Less than a year after opening, Hard Rock Casino Tejon is already getting bigger. The Tejon Indian Tribe and Hard Rock International broke ground Wednesday on a more than $725 million expansion that will add a hotel, spa, pools and new dining to the property in Mettler, just south of Bakersfield.
The investment figure comes directly from Hard Rock International, which announced the groundbreaking alongside tribal leaders. The centerpiece is a 406-room hotel that will include 119 suites, according to the company, transforming the current casino into what will be rebranded Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tejon. A PR Newswire release from Hard Rock International, hosted by Chinook Observer, says construction is set to begin immediately following Wednesday's groundbreaking, with an anticipated opening in summer 2028.
What's Being Added at the Mettler Property
Beyond the hotel tower, the expansion will bring 900 additional slot machines to the floor, pushing the property's total to 3,000 machines, per Hard Rock International. Dining options are also expanding: the project includes two additional outlets at The Marketplace, a Council Oak Steaks & Seafood location and a new Center Bar, according to KGET. The station also reports the expansion will include multi-use convention and event space with three smaller meeting and conference rooms, pre-function space and an outdoor event lawn.
Guests will also get access to two resort-style pools featuring cabanas and daybeds, plus a Rock Spa with 13 treatment rooms, Hard Rock International says. The current casino, which opened in November 2025 on Tejon Indian tribal land less than 15 miles south of Bakersfield, already runs 150,000 square feet of gaming space with 2,100 slot machines and more than 60 table games, according to the San Joaquin Valley Sun. A Los Angeles Times report from the casino's opening last November described a somewhat different count, citing 58 table games and more than 2,000 slot machines, and also referenced early plans for a 400-room hotel rather than the 406-room version now under construction.
Jobs and Tribal Leadership React
The expansion is expected to generate more than 1,500 construction jobs during development and add 350 permanent positions once finished. Tejon Indian Tribe Chairman Octavio Escobedo III said the project builds on the casino's early success and advances the tribe's vision of a world-class resort destination. Hard Rock Casino Tejon property president Mike Bean said the expansion will elevate the guest experience, attract visitors from California and beyond, and create a true destination resort.
The casino's existence traces back to California Senate Bill 910, which passed with urgency in 2022 and ratified the tribe's gaming compact with the state, paving the way for the development of the casino, resort and associated facilities, according to California State Senate District 16.
Part of a Bigger Tribal Casino Building Boom
The Mettler project lands amid a broader wave of tribal casino hotel construction nationwide. Tribal operators have been breaking ground on hotel towers at a pace rarely seen before, according to TribalGaming.com, which notes that hotel rooms are the mechanism that converts a day-tripper into an overnight guest. Comparable projects this year include the Choctaw Nation's roughly $140 million expansion at its Pocola property, anchored by a seven-story tower with about 130 rooms, and the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas breaking ground on a tower that will bring its Eagle Pass casino to 252 total rooms.
Elsewhere, the Oneida Indian Nation's $370 million Turning Stone expansion in New York is headlined by its new Crescent Hotel, while the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes launched the first phase of the Lucky Star resort in Elk City, Oklahoma, pairing a 56,000-square-foot casino with a 100-room hotel. Closer to home, the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation has begun a roughly $226 million expansion near San Diego, the same outlet reports, committing to a new hotel tower and a mixed-use development called Sycuan Square as the first of three planned phases. California operators generally have leaned into non-gaming amenities to defend and expand their share of a tribal gaming economy worth roughly $20 billion statewide, per the same report.
