Casino Reviews

The Spa Casino Palm Springs is located within two blocks of downtown Palm Springs on Amado road. There is ample parking for both valets and for people who wish to park their own cars. It is all surface parking. There is also a hotel located next door and there are many smaller hotels and motels in the immediate area along with condos for rent within walking distance. The Spa Casino Palm Springs is not really a  great spot to go for dinner, it is mainly for gambling at both tables and slots. They also run outdoor concerts once a month in one of the parking lots.

They charge $30 to get in and they block off anyone from the street from seeing the performance, although you can hear the music. It does not really build loyalty and many tourists refuse to spend their money in the casino as a result. They just are not building brand loyalty with this approach.

Spa Casino Palm Springs Sister Casino

The same slot card can be used at the Agua Caliente casino located on Bob Hope Drive and Ramon Road at I10. This hotel and casino require a car to get to and patrons can rack up points on their slot card regardless of which casino they frequent. We happen to like the Spa Casino Palm Springs because it is so convenient to get to. Patrons can go for dinner at one of the many restaurants in downtown Palm Springs and then head over to the casino for a drink after dinner and also a little gambling.

The smell of smoke can be pretty heavy at times. They recently opened a nonsmoking area. However, it is actually pretty small. They have a deli where you can order basic meals such as hamburgers and hot dogs, salads. Customers can also order breakfast. They also have a buffet, however, it does not seem to have a good reputation for the food and also for the service. Recently a group of people went for breakfast. They were charged 18% gratuity because they were part of a large group. The service was much less than normal.

The only service they received was their coffee was brought to them, so we are unclear why there should be a tip at all for this poor level of service let alone 18%. We think that this is pretty cheap on the part of the casino and will not be spending any money at their restaurants as a result. There are much better places to go to where you get better food and much more service.

Comp’s Not as Lucrative as Las Vegas

Since they have limited competition, the comps are not as good as locations where there is a lot more competition.  They still have some comps for food, free play, etc, but you can do much better at other casinos. Of course you must travel much further to get to them. It really comes down to how you want to spend your money.

The Tortoise Rock casino 29 Palms just opened for business in April 2014. We decided to visit it and see if it measured up to the advertising they were doing on TV.  We are staying in Palm Springs. Going to the Tortoise Rock Casino 29 Palms takes about an hour to drive there. We left temperatures in Palm Springs at 80 degrees and found the temps much lower in the high desert, down around 60 degrees. This is just something you need to get used to when you head into the high desert around 29 Palms.

General comments about Tortoise Rock Casino 29 Palms

They have a really nice bar area at this casino that is bright and lots of room to sit and enjoy a drink. You can also play the slots at the bar as well.

One problem or at least a surprise was that the slot machines at the Tortoise Rock Casino 29 Palms are all old machines. We could see where they were marked and worn due to lot’s of previous use. They were not paying very well on the day we were there. We did not hit any jackpot and we did not see anyone else hitting any jackpot’s.

Patrons and have free non alcoholic drinks from two stations in the casino including coffee. You can also have an attendant bring you your drinks as well.

The ceilings are high giving a nice airy feeling to the casino and also there was lot’s of air movement which also helped deal with anyone that was smoking. Some casinos are really bad for not dealing with smokers and their smoke, but this one was quite good.

The View is Great

There is a great view from the front of the casino looking out over the valley and although the landscaping is not completed yet, we are sure it will look great in another few months.

This is a relatively small casino, however it has everything that you might look for. On busy evenings it may be difficult to obtain your favorite machine. They also have a small deli which was unremarkable.

Believe it or not but beer costs more than a glass of wine. A glass of wine costs $3.50 while a draft beer costs $4.00. Usually it is the other way around.

The Tortoise rock Casino 29 Palms is a local casino which will be attractive to locals in the high desert. We do not think it is worth the drive from Coachella valley to visit this casino.

For more posts about the casinos in the Palm Springs area, click here.

This is a cute little casino on highway 86 on the road on the way to Borego springs. You cannot miss it, it is right along the highway with lots of parking for both cars and RV’s.

When you’re heading south along Highway 86, you will see the casino and then you will see aU-haul truck that is no longer running with a big sign on it, this is a road that you turn into. You can easily miss the road if it were not for the U-Haul truck sitting at the entrance.

Red Earth casino Salton Sea California

This is a great place to stop for a drink, something to eat or gas up. Many RV vans, trucks etc. stop here and overnight in the parking lot. This seems to be a popular place for RVs to overnight. You can also go dune buggy riding in the desert from this location.

The casino itself is a small casino with a good selection of slot machines. They unfortunately allow smoking in the casino and it is not large enough to have a non smoking area. There is regular bar and drink service from the staff, as well as a serve yourself area for soft drinks. Attached to the casino there is a Subway shop and a small store with lots of snacks and drinks. This is one of our favorite places to stop at least once a year when we are in the area.

You can also see the Salton Sea from the parking lot which stretches south from this area. There are a number of small towns and villages around the area, however many of these have seen much better times. The Red Earth casino Salton Sea California has lots of penny machines to play as well.

The Fantasy Springs Hotel and the casino is located on I10 near highway 86 in the Coachella Valley east of Palm Springs in California. The Fantasy Springs Hotel is a first class hotel with everything that every customer would appreciate. It is probably is a class 4 hotel compared to hotels such as the Wynn or Bellagio in Las Vegas. Which are class 5 hotels in our opinion. They also have a nice buffet and a great casino floor. They have all of the modern games that many people look for.

We also enjoyed the Fantasy Springs Casino and the buffet at the Fantasy Springs Hotel. We enjoyed both very much, and will go back to there in the near future. The casino has been upgraded in recent years and looks very nice. This was not a winning day for us at the casino, so from that perspective we are not as enamored with the place. However we will definitely be going back to this location in the near future.

Fantasy Springs Hotel – Rooms

We have not stayed at the Fantasy Springs Hotel and would appreciate any comments on what the rooms at the Fantasy Springs Hotel are like. The rooms are supposed to be very nice. They also are rumored to have a very nice pool area were you can relax and enjoy the sun. On our next visit, we will do some more snooping. We will try to get some pictures to show readers more of this property.

If anyone reading this post has stayed at this hotel, and would like to leave a comment about the rooms, we would appreciate it. It will help our readers get a complete idea of what the Fantasy Springs Hotel is like to stay at. Sorry still no comments or room pictures when we updated this post about the Fantasy Springs hotel in Palm Springs California.

Fantasy Springs Casino, located in Palm Desert near Palm Springs just off  I10 where it intersects with highway 86. As a result it is easy to get to from all points in the valley and also from riverside.  The Fantasy Springs Casino has been upgraded since we last visited and has all of the latest slot machines that everyone is looking for. We ate at the buffet which was very nice and reasonably priced.

Fantasy Springs Casino – Competition

The Fantasy Springs Casino is competing with several other local casinos in the area. These include the Aqua Calientie casino located at Ramon road, Bob Hope drive and I10. Depending on where you are staying in the valley, these casinos can be a bit of a drive. However they are easy to get to as long as you have easy access to I10. We will be going back to both of these casinos again in the future.

We are staying in the Palm Springs area. It was about a 30 minute drive to get to this particular hotel and casino. We headed out Ramon Road to I10 and then east on I 10 until we got to the exit near I10 and 86 junctions.

Casinos in the Valley

There are between 10 and 15 casinos in the Coachella Valley. It is about midway down the valley along I10. Depending on where you’re living or vacationing in the Coachella Valley you can usually get to all of these casinos within about 30 minutes by car. Some casinos are full service casinos with restaurants and hotels while others provide gaming services only. check before you go in case you are looking for a full service casino. Fantasy Springs is a full service casino, with restaurants and a hotel for patrons to enjoy.