The Artesian Hotel, Casino & Spa — Hotel in Sulphur

My wife and I stayed here August 23 (as did another reviewer I noticed) for one night. Our reason was it was half-way to our primary destination. We had never heard of the place prior to finding it online. Many of the reviews I read seemed pretty negative for one or more reasons. I'm happy to report that our stay was very enjoyable and we're already talking about making it a primary destination in the future. ||We arrived around 7 pm and were greeted at the font desk by a young man and woman who were very friendly and helpful. I wish I had gotten their names. The man checked us in while the woman was our valet and parked the car for us. When we came downstairs after some quick unpacking, the man was actually playing the baby grand piano in the lobby, and doing it quite well.||I loved the look and "feel" of the building itself. It was remodeled based on its original 1906 design. That was apparent when we stepped off the elevator into a very large open seating area that you just don't see in modern hotels. We got a corner room with a wrap-around window complete with window seat. The room was very clean, and the bed and pillows were surprisingly comfortable. We saw some cosmetic issues, such as chipped paint on the shower door handle and a small dent in a wall, but to me it fit in with the whole idea of being in a hotel that was over 100 years old, even though the actual interior obviously isn't that old.||Being regulars of a much larger casino, we were skeptical about the smaller casino here, especially with some reviews suggesting that you simply can't win on their slot machines. I'm happy to say that was not our experience at all. We found a number of new machines, and even some older ones we like, and our win/loss ratio was about the same as at any other casino we've been to. The bartender even walked the floor taking drink orders.||We visited some of the on-site shops. I got the feeling the staffs of those shops aren't very trusting of men with shoulder length hair as they tended to hover around my wife and I as we looked at the merchandise. We did not come equipped to try out the indoor/outdoor pools, but they looked very inviting and we'll remember that for next time.||The town of Sulphur appears very small and, like most small towns we've traveled through, has its share of the signs of economic hardship, such as closed storefronts and empty buildings along main streets. I read one review here that stated they believed that the nightly rate was way out of proportion to the economic climate of the town. While I agree with that statement, I'd like to think that those who do stay here would keep that in mind and do their part to support the local businesses whenever possible. My wife and I opted to have Sunday breakfast at Poor Girls Cafe, about a half mile from the hotel. The food and service were wonderful, even though we wanted breakfast 45 minutes before they were closing at 3 pm.||We will be back, and I heartily recommend the Artesian to those who want a...

Overall, it was a mixed experience.

The hotel is nice and the decorations were pretty. It smelled very good walking in. The guys at the front counter, while not what you normally see in appearance, were very nice and helpful. We used the spa first, which was pretty good. The only real complaint was that they said there was a couples waiting room, and it was just 2 chairs in a hallway, lol. I had a 50 min massage that was decent. Nothing special. I do feel the masseuse was not very nice or friendly, though. We then went to dinner. The food took a while to come out. The sides were cold, but the entrees were hot. So they clearly plated the sides and had them sit for some time. The entrees were nice, though, so a mixed bag. The waitress, however, was terrible. She brought us water and then we never saw her again. She did not bring the food and never once checked on us for about the food or to refill our glasses. We sat done for a good 15 to 20 minutes before I grabbed another waitress to get ours. She came over a few minutes later and just went "yes". As if we were bothering her. No apology or nothing. We paid and went to the casino. It's smaller which is not an issue. The issue was it is hard to breathe. They need some serious ventilation and clean air filtering in here. The cigarette smell was so strong that we had to leave after about 30 minutes. My sinuses and nasal passages still do not feel good. Went back up to the room to where the room next to us had literal infants and toddlers losing their minds. We had complained earlier in the day and they had no other rooms available. We complained again, and they offered a double queen, which we declined. They were super nice about us and canceled our room. A 2 hour drive at 9 at night was not fun but much better than dealing with screaming children in a conjoining room that offered no peace and quiet.

There was a surprising number of kids here. If they get that many, they need to block off a floor for families. I am not sure what kind of people are taking kids to a casino spa, but apparently they do, ruining it for the rest of us. The hotel needs to smarten up about this.

A few changes to the place and this would be a nice quality place to visit. As is, I...

We checked in around 4pm, check on and out was fine. Valet parking when we arrived was great. The lady help me with the luggage and parking the car. She was very nice and helpful. The lady who brought my car around just parked it and left so quick. She didn't offer to help me load my car and when I finished, I tracked her down in side the lobby just sitting around. I still went ahead and gave her $5.00. Now as for the stay, we went to go swimming and the water was so cold 😫 we couldn't swim. We then went to the bath house and it was out of order . I went to the front desk around 6:30 or 7pm abd the lady at the front desk said that she would get with maintenance to turn the heat up in the swimming pool. She also said that there was too much algae in the bath house they were doing shock treatments and the bathhouse will be ready the next morning. So we went shopping and gaming. So then Wednesday we got up to go swimming and the water was just as cold as it was the day before. We went over to the bath house and it was still closed. There was a maintenance man there and I asked him about the swimming pool and the bathhouse he said they never heat the swimming pool during the summer I explained to him it was still spring and that the water was too cold he went in and turn the water up and said it would take probably all day for it to heat. So then I asked him about the bathhouse and he said that he had to shock it again and it wouldn't be ready until 11 the time I was talking to him it was 8:45. Check out time was at 12 so as it ended up we didn't get there to go swimming and then the bathhouse didn't open until 11 so we spent maybe 30 minutes there I asked for a one check out and I was denied it they said that I could check out at 12:30 which at that time was maybe 40 minutes. This is the second time in two months that I have come there spend my money to stay at your hotel I always enjoyed it before but the last two experiences was not up to par according to what your standards are. The hotel is always clean as always friendly with employees and I do like staying there. Thank you for letting me share...