Casino Reviews

We recently visited Searchlight, Nevada, and went to the  Nugget Casino in Searchlight for lunch. There are two casinos in this little village, one is the Search Light Nevada Nugget Casino and the other is called Terrible’s.

The village of Searchlight is at the intersection of routes 95 and 164 between Boulder City and Laughlin.  There is nothing around for miles. This old mining town is a great spot to stop for gas, perhaps a bite to eat, and also perhaps a bit of gambling.

The address is for those that need it is: 100 N. Hwy. 95, P.O. Box 187, Searchlight, NV 89406 . The phone number is (702)297-1201.

The Searchlight Nugget is a neat little casino with a bar and a small restaurant in the casino. Of course, there are approximately 90 slot machines. The town of Searchlight sports another casino, a gas station, and a school. Also, a small home development and the usual set of trailers make up the small population. People living in Searchlight either work at the local businesses or at the Lake Mohave park a few miles away.

Search Light Nevada Nugget Casino – Restaurant

The restaurant was busy when we stopped. We sat at the counter, since all of the tables were already taken and we also like to sit at the counter as a means of meeting people to learn about the surrounding area.  Well, the food was ok, however we were not overly impressed with the service. It took a long time to get our meal, perhaps because they were already busy when we arrived.

There was one major turn-off for us, and that was the waiters that served us. They were very nice people, friendly and offering good service. They talked to us and inquired where we were from since it was pretty obvious that we were tourists. The thing that turned us off was their teeth. They obviously could not afford a dentist, and as a result, some were missing teeth, and many of the teeth they still had were black. It is not a pretty site to look at when you have your meal and someone is talking and smiling at you with a mouthful of bad teeth.  Some may say we are being snobbish or overly critical; however, it was a shock to us. You just do not expect this when you are in a public restaurant that offers meals, etc. The waiters lived in Searchlight or in a small trailer park a few miles away.

Entertainment

The Searchlight Nugget has 99 slot and video machines, including an old western-style “Mills Black Beauty” cowboy slot machine. The Searchlight Nugget has three gaming tables, a small bar/lounge with an old-time Rock-Ola music box, and a cashier’s cage for change and to pay your restaurant check.

You can also take a 20-mile drive over to Lake Mohave. The area – which is warm year-round – has some of the best water sports and outdoor adventures in the state. You can enjoy nature hikes, cycling, and horseback riding along the shore, or you can rent a Jet Ski, sailboat, motorboat, canoe, or kayak and get on the water. This is a state park, and you will have to pay an entrance fee to enter. The Searchlight Nugget Casino Bar has live entertainment every weekend in the form of local and regional bands.

Reviews of the Nugget Casino in Searchlight

Although we have visited the Nugget Casino in Searchlight, we were also interested in what other people thought of the casino and the restaurant. Many found this to be a quaint little place with good food and a place to spend a few dollars at on the slots.

No one mentioned bad service or any major negatives. It is not a Las Vegas casino, that is for sure, but it is a nice spot to stop over on your way to Vegas, Laughlin, Nevada, or points further south along Route 95. For information and links to Las Vegas casinos, click here.

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We have always wanted to stop at the Route 66 Casino located just west of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and we finally did on our last road trip through this part of the southern United States. The Route 66 casino is approximately 20 minutes west of the city. It is a great place to stop for the night if you are traveling,  need gas, or need a room, and it is a good place to sleep. This casino hotel is on Interstate I40 on the south side of the highway, about 10 miles west of Albuquerque.  We stayed there one night and will stay at this hotel again sometime when we are in the area.

This is an Indian run hotel and casino, so there is smoking allowed in the casino, however they do have well equipped non smoking rooms. We also ate breakfast at the restaurant in the morning. The meal was large, at a good price, and the service was excellent. One of the big advantages of staying at this particular hotel is that the Indians have decided not to charge state or federal tax, so the price you are quoted is the price you pay, and it was very reasonable. This was our first time staying at this hotel, so we paid the regular rate. Next time, we hope to pay less since we signed up for a slot card!

Route 66 Casino

More details on this casino follow:

Slot Machines

Route 66 Casino Hotel features more than 1,700 slots in every denomination, from pennies, nickels, and quarters all the way to $5, $10, and $100 high-stakes machines.

Slot machines include:

• Jeff Foxworthy
• Hit the Heights
• Beat the Bandit
• Super Nova
• Diamond Factory
• Sex and the City
• Top Dollar
• Crystal Fortune
• Stargate
• Quick Strike

Table Games

Blackjack, Craps, and Roulette games feature a variety of betting limits for the beginner to the most experienced high roller.

Games like Pai Gow Poker, Three Card Poker, and Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em are also available.

Restaurants

Thunder Road Steakhouse, Buffet 66, Johnny Rockets, Main Street, Travel Center (Dairy Queen), and lounge. We ate in the Main Street restaurant and were more than satisfied with our breakfast meal and the service.

What We Liked

Variety of slot machines

Buffet ( they have a buffet, we did not eat there)

Hotel rates are very reasonable, no taxes on your room!

Easy access fromI40

A Safe environment in the casino, hotel, and parking areas

Great stopover point on your way past Albuquerque or points west or east

They also had cheap gas at the time we stopped there as well.

What We Did Not Like

There are no real complaints about the Route 66 hotel and casino other than the fact that they allow smoking in the casino, which most, if not all, casinos do in the US. Some casinos are just better with air circulation than others.

It is a 3.5-star hotel in our estimation and quite adequate for our needs

Slot Player Card

They have their own slot players’ card system, and when you sign up for the first time, you usually get a gift.

If you have not taken advantage of slot player cards, there are several benefits that many slot players should consider. Free or discounted rooms, email mailing list of promotions, free or discounted meals, access to entertainment, and a tax report outlining your losses and wins for tax claim purposes.

Parking

There is ample parking at the Route 66 Hotel & Casino, including a large garage in front of the hotel and a large surface parking lot for thousands of cars.

Directions: This casino hotel is on Interstate 40, on the south side of the highway, about 10 miles west of Albuquerque.

The Rideau Carleton Raceway Casino is located in Ottawa on Albion road. This is a combination race track, casino and sometimes exhibition and show venue.  The original post can be found by Clicking Here. We thought we would provide an update to this original post that we made about this particular casino. There have been some changes we wanted to make people aware of.

The Rideau Carleton Raceway Casino is still the same configuration, restaurant and bar area. However they have added three electronic tables for patrons to use. There is a blackjack electronic table, a Baccarat, Roulette and Sic-Bo! The black jack table has the usual video dealer that is a very shapely dealer for you to be amused by while you are gambling and possibly be distracted by.

Multi-line Slots

They have moved many of the slot machines around to accommodate these tables. The process has installed many new slot machines of various themes and denominations. There are many more 1 cents and 2 cent machines with multiple lines where you bet a maximum of $2 and $4 on a penny machine. These have become very popular all over North America and the Rideau Carleton Raceway Casino is following suit with these machines. Many of the popular traditional machines have had to make way for all of these new slots.

Very Busy

If anything this casino is becoming more and more popular. No matter what time you go there, there are always people there and it seems that even at 1 am in the morning it is crowded with people. If you want your favorite machine, you are going to have to wait until it is vacated before you can use it or you arrive at 9 am in the morning. Even then sometimes you have to wait until someone is finished.

Comp’s

Comp’s are still bad compared to other casinos, so no change there. Payouts are ridiculous. If you win more than $200 on one press of the button, someone has to come and pay you instead of just printing a ticket. Not sure of the reason, but the slot attendants still have their hands out looking for tips. Service is slow so most don’t bother tipping anymore. Why tip for bad service.

Slot Attendant Service

In fact we recently won a nice little jackpot which we wanted to have a check instead of cash. First I was able to get the attention of the attendants. It only took about 10 minutes to have a check printed. However, I had to wait at least 30 minutes before I could even get someone to come and process the win. I think they know that a check will be required and there will be no tip, so why stop and process the jackpot. Pretty bad service in my opinion.

Anyway it is still a great place to spend an evening, provided that you limit your losses and control your gambling. Have a drink , maybe something to eat and play a little bit for an enjoyable evening!

The New York New York Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas is truly spectacular. Emulating the New York skyline with a roller coaster ride that runs through the casino and outside as well there is lots to see and do in this casino hotel in Las Vegas. The picture on the right was taken from one of the bridges that crosses the strip from the New York Hotel to the MGM Grand Casino on the other side of the road. This is one of the best panorama views that I have been able to take of this hotel.

We have stayed here several times and although the hotel is not our favorite, it is a very nice hotel to stay at. Personally I like the casino more than others due to its action orientation and night life atmosphere. You can roam the streets of downtown New York, visit a bar with dueling pianos or visit a pub were they dance on the bar.  The casino is in and around of this and they also have some really great slot machines. I have won a few jack pots as well here on slots and on video poker machines.

An Exciting Win

One time we were just walking by and my wife needed to use the bathroom. We went inside and I decided to play a video poker machine. Before she returned, I had hit a royal flush and earned a cool $1000. Now this is the way I like to gamble.

The picture on the left shows the skyline of the hotel at night. Again taken from one of the bridges crossing the strip You can see the wire fence in the foreground.  It really is a spectacular view and as we have already mentioned there are lots to do at this casino. Read on for more details about our New York New York Casino and hotel review.

New York New York Casino and Hotel – Slot Machines

There are over 1,500 slots in varying denominations including:

• Wheel of Fortune
• Megabucks
• Jackpot Party
• Blazing 7’s
• Top Dollar
• Sex & the City
• Monopoly
• Goldfish
• Wizard of Oz

Table Games

There are 84,000 square feet of space with more than 67 gaming tables including:

• Blackjack
• Craps
• Roulette
• Mini Baccarat
• Let It Ride
• Big Six
• Three Card Poker
• Texas Hold’em Bonus
• Crazy 4 Poker

Restaurants

• Nine Fine Irishmen
• The Sporting House Bar & Grill
• Gallagher’s Steakhouse – Great steaks here!
• II Fornaio
• Chin Chin Café
• Gonzalez Y Gonzalez
• America
• Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs
• New York Pizzeria
• Broadway Burger Bar
• Quick Bites

What We Liked

• Variety of slot machines
• Free drinks while gambling
• Free entertainment at the bar
• Dueling Pianos bar, you need to line up to get into this one
• Buffet is great
• Pool area and spa free to hotel
• Hotel rates are very reasonable, especially if you use an M-Life card while gambling
• Covered garage parking which is very secure
• Easy access from all highways including Interstate 15
• Safe environment in the casino, hotel and parking areas

What We Did Not Like

• It is a 4 star hotel in our estimation and quite adequate for our needs
• Rooms in the hotel are getting a bit dated as of 2011
• Getting to your room can be confusing, due to the many different elevator banks

Slot Player Card

They are part of the MGM Mirage slot players card system. Slot members can take advantage of benefits at many Las Vegas hotels,  as well as sister hotels in Tunica, Biloxi, Laughlin and Reno.

If you have not taken advantage of slot player cards, there are a number of benefits that many slot players should consider. Free or discounted rooms, email mailing list of promotions, free or discounted meals, access to entertainment, and a tax report outlining your losses and wins for tax claim purposes.

Parking

There is ample parking at the New York hotel & casino in a large parking garage beside the hotel. There is no surface parking that we observed. You can access the hotel from the garage via an elevator from all levels. The parking garage is also patrolled on a regular basis and it also protects your car from the weather.

Directions:

Located across from the MGM Grand and at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard & Tropicana.

From McCarran International Airport

• Head east from Wayne Newton Blvd – go 0.5 mi
• Bear right at Swenson St and head toward Airport exit – go 0.9 mi
• Turn left at E . Tropicana Ave. – go 1.2 mi
• Cross Las Vegas Blvd, turn right into New York-New York off East Tropicana Ave

From Interstate 15

• Exit 1-15 and head east onto E. Tropicana
• Turn left into New York-New York off East Tropicana Ave

A nephew of mine and his wife are planing to go to Vegas for the first time and were asking were they should stay. I initially recommended they should stay at one of the following  hotels. They are all close to each other and in the center of everything. Unfortunately they can also be expensive as well and might be more than he wants to pay for a hotel room.

Fortunately, there is a great deal of competition in Las Vegas, and very nice hotels can be found that are less expensive. A major tip about finding cheap rates is to find out what conferences are in Las Vegas, how many people are involved, and which hotels are hosting the larger conferences. Staying away from hotels that are hosting large conferences can mean that you find rates that are much cheaper. Even some of the big-name hotels will give you cheap rates if they are having a slow week.

Where to Stay in Las Vegas – Nicer Hotels

• Mirage
• Treasure Island (TI)
• Wynn,
• Venation
• Paris
• Bellagio

They are prime locations and often a little more pricey than some of the other hotels along the strip. The price at any given time depends on what is going on in Las Vegas as well as in that particular hotel. If there is a major conference taking place, you can be sure that the prices for rooms is going to be much higher. My nephew is looking for something more affordable and sent the following note.

Where to Stay in Las Vegas – Cheaper hotels

• Luxor
• Rio All Suite
• New York, New York
• MGM Grand
• Mandalay Bay
• Aria

They are all 4 stars and are a couple of hundred dollars less than the Mirage, which we are looking into instead of these options. If you could let me know your thoughts

Our comments on these hotels are as follows:

They are all very good hotels, and we have stayed at MGM, NYNY, and Aria. It really comes down to location.

Rio– off the strip, and you cannot walk to the strip. I think they have a shuttle that you can take, or you can take a taxi. Apparently, they have a really good nightclub there if you can get in.

Mandalay Bay – very nice hotel, on the strip, across from the airport. But at the extreme south end of the strip, probably 2 miles from the mirage. Lots of walking to get anywhere, and you do not want to take taxis all of the time

Luxor

Better location, on the strip, at the south end, still a long way from the main hotels.

Aria – on the strip, between NYNY and Bellagio, across the street from the Mgm Grand, good location , brand new and very modern looking. we personally do not like it because it is all glass and steel, grey, not the desert tones, huge place and offers everything you will want.

MGM – on the strip, huge, (5000 rooms) can take the monorail to other locations from this hotel, across the street from the NYNY and Aria .

New York, New York– I like this place,my wife not so much, unique in that it represents the ny sky line, and streets of new york inside in the restaurant area, has a roller coaster going through it, has two neat bars – coyotes and also the dueling pianos.

For my money I would stay at NYNY or Mgm. and get a M-life slot card to use when I am playing the slots there. . You can still walk to the Bellagio fountains, the Mirage volcano and the TI pirate show ( about a mile) as well as many of the other hotels along the strip.

Take Good Walking Shoes

Remember these hotels are huge, just to get from your room to the street is a good walk, so make sure you take good walking shoes.

For free drinks, make sure you have some money in the slot machine, whether you are playing or not, tip $1 for a drink for each of you, and order whatever you want.

if you go downtown, take a taxi, do not walk. it is too far and there are some less than good areas on the way, especially at night.