Oct. 7, 2021

This paid piece is sponsored by The Ramkota Companies Inc.

Those who will be able to enjoy The Lodge at Deadwood this month will be people who planned ahead.

“This time of year, it’s just beautiful weather out here and a great time to be in the Hills,” general manager Anthony Galbraith said. It’s my favorite time of the year out here. It’s amazing.”

For nearly the entire year, Galbraith and his team have been serving more visitors than ever at the resort, which is in the historic northern Black Hills.

“We’ve been setting records every month since February. It’s been crazy, but it’s been good,” he said.

The demand in Deadwood has led to a big expansion for The Lodge, which is adding 43 guest rooms to its current 140 rooms.

“They all will have decks or patios, three of them will be suites, and one of the suites will be a two-story with an outdoor hot tub, TV and fireplace, so pretty much the whole second floor will be an outdoor living space and deck,” Galbraith said.

“And the view will be awesome — at the end of our building overlooking the Black Hills and Deadwood — so it’ll be pretty neat.”

Guests find there’s a lot to like about The Lodge.

There’s the largest gaming floor in Deadwood, which will add sports betting shortly.

There are two on-site restaurants, including fine dining and a sports bar.

There’s a water playland that includes a slide, lily pad walk and basketball.

And there’s a full convention center ideal for events of all kinds.

“If you want to stay here on a weekend, we suggest planning six months out,” Galbraith said. “On weekdays, our meeting business is heavy, so it just depends on what we have happening. Corporate business is slower to come back, but association meetings have.”

For Galbraith, a native of Hazel in the northeast part of the state, a career in hospitality took root while he was in high school.

“I was in all kinds of sports, and we traveled a lot,” he said. “I loved to travel to different places, staying in hotels, so when I went to college I thought it’d be a great job to do.”

That led him to intern with Ramkota Companies in Sioux Falls, where he was offered a job after graduation.

He began as a catering supervisor at the Best Western Ramkota and then progressed to night manager and assistant general manager before starting to travel to different Ramkota properties filling in between hires.

“When hotels were between managers, I would fill in, and I lived in the hotel the entire time,” he said. “I was in Atlanta; Kansas City; Casper, Wyoming; Watertown, South Dakota; and then back to Sioux Falls where I took over the general manager position in Okoboji for what was supposed to be a summer, but I stayed five years.”

He became general manager of The Lodge at Deadwood in 2010, shortly after it opened.

“People love how there’s everything under one roof,” Galbraith said. “The entire family can come and find something to enjoy.”

The expansion is scheduled to open in the spring; the hope is to add sports betting by the end of 2021.

“We need a lot more people to help, starting now,” Galbraith said. “We have more than 200 employees, but on a normal year, we’d have up to 325, so it’s a huge need for us. Before the pandemic, we were at 318, so we’re really trying to staff back up.”

Working for The Lodge, which is part of Ramkota Companies, allows employees to benefit from being part of a larger organization with multiple opportunities for career advancement.

“That’s huge for us,” Galbraith said. “I think we have great employees and can retain employees, and it’s another way to do that.”

Galbraith also is a standout leader in the company, said Josh Schmaltz, Ramkota president.

“He’s another great success story in our company. He started his career with us, and 20-plus years later, he’s the GM of one of the most successful properties in our company,” he said. “I can’t say enough great things about Anthony.”

As for Galbraith, “I just love the people,” he said. “Meeting different guests every day is what I love about this industry. It’s the people you get to talk to every day. It’s a lot of fun for me.”

“We’re very proud of the entire team at The Lodge at Deadwood,” Schmaltz said. “They’ve seen incredible demand and have continued to provide outstanding guest experiences, and we can’t wait for even more people to be able to visit here and enjoy the best of the Black Hills.”

To connect with travel and employment opportunities at The Lodge at Deadwood, click here.