Northern Quest Resort & Casino

• 1. Introduction

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  Northern Quest Resort and Casino sits in Airway Heights, Washington, a short drive from Spokane, and it belongs entirely to the Kalispel Tribe of Indians. In December 2000, the Kalispel Tribe opened the doors to what was then a 55,540-square-foot operation, combining gaming floors, restaurants, and back-of-house space under one roof. That original footprint would grow beyond recognition. Today the resort stretches to more than half a million square feet, employs more than 2,000 people, and carries the title of largest casino resort in Washington State. How did a tribal gaming operation in eastern Washington build itself into a nationally ranked destination? The answer runs through a sequence of deliberate expansions, two concert venues, a sportsbook, and a second hotel tower that arrived more than two decades after the first card was dealt.

• 2. A Tribe Builds a Resort

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  Two years after opening, in 2002, the Kalispel Tribe added 35,000 square feet of gaming space to its original casino, signaling that the first phase had been only a beginning. The more transformative leap came in 2009, when the Tribe opened a 250-room hotel and changed the property's name from Northern Quest Casino to Northern Quest Resort and Casino. The name change mattered: it announced a shift from a gaming hall to a full hospitality destination. Completed alongside the hotel were La Rive Spa, Masselow's Steakhouse, The Lounge at Masselow's, and Marketplace, each filling a distinct role in what had become a self-contained resort environment. The 2009 expansion pushed the property past that half-million-square-foot threshold and gave the Tribe the workforce to match, with more than 2,000 employees on the payroll. The resort kept adding. In 2018, Windfall opened as a 13,000-square-foot retail space stocked with outdoor brands, apparel, and home goods. In 2019, Northern Quest RV Resort arrived nearby, offering 67 RV sites alongside 18 one- and two-bedroom cottages for guests who prefer to stay close without checking into a hotel. The 2023 opening of the River Tower, a second hotel structure with 192 rooms and suites, pushed the combined room count to 442 and secured the resort's standing as Washington State's largest casino resort.

• 3. The Gaming Floor

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  Nearly 60,000 square feet of the resort is dedicated to gaming. More than 1,500 slot machines occupy that space alongside 39 table games and 9 poker tables. Off-track betting has long been part of the mix, and in December 2021, when Washington State legalized sports betting for tribal casinos, Northern Quest moved quickly. The Tribe opened Turf Club Sports Book, described as a state-of-the-art facility that allows guests to place legal wagers across sporting events of all kinds. In 2020, Business Insider Magazine ranked Northern Quest 9th best casino in the country, a recognition that placed it among a handful of properties selected from across the entire United States.

• 4. Pend Oreille Pavilion

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  Pend Oreille Pavilion opened in 2004 as Northern Quest's indoor concert venue, seating 1,200 people. From the start it drew musical acts, comedy shows, and sporting events to Airway Heights. The venue also found a second life as a boxing arena. ESPN2's Friday Night Fights featured Pend Oreille Pavilion on multiple occasions for boxing cards, giving the room a national television footprint. The most consequential sporting event the Pavilion hosted came in 2012, when Northern Quest staged the inaugural U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Women's Boxing inside its walls. The Pavilion also holds occasional amateur cage fighting, rounding out a lineup that extends well beyond music.

• 5. BECU Live and Outdoor Concerts

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  In 2011, Northern Quest launched its outdoor concert venue, BECU Live, with seating for more than 5,000 guests. Every summer the venue anchors a season of shows under the Pepsi Outdoor Concerts banner, drawing headline musicians and comedians. The roster over the years has included Steve Miller Band, Journey, Toby Keith, Willie Nelson, Darius Rucker, Ringo Starr, Foreigner, Dierks Bentley, Sammy Hagar, Dolly Parton, Brad Paisley, Kelly Clarkson, Train, Pitbull, ZZ Top, Heart, and Snoop Dogg, plus comedy performances from Gabriel Iglesias, Steve Martin and Martin Short, and Jeff Dunham. The Academy of Country Music Awards took notice: Northern Quest was nominated for Casino of the Year in both 2012 and 2022 on the strength of those outdoor shows. The 2024 season was the largest in the venue's history, with 27 shows running between July and September.