L’Auberge adding parking at busy BR casino

Advocate staff photo by LIBBY ISENHOWER -- L'Auberge Casino and Hotel Baton Rouge opened its doors to gamblers Sept. 1 and helped grow the casino market by $10.3 million to a total $25.2 million last month. L'Auberge took in more than its two competitors combined.

BY TED GRIGGS

Advocate business writer

Weekends at L’Auberge Casino & Hotel Baton Rouge have been so busy since its Sept. 1 opening that the facility is looking to add 400 parking spaces to the 2,400 already available, said Anthony Sanfilippo, who heads L’Auberge’s parent company, Pinnacle Entertainment.

The facility drew more than 18,000 visitors during its first weekend and the weekends have stayed pretty busy, Sanfilippo said Friday. The facility’s attractions — the casino, concerts and restaurants — have more than filled the available parking on weekends.

Sanfilippo said he could not disclose visitor numbers or revenue for the first month of operation.

Sanfilippo said L’Auberge is still trying to get the word out about the new casino complex, and it will probably take 12 to 18 months to let people in the region know the facility is open and what it has to offer.

Sanfilippo was participating in a media event Friday that included tours of the property and promotions of its restaurants and services.

The media event, which had originally been planned in advance of the casino’s opening, was postponed because of Hurricane Isaac at the end of August.

People will try anything once, just to take a look around, Sanfilippo said. The key for L’Auberge is to provide the kind of service and experience that makes people want to visit a second and third time.

The idea is to get people who are making a trip to ask themselves whether they should come to Baton Rouge or the Mississippi Gulf Coast casinos, he said, and to convince them the best choice is Baton Rouge.