U.S. Route 66 turned 100 in 2026, and the casino that took the highway's name marked it in stone. On 31 July 2026, Route 66 Casino Hotel dedicated a permanent Route 66 Centennial Monument on its grounds and sealed a community time capsule, opening a three-day celebration that ran through 2 August with a classic car show judged across 65 classes. The monument is still there, and it is the one thing on the property you will not find at any other casino in New Mexico.
The rest of the building is more familiar, and very good at what it does: a large slot floor, a mid-sized hotel, a show theatre and an RV resort that has collected top ratings for years. Here is what you get, and when it is worth the drive west.
The property in brief
| Location | I-40 Exit 140, west of Albuquerque |
| Owner | Laguna Development Corporation, owned by the Pueblo of Laguna |
| Drive from downtown | Under 20 minutes via I-40, the hotel says |
| Slots | More than 1,000 |
| Other gaming | Table games, bingo, Caesars Sportsbook at Stadium 66 |
| Hotel | 154 rooms, king or two queens |
| RV resort | 100 full-service sites |
| Hours | 24 hours, 7 days a week |
| Phone | (505) 352-7866 |
Why "Route 66 Casino Albuquerque" is a slight misnomer
Searchers call it the Albuquerque casino, and the hotel gives its distance from downtown, but Exit 140 is out past the western edge of the metro rather than a city address. Plan it as a short highway run, not a neighbourhood stop. The Pueblo of Laguna also runs a second, smaller floor further west, Dancing Eagle at Exit 108, and the Gaming Control Board lists a third Laguna site, Route 66 Casino Express.
The gaming floor
The casino advertises more than 1,000 slot games, with new titles added monthly, and it was voted Best Slots in Albuquerque in Albuquerque the Magazine's 2025 Best of the City awards. That is a reader poll rather than a measured statistic, but it tells you where the property puts its weight: this is a machine floor first. Table games and bingo sit alongside, and the sportsbook lives in Stadium 66, the sports bar, under the Caesars Sportsbook name. The loyalty scheme is the Connections Club.
What the casino's own pages do not publish is a table count or a poker room, so a dedicated card player should not plan a night around it without calling ahead.
Eating and the show calendar
The dining range is wide for a highway property: Thunder Road Steakhouse for a sit-down dinner, Buffet 66 Fresh Market, Laguna Burger, the Pub Lounge, a Quick Bites counter and Stadium 66 for games on screen. Entertainment splits between the Legends Theater for headline acts and Thunder Road Live Music for smaller sets. The centennial weekend showed the scale the theatre works at, with the O'Jays on the Friday and Jay Leno on the Sunday.
The hotel
All 154 rooms come with a king or two queen beds, a 55-inch TV and free Wi-Fi. The pool is open 7am to 9pm for hotel guests, with a 20-person limit, worth knowing on a hot weekend afternoon. It is a practical highway hotel rather than a spa resort, and with 154 rooms it is worth booking ahead of a headline show.
The RV resort
For many visitors, this is the reason to choose Route 66 over anything closer to town. The gated resort has 100 full-service sites, pull-throughs on paved roads, 20, 30, 50 and 100 amp hookups, a picnic table and fire ring at every site, a clubhouse with a kitchen and billiards, a pool with a water slide and two fenced dog parks. The casino says it has held a 10/10/10 Good Sam rating for an eighth year in a row. Our Albuquerque casinos guide compares it with the other 100-site casino park in the metro, at Isleta.
Who it suits
Slot players, I-40 travellers and anyone in an RV will find it easy to recommend. Table and poker players are better served at Isleta or Sandia, and anyone wanting golf or a spa should look at those two as well. The monument is worth five minutes of anyone's stop. For the full list of floors across the state, see our New Mexico casinos guide.
Between road trips
Not every evening justifies the drive to Exit 140. Sweepstakes casinos give New Mexicans slot-style games at home using free promotional coins, and our rankings for New Mexico show which ones accept players here.
Frequently asked questions
Where is Route 66 Casino in Albuquerque, New Mexico?
On I-40 at Exit 140, west of the city, under 20 minutes from downtown.
Does Route 66 Casino have a hotel?
Yes, 154 rooms, plus a 100-site RV resort next door.
Is Route 66 Casino open 24 hours?
Yes, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Who owns Route 66 Casino?
Laguna Development Corporation, a company owned by the Pueblo of Laguna.
