Atlantis Undergoes $63 Million Expansion

28 June 1998

RENO -- Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. (Nasdaq: MCRI) has signed a contract and begun construction on a major expansion of the company's Atlantis Casino Resort in Reno. The new project and the South Virginia street pedestrian skyway, also under construction, will combine to cost around $63 million.

The recent expansion, in planning for over two years, includes an increase of nearly 90% in the number of hotel rooms, a 50% increase in the amount of casino space and a substantial increases in the property's restaurant, banquet and convention capacity. The company expects to complete construction of the skyway by late fall 1998 and to finish the complete expansion by early summer 1999.

The newly renovated resort will feature the addition of a 27-story hotel tower with 392 hotel rooms, including 45 deluxe suites and two 4,000 square foot super suites. Among its many innovative and unique features, the new hotel tower will be five feet wider on each side from the 21st through the 27th floor than it is at the lower floors, enlarging standard guest rooms on these floors by nearly 20% over the rooms on the lower floors. The rooms in the top seven floors of the new tower will feature premium appointments in addition to their larger square footage, and be serviced by dedicated elevators and a dedicated concierge service in order to serve guests seeking more upscale accommodations, as well as convention and trade show visitors seeking upscale convention market amenities. All rooms in the new hotel tower will feature nine foot ceilings, as do all of the existing hotel rooms, creating a more spacious, open feel than hotel industry standard eight foot ceilings. The new tower's rooms will also contain premium features such as marble floors and vanities in the bathrooms. New elevators will rise the full 27 stories of the new tower within a glass and space frame atrium, affording hotel guests stunning views of south Reno and the Sierra Nevada mountains.

The expansion will also add elegant new recreation and leisure facilities to the Atlantis, including a 17,000 square foot expansion of the pool deck area with a dramatic new glass-enclosed swimming pool and a large new state of the art health club.

The casino will be enlarged to approximately 48,000 square feet, with captivating new water features and tropical/aquatic interior design elements carrying the lost city of Atlantis theme through the new casino and public areas. The plans is to add 500 slot and video poker machines and 10 table games, bringing the property's total to 1,500 machines and 45 tables. The company will also build a new sports book and adjoining sports bar.

Atlantis' award-winning lineup of casual fine dining options will expand to include new specialty substations, a larger seating capacity at Toucan Charlie's Buffet & Grille, a 175-seat bistro-style restaurant with seasonal outdoor terrace seating and a new coffee, pastry and dessert bar with views of the Truckee Meadows and the Sierra Nevada mountains. The company will also add an exotically-themed lounge at the base of the new hotel tower.

The Resort's appeal to convention and meeting groups will be enhanced with the addition of approximately 15,000 square feet of convention, meeting and event space, including a 5,000 square-foot expansion of the Atlantis' partitionable Grand Ballroom, 5,000 square feet of new event space and 2,500 square feet of new break-out meeting space.

As previously announced, the expansion will also feature an overhead pedestrian skyway connecting the Atlantis with a 16-acre site owned by the company across South Virginia Street from the resort. Anchored at each end by 100-foot Greek columns, the pyramid-shaped glass skyway will span more than 200 feet with no support pillars. The skyway is designed to connect the resort with expanded parking and valet service on the west side of the property. It will also connect it to the company's adjoining 16 acre site for outdoor festivals and special events without disrupting the primary parking areas.