The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess has a new owner, and it comes from the casino business. Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation, the tribe near San Bernardino behind Yaamava’ Resort and Casino, has bought the resort through its San Manuel Investment Authority.
The sale was announced on Oct. 1, and it puts the resort in the hands of an owner new to Arizona. Here is what the deal means for one of Scottsdale’s best-known addresses.
1. A Casino Tribe Has Bought a Resort Without a Casino
San Manuel runs Yaamava’ on its own land and the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, so gaming is where its name was made. The Princess goes into a separate group of hotels, which chairwoman Lynn Valbuena called “the portfolio of luxury non-gaming properties owned by our Tribe.”
2. Casino Money Is Going Into Hotels as Gambling Grows Online
Arizona knows what tribal gaming money can build, with Talking Stick a short drive down Pima Road. The state’s tribes paid $170.8 million into the Arizona Benefits Fund from gaming in the fiscal year that ended in June, the Arizona Department of Gaming reported. That figure is only the state’s share of what tribal casino floors bring in, which shows how much money the business generates before a single hotel is bought.
The growth in gambling has been moving online, and nobody books a room. That side of the business has grown its own review sites and player forums, Casinomeister among them. A tribe whose casinos depend on visitors has every reason to own resorts that earn from guests who stay, whatever happens on the screens.
3. Scottsdale Is the Portfolio’s First Stop Outside California
The investment authority bought the Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach Resort and Club in Dana Point in 2025 and Riverside’s Mission Inn Hotel and Spa in May. The Princess is the first of those hotels outside California, and with 750 rooms and suites on 65 acres it is a big one to start with.
4. Guests and the Phoenix Open Should Notice Little Change
Fairmont stays on as operator, and Valbuena said the tribe looks forward to working with the brand and the current management team. The resort also remains host hotel for the WM Phoenix Open, so February at TPC Scottsdale next door will be the first under the new owner.
The rest of the calendar carries on as well. The resort’s six pools, its 44,000-square-foot spa, the restaurants from Richard Sandoval and Michael Mina and its eight shops stay open under Fairmont, along with Freedom Fest in summer and Christmas at the Princess in winter.
General manager Jack Miller called the Princess a Scottsdale landmark for four decades. He said the tribe’s long-term commitment to stewardship and hospitality aligns closely with the resort’s own.
5. The Five Diamond Record Comes With the Keys
The Princess has held AAA Five Diamond status since 1991 and picked up the Timeless Diamond designation in 2025 for that run. It has also made Condé Nast Traveler’s Top Resorts in the Southwest list for three straight years.
For San Manuel, that record is the point of the purchase. Its casinos earn from people who walk through the door, and so does a resort that has held Five Diamond status for 35 years.
Valbuena said the tribe intends to become an active, contributing member of Scottsdale’s business and tribal community. With a third luxury hotel in the portfolio and the first outside California, the Princess gives a casino tribe from the Inland Empire a lasting stake in Scottsdale.
