Once inside the sprawling space, it’s easy to imagine that you have left the 805 and landed in some sci-fi facsimile of Vegas. The operation gained 550,000 square feet and a major expansion of the compound, with a new 12-story hotel tower, a food court, and a central bar in the vaster real estate of slot machines and game rooms. This bigger, bolder, boozier casino opened in 2016 amid a buzz of controversy and to the tune of $165 million. Lest we forget where we were, inside our hotel room’s “deluxe” and relaxation-geared appointments was a customized “Do Not Disturb” sign, reading “I’m dreaming of a jackpot.” We proceeded over to the casino proper and into the mystical portal with escalators to the gambling zone - escalators to the “jackpot dream,” and certainly one of the more hope-filled passageways in the County … at least on the way in.

Somehow, though, the act of spending 24 hours at the casino/hotel/experience is an entirely different, mind-altering experience from the in-and-out act of catching a show there or going to drop/gain money in gambler mode. Our desire for escape and for basking in a decidedly “other” place arrived after a mere 35-minute drive from the house and over a period of just 24 hours in casino country, all in the affordable-luxury/guilty-pleasure category of indulgence.

Call it a nearby getaway, or maybe a micro-staycation. Duly armed with swag-tificates, my wife and I seized on the impulsive notion to pack up the bags (well, one small bag) and head to Chumash land on a Monday night. Now, 15 years and another major casino renovation later, it was time to visit the place on an overnight basis. I got the goods when covering the casino’s opening back in 2004, when Fleetwood Mac was hired for two nights to toast the glitzy moment and christen the Samala Showroom. Golden swag suddenly showed up in a desk drawer corner recently in the form of gift certificates to a deluxe hotel room at Chumash Casino Resort, a swanky dinner in its in-house fine-dining haven that is Willows, and dollops of spa decadence.

Chumash casino events 2019