Shoshone-Bannock Tribes pay off hotel loan

Shoshone-Bannock Hotel

By ECHO MARSHALL

Tribal Public Affairs

FORT HALL – The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes now own the Shoshone-Bannock Hotel & Event Center as the hotel loan was paid off early on December 30, 2022.

Since the loan was paid off early, the Tribes saved millions of dollars on the future interest charges.

The original hotel loan was made with the Bank of Albuquerque in 2011 in the amount of $33 million. In 2015, the loan was switched to Wells Fargo Bank and the principal amount was $21.8 million.

“This is a wonderful accomplishment for the Tribes,” Fort Hall Business Council Chairman Nathan Small said. “The hotel is ours and now proves to be a successful project,” he said.

The Shoshone-Bannock Hotel & Event Center had a soft opening on July 27, 2012 and had a Grand Opening celebration on August 17, 2012. The opening team consisted of 165 employees. The Hotel & Event Center is approximately 164,000 square feet and was built on an 83-acre site.

In 2018 and 2019 the Fort Hall Casino and the Shoshone-Bannock Hotel & Event Center went through a rebranding with the opening of the new Casino Expansion Project. The two properties were combined and became the Shoshone-Bannock Casino Hotel.