Casino Reviews

The Turning Stone Casino and Resort Hotel is not one of our favorite places to visit. The grounds and the hotel as well as the casino are immaculate, well designed, nicely laid out and on par with even some of the smaller Las Vegas hotels and casinos. There is a hotel, in both a tower format as well as a lodge format along with a professional looking business center. On the surface it really looks great!

The problem for us came down to 3 issues. We went to a really nice bar and ordered a drink with the intent of also grabbing something to eat. We expected bar food, which would have been ok.  However when we ordered we were told it would be similar to what you would get if you ordered food to your room. We thought well this should be ok. Instead it was delivered in a plastic bag and everything was crushed at the bottom of the bag. To make matters worse, the delivery girl plopped it on the bar and walked off. Talk about bad service.

Your Slot Card Works Like a Debit Card

The other issue that bothered us was that you must add money to your slot card, place your slot card in a machine, punch in your pin number and play. No ticket in , ticket out and the only way to get your money is to go to the cashier. We do not favor this concept at all.

Lastly the machines are not the popular ones and we did not see a single winner while we were there including ourselves. We got the impression that this casino does not pay well.

We will not be back to the Turning Stone Casino Resort Hotel, however in case you want to go, here is a summary of the hotel etc in our usual format.

Slot Machines

There are over 2,400 Instant Multi-Games machines including Keno. poker slots, and many penny and nickle slots. Enjoy the thrill of competition on today’s most popular Multi-Game machines (similar to slot machines and video poker machines) or at your favorite gaming table.

Table Games

There are   over 80 table games and also buy-in to win tournaments and walk away with a fabulous cash payout!

Restaurants

There are 10 restaurants including Wildflowers; Forest Grill, Peach Blossom; Pino Blanco; Rodizio; Emerald; Season’s Harvest; Delata Cafe; The Corner Market;  and Opals.

What We Liked

• Pool area and spa area
• Grounds very neat and well kept
• Very Clean every
• Hotel rates are very reasonable
• Covered garage parking as well as surface parking
• Easy access from all highways
• Safe environment in the casino, hotel and parking areas
• Starbucks Coffee shop

What We Did Not Like

• No Free drinks while gambling
• Not a good mix of slot machines
• Poor bar service
• No ticket in , ticket out slot service
• Cannot deposit cash or bills into a slot machine

It is probably a 4 star hotel in our estimation and quite adequate for your needs as long as you over look some of the issues we identified

Slot Player Card

The slot card will provide you with benefits, however this is the first time we have encountered this type of slot card and we have been to a lot of casinos across the US and Canada. Basically you must go to the cashier or to a special machine were you insert your slot card, enter your pin and deposit your money into the machine. Your slot card really becomes a debit card at this point and the only way to play a machine is to insert your slot card. Also if you want to move from machine to machine, all you need to do is remove your slot card and re-insert it into the next machine.

If you want to cash in, you must go to the cashier to collect any balance that may be left on the slot card. It seems to us that this is a sure way to lose all of your money!

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 Turning Stone hotel & casino in a large parking garage beside the hotel and casino. There is also lots of 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:

From Syracuse Hancock International Airport: Take I-90 (NYS Thruway) East to Exit 33 (Verona); through the tollbooth, travel straight to the stoplight. Take a left onto Route 365 and the next left into the Resort.

From Albany, NY and points East: Take I-90 (NYS Thruway) West to Exit 33 (Verona); through the tollbooth, travel straight to the stoplight. Turn left onto Route 365 and the next left into the Resort.

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