The hotel tower at Wildhorse Resort & Casino is lit up like a giant slot machine by a 3-D animation projection during the Grand Opening ceremony in 2011.

The Wildhorse Resort & Casino is a region’s worth of entertainment condensed into one area on the Umatilla Indian Reservation.

In addition to 1,200 slot machines on the casino floor, the resort contains a 300-room hotel, a five-screen movie theater, an 18-hole golf course and Plateau, a fine dining restaurant.

But Wildhorse’s massive amount of amenities weren’t part of the resort’s original features when it opened 20 years ago.

While the golf course opened in 1997, Plateau welcomed its first diners a decade later in 2007. And the hotel tower addition with 200 rooms and the cinema were completed in 2011.

With Wildhorse services duplicating many Pendleton amenities, the results have been a mixed bag for Round-Up City businesses.

Raphael Hoffman, who used to own and operate Raphael’s with her husband Robert, said her eatery was the only fine dining restaurant in an 80-mile radius when it opened in 1989. Initially, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation government was a significant part of her customer base.

Hoffman said Raphael’s hosted government meetings, provided catering for events on the reservation and held a contract to provide food and service for the Kinship Cafe at the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute.

“When they built (Plateau), they didn’t need us anymore,” Hoffman said with a laugh.

With competitors from the reservation, Pendleton and Eastern Washington chipping away at Raphael’s customer base and the general downturn in the economy, Hoffman’s restaurant shuttered in 2010.

The Pendleton Country Club also lost customers to the Wildhorse when the resort expanded to include a golf course.

Situated between Pendleton and Pilot Rock on Highway 395, country club assistant manager Klint Mills said some members left because the Wildhorse golf course is more conveniently located.

Mills said the country club has adjusted recently by offering non-member play and is in no danger of closing.

The Wildhorse’s unique location has other advantages.

Although Wildhorse is only a few miles from Pendleton, because the resort is located on tribal land, it doesn’t have to pay city taxes.

Pendleton Mayor Phillip Houk said when the city established the Tourism Promotion Assessment Charge, which taxes $1.50 per paid room of occupancy to pay for Travel Pendleton improvements to the Pendleton Convention Center, they were rebuffed.

Houk said there are no hard feelings and added that the resort brings a lot of tourism to the area.

A similar sentiment is shared by staff from the Red Lion Hotel.

While the Wildhorse does “take a piece of the pie” from the 170-room hotel, Red Lion director of sales Cheryl Montgomery said Wildhorse has referred customers to the Red Lion when it experiences overflow.

Despite partially contributing to her restaurant’s closure, Hoffman said she’s also happy about Wildhorse’s success.

“What the tribe has brought here is amazing,” she said.

After failing to find a buyer for the Raphael’s property, the Hoffmans reopened the restaurant as Sundown Grill and BBQ last year.

Hoffman said she recommends the casino along with her restaurant to people passing through town, knowing they’re more likely to go to both destinations when they return.

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Contact Antonio Sierra at asierra@eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0836.