San Manuel Buys the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess for About $241 Million
The San Manuel Investment Authority, the investing arm of the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation in Southern California, has acquired the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess in Scottsdale, Arizona, the tribe announced this week. Financial terms weren't officially disclosed, but filings with the Maricopa County recorder's office show four parcels covering the resort's 65-acre property sold for $241.4 million, a figure that's said to include nearly $24 million in equipment, fixtures, and other intangible assets. Fairmont will continue operating the property under its existing brand.
A growing portfolio beyond tribal casinos
The deal extends a pattern of the tribe's investment arm buying luxury, non-gaming hospitality assets alongside its core casino business. San Manuel already owns and operates Yaamava' Resort & Casino in Highland, California — rebranded five years ago from San Manuel Casino and now one of the largest tribal casinos in the state, the largest tribal casino market in the country by gross gaming revenue. In Las Vegas, the tribe owns the Palms Casino Resort, bought from Red Rock Resorts for $650 million in cash in 2021; Red Rock had originally paid $312.5 million for the property and spent $690 million more on enhancements before selling at a loss.
On the non-gaming side, San Manuel took a 40% stake in the Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach resort in Dana Point, California, in July 2023 and had built that up to majority control by October 2025; Hilton manages that property's hotel operations while Troon runs its golf course. The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess adds a second major non-gaming luxury property to that growing side of the portfolio.
Why the location matters
The resort sits next to TPC Scottsdale, home of the PGA Tour's WM Phoenix Open — one of the tour's most heavily attended annual stops — which gives the property a reliable traffic bump during tournament week on top of its standing accolades: a AAA Timeless Diamond designation in 2025 for maintaining Five Diamond status since 1991, and three straight years on Condé Nast Traveler's Readers' Choice list of top resorts in the Southwest.
What it means for the industry
The purchase is another data point in a broader trend of well-capitalized tribal gaming operators diversifying into high-end hospitality assets that have nothing to do with a casino floor — a hedge against any single market's swings and a way to put casino-generated capital to work in stable, cash-flowing real estate. It doesn't change anything for bettors or casino players directly, but it's a sign of how much financial firepower some tribal gaming operators are now deploying well outside their home states.