Seneca Niagara Casino Plans $47M Room Overhaul, Skipping the Penthouses
New York's Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino will renovate 594 rooms by 2027, as cross-border Canadian visits face pressure from tariffs and politics.
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited by the ON360 newsroom.
Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino is spending $47 million to renovate nearly its entire hotel, a project that will touch 594 of the property’s 604 rooms and suites over the next 15 months. The upgrade begins in October and is scheduled to wrap by December 2027, according to the resort’s operator, Seneca Resorts & Casinos (SRC).
The work will span 22 floors and roughly 394,000 square feet, making it one of the largest renovation efforts in the region’s biggest hotel. Only the property’s 10 Penthouse suites will remain untouched.
Phased work, minimal disruption promised
Crews will move through the property three floors at a time. SRC president and CEO Kevin Nephew said the phasing was designed with guests in mind.
“The majority of the rooms will remain available for guests throughout the entire construction period,” Nephew said, adding that dedicated construction elevators and set work hours would help preserve the guest experience during the build-out.
SRC’s Hicham Jaddoud said the redesign is meant to reflect “the elegance and quality our guests have come to expect.” The finished rooms are pitched as spaces for relaxation, alongside the resort’s existing restaurants, indoor pool, fitness centre, spa, retail and the 2,300-seat Seneca Niagara Event Center.
Cross-border traffic in question
The renovation lands at an awkward moment for cross-border casino traffic. Seneca Niagara sits just across the Niagara River from Ontario, and has long drawn Canadian visitors alongside American and international guests.
That flow has come under pressure since U.S. President Donald Trump began imposing tariffs and floating 51st-state rhetoric toward Canada. Prime Minister Mark Carney’s “Elbows Up” push, launched ahead of the last federal election, has also encouraged Canadians to shift spending toward domestic and international alternatives.
Even Las Vegas has felt it. Circa Las Vegas owner Derek Stevens launched a promotion in January specifically aimed at drawing Canadian visitors back.
Asked whether Seneca Niagara had seen a comparable drop in Canadian traffic, Nephew gave a measured answer. “Fluctuations through periods like the COVID-19 pandemic and recent global political events are inevitable, but we are grateful to have retained a loyal Canadian guest following,” he said.
He was direct on one point: the renovation itself isn’t a response to any Canadian slowdown. “Our decision to make this dramatic investment in our room offering was driven only by our focus on remaining at the leading edge of our marketplace,” Nephew said.
Occupancy numbers and wider investment
Seneca Niagara reported more than 181,000 room stays in 2025. Through roughly eight months of 2026, it had logged about 141,000 check-ins.
The room project follows other spending across SRC’s holdings. The company put nearly $3 million into Seneca Allegany’s Seneca Café earlier this year, and a separate $5.8-million upgrade of Allegany’s Thunder Mountain Buffet is on track for completion in November.
SRC says further property improvements are in the works but hasn’t detailed them. For Ontario players who still make the trip across the border, the renovated rooms won’t be ready until late 2027 at the earliest.