Running Aces Casino, Hotel & Racetrack — Attraction in Columbus

My husband and I visit Running Aces multiple times every race season. We visited this weekend to celebrate our anniversary. This is a review of our first stay at the new hotel.

The hotel is very nicely put together, spacious, and comfortable. Most of the staff is extremely courteous and polite. The 65inch swivel tv and rain head shower are nice touches. (Suggestion: market these features.) However, the staff needs to pay more attention to details.

The most worrisome details overlooked included the following:

I witnessed a couple staff members not wearing masks or having their masks off of their nose, mouth, or face.

There was no hand soap in the room. When reception was asked for some, it was explained that the shipment of soap did not arrive. We were given sanitization wipes and advised to use the mounted bottle of body wash in the shower for hand soap. There is a pandemic going on. Soap is a necessity now more than ever. Even if it is not standard protocol, it would not be hard to send a staff member to the store to purchase soap in the mean time.

Details overlooked in the room included:

The phone in the room said to press 0 for the front desk. There was also a button that said front desk on it. Neither option worked when tried.

There was a nice Keurig coffeemaker in the room. There were not any pods, sweetener, or creamer to make coffee.

The way the glass shower doors come together leaves a gap for water and soap to spill out. The bathroom floor was wet and slippery after each shower.

The rooms include refrigerators and microwaves. These are nice amenities. They were a surprise although because they were not listed in the room description online. List them. They are a selling point to guests.

Details overlooked with service included:

Breakfast bags were provided in the morning. It makes perfect sense to not provide continental breakfast during a pandemic. But, at least make sure guests have a few options to chose from. Every item in each bag we received was a carb except for the juice. Each bag had different flavored items. Note, guests have different dietary needs and flavor preferences.

I overheard reception tell a guest that they could receive a 10% off discount if they had a players card. I would have presented my players card if I was informed of this option.

We booked the weekend racing package so our checkout was after the conclusion of the races on Sunday (approximately 4pm); however, our room keys working anywhere after 1pm.

Other overlooked details included:

There is mention both on the website and signs in the building that free digital programs will be available for all races. These could not be located online. They were selling paper programs though.

The betting machines have a sticker that says please disinfect before and after each use. There were not any disinfecting wipes present unlike...

I have lived in Forest Lake for nearly two years and have often attended the Sunday brunch here. I enjoyed all aspects of the brunch and especially the crepe station. This last Sunday I went with my wife and 19 month old son for the brunch. They have changed to a more traditional ordered meal instead of the buffet style, I could only assume starting this week. The menu looked enticing and we ordered pancakes for my child, Lemon Marscapone pancakes for me and my wife ordered eggs benedict.

While waiting for our food the brought out a decent portion of pull apart bread which my son ate most of and it was delicious. Unfortunately this is where the food for us stopped. During our 45 minute wait (after which we left without our food) we witnessed at least two tables get the wrong orders. One of the waitresses begged her manager to go speak to a table that was having issues and he refused to like the coward that he is. She eventually stormed into the kitchen and never returned. I could only assume she quit and understandably so. Our waitress, who we have had before and absolutely adore, was obviously rattled and pressured by the situation. She came back after to our table after 35 minutes and asked if Rachel had talked to us yet? Not sure who Rachel is but apparently she was suppose to explain to us that there was no "pancake" button on the machine so all pancakes were coming out Lemon Marscapone. She apologized again for the inconvenience and returned to the kitchen.

Meanwhile the manager instead of attempting to speak to the waitress who quit or the table who she asked for him to speak to grabbed another waitress from the bar and told her she was in charge of the first ladies area. Some management skills buddy. You were unable to properly prepare the first ladies to handle the situation, so the answer is to get another person, who likely had no training, and throw her into the fire? Once again a cowardly move.

Eventually after 45 minutes and 20 of which my son was hungry and fussy and eventually fell asleep on my lap we asked the waitress for the ticket for our drinks and decided to leave. She did the right thing and refused to allow us to pay for the drinks and again apologized for the issues.

I'm not sure why they had to ruin a good thing they had going with their brunch for this disaster, but I know that they lost a few customers that day, and more than just us. As I was carrying my child to our vehicle another table that had received their food (apparently incorrect food) also got up and left.

If you guys actually read your reviews please find a new manager for the dining area or get him better trained and fix the "New Brunch" fiasco. I already miss your brunch that you had before and will not return until these issues are corrected. Even then it will take a leap of faith to get me...

okay hotel with poor service. the casino & horse track is a great attraction to the eye until you look closely. unless you are here in the winter and they have nothing but the casino, they will have the the bar open but will not allow certain people based on assumptions, bartenders preferences & they will GUESS your age BEFORE asking for ID (seems unprofessional to me)…

they will allow people(me and friends) under 21 to sit at the bar for multiple nights the almost four weeks we stayed & then lie and kick people out of the bar others even when the bar itself is not full of customers/drinkers! i STATED multiple times and multiple nights that i was 20 years old and will not drink, they lied to managers and said i was trying to get a drink when i was simply moving a glass and trying to order my own soda…. that was awkward especially because they did not believe me and just take my drink order, instead the bartender accused me of trying to take the drink within seconds of me getting to the bar. the alcoholic drink belonged to a coworker who went to the bathroom & they checked my id at the beginning. i had just come back to the bar to join my boyfriend and friends for some company.

breakfast is great :) they switch between sausage & bacon… omelette & scramble eggs and they have a few different grains to toast

the pool is usually not busy and you can get a few hours to yourself, especially during the week! house keeping is a very nice perk, they come by and keep things tidy!! often the pool does not have their own towels so prepare to bring your own!!

front desk has great service, mostly. while we stayed, there was a bit of an irritating key card problem which resulted in multiple lock outs, new keys & trips back and forth to the front desk.

the casino only has blackjack & pocker. not many other games besides basic card gambling. certain tables will kick people out of their games for winning streaks, we found that odd & it was upsetting other guests.

IF YOU ARE A POC ::: i recommend double thinking your choice at this casino/hotel if you choose to stay. Many of their employees are prejudice and racist! PLEASE BE CAUTIOUS OF BOOKING HERE. you probably would not be comfortable staying at a hotel where you will be having problems with staff & the rooms.

i DEFINITELY will consider not returning because of the INSENSITIVITY i faced. however appreciated the few employees for being helpful and NOT...