored marbled floors and a trademark bronze statue of the tribe's beginnings crafted by Johnny Bear Contreras, San Pasqual's in-house artist. A similar life-size statue stands in the pool at the front of the casino, greeting the busloads of 7,000 to 10,000 patrons daily.

You'd think otherwise. To build the hotel over the past two years, the tribe had more than 1,117 trucks of concrete delivered. In fact, more than 36,391,000 pounds of concrete are in the building, pool and delivery areas. The structure also has 1,846,000 pounds of steel wired throughout its concrete walls, and 279,000 pounds of sand and gravel was used in construction.

Located just off winding Lake Wohlford Road, about a mile south of Valley Center Road, the hotel is about 144 feet in height from Lake Wohlford Road to the roof.
It took $25 million just to carve out the hole, then add footings, pilings and shorings. An earthquake won't budge the hotel.

"I'm happy looking at my new baby. It's a labor of love," said Bruce Howard, general manager of the Valley View Casino & Hotel.
So what does the hotel look like on the inside?

It's still top secret for a few more days. But photos and interviews with Valley View insiders who have checked out the digs are revealing.

The water pressure at the hotel is second to none in the rural area. The marble-tiled bathrooms have "vacuum-assisted" toilets. These are the Cadillacs of toilets. Flushing the toilet activates vacuum chambers in the tank, which act like siphons to pull water into the bowl. Long story short: The flush is quieter and the bowl stays cleaner than other types of low-flow toilets.

Supplied hair dryers are large, not tiny handheld ones. The walk-in shower stalls have a step to help guests shave their legs, and the huge glass doors to the stalls aren't cluttered with aluminum edges. "We're fanatics about glass. If you do glass, it (the presentation) better be clean," Howard said.
The bathrooms are large enough to do jumping jacks in.

The rooms are larger than what you might see at other casinos ---- even those in Las Vegas. Deluxe rooms at Valley View are 520 square feet, while the luxury suites are 1,050 square feet. The average in Las Vegas is less than 400 square feet.

The suites at Valley View will cost $239 Sunday through Thursday, $299 on Friday, and $309 on Saturday. Over the same days, the deluxe room will cost $149, $179, and $199. The price may vary based on whether you get a California king or two queen-sized beds. A benefit for the romantic type: an oval-shaped Jacuzzi tub in the master bedroom of suites.

And if you get bored, or tired of betting and eating, the rooms have high-definition 42-inch flat screen TVs.
No one under 21 years of age is allo

wed anywhere in the casino or hotel. Not even musician Sheryl Crowe could get her son in to hear her play at a 2008 concert. He had to stay on the air-conditioned bus with security guards at his side.

Besides the glamorous stay at the hotel, there is another big draw: Maine's hard-shell lobsters.

"Our lobster buffet is kind of like our Wayne Newton," said Ric Militi, vice president of marketing.

The lobster buffet goes for $26.99 nightly for all you can eat ---- two bucks cheaper if you register for the Players Club card. The card also gives you a shot at winning the $1 million bundled in stacks of Ben Franklins out on the casino floor.

The lobster is such a big attraction that the 150-acre property, which sits just a few miles west of blistering-hot Hellhole Canyon, is among the top sellers of lobster in the United States. It sells 600,000 pounds annually.

And that figure may go higher once the hotel opens, said Larry Chapp, director of purchasing with Valley View. The lobsters are imported directly from New England, then stored in a huge freezer that chills everything at 10 degrees below zero. They're thawed in a cooler at 38 degrees before being cooked and served.
Howard, the general manager, isn't bothered that he can no longer see the Palomar peak from his office window. It's no big deal. After all, 21 years ago he got to see Robbie Knievel fly over his head on a motorcycle in front of the fountains at Caesar Palace in Las Vegas. It's hard to find anything else to top that, Howard said.

Howard is a quarter-century veteran of the casino and hotel industry, having chalked up stints along the way at Las Vegas hot spots that included an Ameristar casino and Caesar's Palace.

He is optimistic about the success of his new hotel, which also will offer a poolside breakfast as part of the stay.

"There is no doubt that the economy is in a downturn," said Howard, who thinks there's enough discretionary income to draw visitors even more than the 25 to 30 times a year that they average now.

Despite the ailing economy, it was the downturn that jump-started the hotel project in 2008. The tribe secured $35 million in financing from the Tribal Economic Development Bond under President Obama's Build America Bond program, with the tribe financing the rest of the cost of building the hotel. The Build America Bond program is federal stimulus-related money.
The tribe is reviewing strategies to refinance all of its $215 million in debt on the property ---- including the casino and parking garage ---- probably in late 2011, Howard said.

But as for worries over getting enough guests at the hotel, Howard is optimistic: "We think it is sized just right."

Call staff writer Pat Maio at 760-740-3527.