Rocksino by Hard Rock Deadwood — Attraction in Deadwood

I plan trips for a ladies travel group. Five of us stayed in Deadwood a couple of weeks ago (mid-June). I originally reserved 2 rooms for 3 nights at a chain hotel, but a week before leaving home, I checked the hotel website reservation to compare to my email confirmation and discovered the online confirmation was about $400 more. When I called the hotel to get the rate corrected, it ended up increasing to more than double the original amount. After speaking with corporate customer service, I was "given their word and that of the manager in Deadwood that my original rate would be honored upon check-in but their system could not update to the correct rate. We were a tad leary of "their word", so I found Rocksino as Plan B. The rates at Rocksino for a Diamnond Suite (3 bedroom) was less than my original reservation at the other place, so I reserved that suite for 3 nights and received confirmation. Enroute on the Saturday before our arrival, I phoned Rocksino to confirm the reservation and once confirmed, I cancelled at the other hotel. On the day of check-in, prior to our arrival, I received a call from Rocksino informing me our suite had been double booked and while they could accommodate us in 2 platinum suites the first night, they could not the last 2 nights. I asked if they could find us another place to stay and was told they could not but I could. I told them, I not only had a confirmation in writing but also I had called on Saturday to confirm and was told the reservation was in place. I asked where we were going to sleep. She didn't know of course. She then said she did not know why her boss said our room was not available the last 2 nights - that it appeared to be. So...she said she would call back. Shortly, I received another call telling me the first night we would be in 2 platinum suites and Thursday and Friday, we would have our original diamond suite. That is what occurred. We had a good experience, but odd too. At check in I asked the person working the next shift (not person 1 who called me) if we should pack up our things and bring down with us when we left Thursday morning for an all day outing and were told yes since we needed to vacate the room. We did that and person 1 was working and said we should not have been told to bring our luggage down---that housekeeping should have done it and rest assured they would be taking it to our new room once it was ready. When we returned around 11 p.m., it was still sitting where we left it. That was not an issue with us, but why tell us they will take it up. Some of the ladies said before I came down on Thursday morning, person 1 was talking to a guy and throwing out the F-bomb all over the place. The first evening, we decided to our take out from the restaurant. Two of us order a BLT and fries. Your order from the bar area. We got our food and I saw a large bottle of ketchup at the bar. I asked if we could have some of that ketchup and salt. The guy said "no", but he would get some from the kitchen. He came back shortly complaining to a lady standing at the bar (?manager) about his frustration with things not being stocked. He just gave us the entire bottle of ketchup and the salt shaker and told us take it with us! Again, no problem for us. It just seems they are not very organized and need some customer service training. The F-bomb...come on! The rooms were great. The shower was wonderful as were the toiletries. As said, it all worked out, but I was very apprehensive until we got in our final room! By the way, the gave us a nice unsolicited discount for the first night. It was not expected, but appreciated. The BLT was good. The beds comfortable. Nice view of Outlaw Square. Location cannot be beat. Parking nearby. I would stay again, but would call multiple times to confirm my...

I plan trips for a ladies travel group. Five of us stayed in Deadwood a couple of weeks ago (mid-June). I originally reserved 2 rooms for 3 nights at a chain hotel, but a week before leaving home, I checked the hotel website reservation to compare to my email confirmation and discovered the online confirmation was about $400 more. When I called the hotel to get the rate corrected, it ended up increasing to more than double the original amount. After speaking with corporate customer service, I was "given their word and that of the manager in Deadwood that my original rate would be honored upon check-in but their system could not update to the correct rate. We were a tad leary of "their word", so I found Rocksino as Plan B. The rates at Rocksino for a Diamnond Suite (3 bedroom) was less than my original reservation at the other place, so I reserved that suite for 3 nights and received confirmation. Enroute on the Saturday before our arrival, I phoned Rocksino to confirm the reservation and once confirmed, I cancelled at the other hotel. On the day of check-in, prior to our arrival, I received a call from Rocksino informing me our suite had been double booked and while they could accommodate us in 2 platinum suites the first night, they could not the last 2 nights. I asked if they could find us another place to stay and was told they could not but I could. I told them, I not only had a confirmation in writing but also I had called on Saturday to confirm and was told the reservation was in place. I asked where we were going to sleep. She didn't know of course. She then said she did not know why her boss said our room was not available the last 2 nights - that it appeared to be. So...she said she would call back. Shortly, I received another call telling me the first night we would be in 2 platinum suites and Thursday and Friday, we would have our original diamond suite. That is what occurred. We had a good experience, but odd too. At check in I asked the person working the next shift (not person 1 who called me) if we should pack up our things and bring down with us when we left Thursday morning for an all day outing and were told yes since we needed to vacate the room. We did that and person 1 was working and said we should not have been told to bring our luggage down---that housekeeping should have done it and rest assured they would be taking it to our new room once it was ready. When we returned around 11 p.m., it was still sitting where we left it. That was not an issue with us, but why tell us they will take it up. Some of the ladies said before I came down on Thursday morning, person 1 was talking to a guy and throwing out the F-bomb all over the place. The first evening, we decided to our take out from the restaurant. Two of us order a BLT and fries. Your order from the bar area. We got our food and I saw a large bottle of ketchup at the bar. I asked if we could have some of that ketchup and salt. The guy said "no", but he would get some from the kitchen. He came back shortly complaining to a lady standing at the bar (?manager) about his frustration with things not being stocked. He just gave us the entire bottle of ketchup and the salt shaker and told us take it with us! Again, no problem for us. It just seems they are not very organized and need some customer service training. The F-bomb...come on! The rooms were great. The shower was wonderful as were the toiletries. As said, it all worked out, but I was very apprehensive until we got in our final room! By the way, the gave us a nice unsolicited discount for the first night. It was not expected, but appreciated. The BLT was good. The beds comfortable. Nice view of Outlaw Square. Location cannot be beat. Parking nearby. I would stay again, but would call multiple times to confirm my...

Disappointing Stay - Poor Management and Unreasonable Charges

We chose the Rocksino by Hard Rock Deadwood to end our South Dakota trip, and this decision significantly dampened our wonderful vacation.

Location Issues

The hotel has no dedicated parking and sits on an extremely busy street corner with only two unloading spaces. Tour buses make sharp turns directly alongside guests handling luggage, potentially creating genuine safety concerns.

Alarming Check-In Incident

During check-in around 6:00 PM, I witnessed a situation that should concern potential guests. Another traveler arrived for his second night of a prepaid two-night stay, only to discover the hotel had CANCELLED HIS PREPAID ROOM WITHOUT ANY NOTIFICATION. He was left stranded on a Friday night when Deadwood had limited availability. He was not allowed to stay at the hotel.

The evening staff member (not the manager pictured) did her best to help, and I didn't mind waiting. However, after this lengthy situation and hours of driving, I requested a quick check-in. Paperwork was placed before me without explanation, and I signed trusting standard procedures were followed.

Inattentive Service The next morning around 7:30 AM, my wife stood at the front desk looking for coffee but received no acknowledgement from the manager (pictured). When I came down later, the manager was playing solitaire on the computer and using her phone rather than attending to guests.

Unreasonable Late Fee After breakfast, we unexpectedly joined a Deadwood tour. We returned to our room before 11:40 AM, fully packed and heading downstairs when the manager called demanding a $50 late checkout fee. I explained we were already checking out and respectfully noted the policy hadn't been explained during the previous night's rushed check-in. I remained completely calm and professional, yet the manager was dismissive and insisted on the charge. A $50 fee for vacating 40 minutes past checkout—when the policy was never clearly communicated—seems unreasonable. I've contacted corporate twice with no response whatsoever.

Final Thoughts Deadwood is a charming town, but I cannot recommend this hotel. While rooms were acceptable, the combination of witnessed reservation mismanagement, inattentive service, unreasonable charges, rude treatment suggests systemic guest service issues. Consider other Deadwood accommodations where guest satisfaction is a...