Wild Rose Casino & Hotel Emmetsburg — Attraction in Emmetsburg

So it's Friday night which is prime rib night at the casino. Go the thinking we'd have some prime rib and have a little fun. Boy was we wrong. First we went in to check our club card and get a $10 dining voucher or one free buffet, awesome right?. Well the buffet was closed which was a bummer because I liked the buffet the one time i've been there. So we go to the bar thinking well at least we'll get our prime rib. It wasn't very busy, maybe 10 customers. 2 people at the bar and 4-5 tables of people, a bartender and about 4 waitresses and a hostess. The hosts seated us and we sat there prolly 5 minutes before a waitress come over. We ordered our drinks and asked about an appetizer, she didn't know answer, so said she'd be right back. Well, about another 5 minutes go by and I started to get impatient. Another waitress asked if we'd been helped yet and said yes, she should be back by now. Another 4-5 minutes goes by and I decide the prime rib I had last time I was there wasn't worth the time we waited already, so we got up and left. Now when we left, you'd think someone would have said something or noticed that there customers are leaving. Only the waitress that asked if we had been helped noticed us leaving. She gave me a look like she had been the one taking care of all the customers and had already done way more than she was suppose to. Wish I got her name because she deserves a raise. Anyways we went downstairs to the snack bar stand and ordered taco in a bag, chicken salad croissant, rubein panini, 20 oz. Pop and a cappuccino which came out to be $28 flipping dollars none of which came with a side. When we got our food it was good, but not enough proportion for the cost nor was it made like it was the times before. Then we go into the casino and lost between the 2 of us about $450 when we walked in there with $700. Now that's the fourth time in 2 months to the casino losing that much. I think their payouts have changed. I also noticed that I win more when I don't put my players card in the machine. Not a generous casino at all let alone doesn't seem like any part of this casino/ hotel cares to keep their customers. One of the 2 worst casino experiences of my life. Not sure that I will ever return, very low odds...

The Wild Rose is a great little casino that sprung in the middle of nowhere. My husband and I had taken a yearly trip to Las Vegas since 1986 until 2006 when the Wild Rose opened. With a casino 30 miles from home, we are able to get our gaming and entertainment on a regular basis without driving for hours! The casino itself is nothing to write home about. It’s smoky and showing its age already. If you look up you see dust lining the ceiling tiles around the air vents. The carpet is awful, dirty and grime showing through. Some things most might not notice but when you take a trip there weekly for 6 years these things become evident. The slot department does a great job keeping things fresh as Wild Rose always seems to have new games before any of the other casinos in the area. The table games dealers are normally all very friendly and make blackjack fun. The one downfall would be the security department. I have never had problems with them but the guys that are supervisors seem to all walk around like they own the place. It’s just silly and we’ve never encountered the mindset they have at any other casino we’ve ever been to. We figure they’re bored, so they look way too hard for things to do. It makes us nervous. Besides that, I highly recommend the Wild Rose. It’s a fun place in the dead of Iowa.

Edit: I forgot to mention the food. The pub called Dunigans has always had great burgers and food. 2.5/3 for Dunigans. The buffet has gone through many changes and is currently as terrible as it has ever been. We quit eating there when it turned into a pasta house. It was disgusting. 0/3 for the buffet. The Wild Perk is a cafe type place in the main entryway and they do a good job of serving snacks and small meals after hours. The hours are too short, we feel if the casino is open, the cafe should be open. Many times we've left to get a snack at Kum and Go in town because the casino is offering nothing but bags of chips and candy bars. Sometimes there is a decent sandwich in the machine in the hotel. 1.5 for the cafe mainly because it's barely open when we...

I just want to start by saying we spend a lot of money here and have for years. We have never won a huge jackpot and have noticed this casino is really tight with their money, however this casino is close by and give us something to do occasionally on the weekends. Tonight, one of my family members found money in the lobby. Not in the casino, but in the hotel lobby. Being the honest person he is, he told security he would like to return it to the rightful owner. Security insisted on taking the money from him and said if he didn’t give them the money it would be theft. No one should have the audacity to accuse him of theft because my family would give the shirts off their back to help others. Long story short, the rightful owner got his money back and we left feeling like we were being accused of theft and for doing the wrong thing. The casino clearly wanted to pocket that money for themselves and if my family member wouldn’t have walked with security to the rightful owner and gave it to them they probably would have never gotten it. Instead, would have kept it for themselves. I know casinos can be corrupt, but what about human decency? WE WILL NOT BE BACK. I am astounded by the uneducated, greedy, selfish, non-personable people that work at this place. I will not tolerate someone calling my family member a thief when he is as honest as they come. I highly recommend you drive to Des Moines where the jackpots are bigger and the staff are personable. Don’t waste your time...