Sycuan Casino Resort — Attraction in Alpine

It is hard to know where to start with this review since the experience was terrible on so many levels and the staff did not seem to care at any point. In 40 years of travel, I have never had to flee a property, until we stayed at the Sycuan Casino Resort. ||||The issues started on check-in with Cristo's on the front desk. The property bills - without any prior notice - $100 per day for "incidentals", As we were staying for 5 nights - that amounted to $500 plus the resort fee (more about that later). When we questioned Cristo on why the $500 charge - his response was directly confortational - "that's our policy". No explanation on why the large credit card hold - just a blank stair and "that's our policy".||||Accepting the sudden credit card charge, we were then advised that there was a non-discretionary $15 per night "resort fee". According to the in-room card, this covered high speed internet, 2 bottled water, access to pool, gardens and lazy river, and a complimentar shuttle to the sister Singing Hills Golf resort. Problem was that the Lazy River and large pool were "closed for the season". This was spelted out the sandwich board in the lobby which included a long list other "NO's" and policies. Incidentially, the internet was unsecured and ran at 15 mps in our room. Not exactly high speed in 2024. ||||This lack of hospitability continued in the room with a card advising "due to the popularity of our guest room amenities, if items are missing upon your departure you will be charged" For example, the bathroom wastebasket was ($180), bathroom tissue cover ($50), bathroom soap dish ($25) , ice bucket ($40), etc. Never seen such an extensive list of charges - obviously theft is a major concern for this property. Given this level of concern, we took the precaution of photographing the various items so there was no "misunderstandings" later. The tone of this notice is off-putting to say the least. All this was within 30 minutes of checking in.||||Went to dinner at the Pink Budha restuarant where one of the staff asked "whatca' want" in a tone that would have taken anyone back. The food was fine except that the restuarants are open to the gaming floor. Anyone with breathing issues is forced to choose between eating and breathing. We expected heavy smoke in some areas at some times - that's a normal part of casinos in some places. We just didn't want it when we ate. ||||Speaking of breathing, the hotel does have a non-smoking slot machine section. It is in the back of the hotel, second floor, so you have to walk through the smoke to get to it. Once there, the cashier cage and ATM were not in service. We were unable to get a coffee as support staff were no where to be seen for the 45 minutes we played. This was on a Saturday evening when you would expect these functions to be operational. ||||I went down later to play and the lack of staff interaction continued at both the black jack and craps tables. In particular, the craps people were noticeable disintereded in the game as they checked their watch on a regular basis, looking at the ceiling and did not chat with the players. ||||Went back to the room however our clothes smelt so badly that we had to double bag them as the were unfit to go in the suitcase.||||Hoped to have a coffee but there was no coffee machine in the room. The only place it seems to be available was at the Starbucks since we couldn't get service on the gaming floor. ||||We decided that this was not how we wanted to spend 5 days, cancelled our reservation and checked out after 20 hours. Hotwire was excellent in providing support, a refund for the unused portion and options for a more suitable hotel in San Diego.||||One final incident; we called the General Manager and was transferred to Mary Green, the Executive Assistant. As a courteous, we wanted to share this experience with her so she was aware of why we left so early. We left a message for her, briefly explaining the situation, why we were leaving early and asking her for a call back. So far, no response. Given the staff attitude, her apparent lack of interest was not surprising.||||The Sycuan Resort may be fine as a local casino, but as a resort - it failed...

Pros: Nice room, Clean Room, Ok view, Free water in room

Cons: No coffee maker in room, noisy hallway guests, pot smoke smell in hallways, rude staff, unnecessarily strict rules about food and beverages, excessive security/metal detectors, pools need to open earlier and stay open later (would cut down on amount of partying in the rooms/hallway), unexpected $100 per night security deposit (which is refundable but was a surprise), refund of security deposit takes up to 30 days.

Where to begin? My wife and I chose Sycuan as we were attracted to the pools/lazy river advertised. We originally wanted to stay at Viejas because we had concert tickets there, but rooms were unavailable. Loved the Pride flag hanging up, but its just for show, by the way. Upon entering Sycuan you are faced with metal detectors and security guards (at every entry point). Should I feel protected or scared? What has happened there to necessitate this much security? We saw patrons scolded for carrying in their half empty Starbucks cups (drink it up or throw it away now) we heard a security guard tell someone. Really?

As tourists, sampling local cuisine is a staple, but don't bring back leftovers to your room if it was not purchased at Sycuan. Outside food and beverage is STRICTLY prohibited. We purchased a couple of Modelo's inside Sycuan's Gift Shop and wanted to check out the pool before getting dressed to hang out at the pool. A very rude young woman told us we could not bring the beer to the pool. We explained that we purchased the beer from the Sycuan gift shop so it was not an outside beverage. She told us that it was still considered an "outside" beverage because we did not purchase it from the pool area. See what I mean about unnecessarily strict? Isn't Sycuan still getting their profit despite where inside the compound we make a purchase?

Now let's talk about the pool area. Sans gift shop beer, we trekked to the pool and found some chairs near the lazy river. Not enough shade and not enough umbrellas to be found but we dealt with it. We bought some beer at the pool bar and as I was about to ask how to order food, the very rude bartender just walked away without as much as a "can I help you with anything else?" I'm not a 20 something swimsuit model, so I guess I didn't matter. I'm a 59 year old grandma just trying to enjoy a short vacation. Guess he doesn't respect his elders (LOL). We noticed a server going from chair to chair taking orders (not just the pricey daybeds) but the free pool chairs too. Lesbian grandmas get no service I guess as we were ignored. (See my initial comment about the showy pride flag). As I went to the bar again to order food, I finally encountered a nice staff member. She got a well deserved tip and even asked me if a server had not been over to take our order at the chair. (So I'm not crazy, we were ignored)! I will say, the food was very good.

Throughout the day at the pool, there were so many security people walking around. At the pool? Saw 5 of them gathered near the side of the bar hanging out and chatting. Really? Isn't this overkill? I really felt concerned for my safety rather than safe with the exorbitant amount of safety officers. No lifeguards, mind you, only security officers. Puzzling! The DJ was awesome, but stopped playing music at 4pm. Would have loved to come back down to the pool at night for soft music/jacuzzi time, but it closed at 8pm even though ambient lighting was present.

Now that we have experienced Sycuan, we won't be back. I used the word "compound" earlier on in this review, because we felt like we were in a prison, not a relaxing resort environment. Maybe I'm missing some history and this place has been a target of violence . .. if that's true then we are definitely never coming back. Lastly, If Sycuan demands that only purchases made at their property can be on the property. .LOWER the prices for food and beverage and patrons...

1 word to describe my first & obviously last visit here: TRAUMATIC!

After doing research about the different casinos in the area, I decided to choose this place to celebrate NYE with my friends. One of whom was pregnant, the other battling cancer, and we had just experienced family losses right before Christmas. All we wanted to do was relax, play some slots, and peacefully ring in the New Year. Instead I, a black woman that’s barely 130 lbs, ended up “ringing in” the year outdoors shivering outside crying with my hands up for about 2 hours surrounded by at least 5 officers, multiple security guards, and police cars. One in particular kept screaming and cursing at me with gun towards me, yelling not to move, then to do this, and that as if it was some sick game of Simon Says.

After entering, I excitedly went to get the physical players card from the counter because I had signed up online the night before. I told my friends I would catch up with them on the floor after grabbing a drink at the bar. The bar wasn’t packed, so I ordered 1 drink (gin & tonic), then began a convo with another patron who had been there much longer before me. He was kind enough to not only pay for my drink, but asked the bartender to get me one more before he closed out. I was on drink 2, and continued minding my business. Between the time I entered and the time all hell broke loose, some men had tried flirting/making advances but I turned them down. Apparently I told the wrong person no, because next thing you know I was being escorted out when trying to meet up with my friends and play. I kept asking what was going on and was told to be quiet and just follow them. The same man from the bar witnessed them dragging me out and when he asked, they told him I “was over my limit”. He told them that didn’t make sense because he had more drinks, was actually drunk, and said all I had done was sit there.

They made me sit outside at the front where everyone walking in & out could see. I kept asking what did I do wrong and no one could give me an answer whatsoever. Some guards couldn’t even look me in my face because they knew all of this was ridiculously wrong and excessive. I tried video recording what little I could, but that’s when a gun was drawn on me telling me to put my phone down & hold my hands up. Fortunately before doing so, I was able to get my brother on the line and have him hear everything via speakerphone. In this day and age of things going left with black people & law enforcement, I absolutely thought I was about to die. I asked if I could at least call my friend because they were threatening to throw me in a police car, and take me to jail where I’d be arrested. After more tears with my hands up in the cold, I was finally given permission to use my phone to contact my friend. When she asked they told her I was “over limit.” As someone who has worked in the service industry before, if one truly is “over limit” then that is the responsibility of the bartender. Because if 2 drinks = over the limit, then why serve me a 2nd? Not to mention I wasn’t belligerent, in-cohesive, aggressive, NOTHING. I literally walked in, got my players card, went to the bar and sat there. I kept telling them to just look at the footage and they refused. The night ended with more security following my friends and I (once again, 1 pregnant, the other with cancer) back to our car. Going through past reviews I see that security has treated others with excessive force, and that’s NOT okay. One shouldn’t have to fear for their life at a casino by the casino itself. I’ll definitely be spreading the word on every social platform and looking into legal actions. A young black woman, nor anyone else shouldn’t be aggressively targeted like this for...