NH Haiti El Rancho Hotel & Casino

NH Haiti El Rancho Hotel and Casino is Haiti largest casino and the only one with a long tradition of continuous operation in the country, with more than 100 electronic gaming machines including slots, video poker and electronic roulette, and 13 gaming tables with blackjack, craps and roulette, plus a poker room. Opened in the 1980s under American management and transferred to Haitian owners in 1992, El Rancho was completely renovated in 2013 with NH Hotels chain backing. The hotel is located in Pétion-Ville, the upper-class residential neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, on the Route de Kenscoff climbing towards the hills south of the capital. Gaming has been legal in Haiti since 1960 under a decree by President François Duvalier, regulated by the Lottery of the Haitian State (LISA).

Pétion-Ville: the hillside neighborhood above Port-au-Prince

Pétion-Ville is the highest socioeconomic level municipality in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, located in the hills southeast of the capital at 200 meters above sea level, with a cooler temperature than the city center and a concentration of international restaurants, hotels, art galleries and Haitian upper-middle class residences. El Rancho is the most historic hotel in Pétion-Ville and one of the few international accommodation establishments in Haiti operating continuously since before the 2010 earthquake that destroyed much of the country tourist infrastructure. Haiti was the world first independent black republic, proclaiming its independence in 1804 after the only successful slave revolution in history.

Haiti historic casino after the 2010 earthquake

El Rancho was one of the few Haiti casinos that survived and continued operating after the devastating January 2010 earthquake, which destroyed much of Port-au-Prince and closed most casino establishments in the country. Its 2013 renovation with NH Hotels backing represents the most important bet by the Haitian tourism sector to recover the capital entertainment capacity. It operates under LISA, the Lottery of the Haitian State.