Vernon Downs Casino Hotel — Hotel in Town of Vernon

FOLLOW UP- We stayed here 3 weeks ago and were very disappointed- wrote a review and heard back with a simple statement (see below) NOTHING SINCE... so disappointed in staff and management Meri-K Ritter

recap -

3 weeks ago My husband stayed at Vernon Downs Casino Restore, prices were reasonable, $150.00 ish a night. When we arrived we were greeted nicely, lobby looked nice as well. I was put off that they did not have a list of their restaurants with hours of operation or any resort information in written, they did verbally give the information. The elevators were dirty when we arrived and when we left 2 days later. Our room was ok, bed was confrontable although pillows were smaller than decorative pillows on your sofa. We wanted to get some ice, ice bucket was so dusty could not use it just used the bag, ice machine on our (2nd) floor and the 3rd floor did not work I had to go to the 6th floor to get ice. We then went to The Triple 7 café the website made it look like a ok place to eat. There were maybe 4 small tables to eat at, one of which was being occupied by a employee on break, it seemed more like a cafeteria style eating. Attendant taking our order did not greet us in a professional manor, took our order with out any words other than what our order number was. It did not appear that this was his job or a good fit for him. Food was OK. After the concert we went to the bar on the casino floor Ring Eyed Pete’s Bar The web site showed they had bar food munches, live band and drinks, when we arrived we were told NO FOOD other than popcorn, we had a drink and listen to the band. Saturday we decided to go over to the track to see what the horse racing was about. We arrived very early. Talked to a few workers asking about how it worked, people seemed very nice at the door that greeted us. We then went in to the MIRACLE MILE RESTAURANT thought we would get a drink and look over our program. Come to find out the bar do not open till 5pm. We did find TRACKSIDE CONCESSIONS just outside the Miracle Mile Restaurant. We got drinks there and a snack, than went back into the Miracle Mile Restaurant to wait for the racing to start. 5pm came we placed our bet and talked with the gentlemen behind the counter (very nice person, he helped us a lot) explained we had never been here and never bet on horses. We then asked if we could sit anywhere because we did see a sign when we walked into the restaurant that said wait to be seated but there was no hostess. He said we could sit anywhere that was not reserved. Well once the hostess got there she came over to us and was not nice and told us we HAD to MOVE. I said I was sorry we had never been here before and we did not know the rules. This person was not nice, she was very short, she finally found us a table. We wanted order drinks and food, no server was coming us to us so I went to see if i could find one I asked her if when he got a chance, could she take our drink and food order. She said there was only 2 servers on and it was going to be a while. Again she did not say this with a nice tone. I said I would go to the bar to get my drinks. When I got back to the table my husband said the server came over to the table next to us and took their order. I was not happy. When the server brought that table their drinks I asked if she could take our food order, she did. The TV did not work so the server changed our table. Hostess came over telling us to move again still with bad tone she had earlier. Over all everywhere we went the employee's acted like they hated their jobs and were unpleasant. This was a motel 6 experience not a resort experience. would not recommend.

Response from the owner 3 weeks ago Thank you for the detailed review. We are currently working through the motions of being under staffed as many other establishments are doing but that is not an excuse. I would like to make sure management gets in touch with you to discuss some of...

This is a wonderful place that is a friendly environment with a casino, restaurants/buffets, and a hotel. However, certain specific security guards, many are extremely friendly, and one more than any other likes to give young people that are clearly of or over legal age to play and he will not let them enter. He has done this to numerous individuals besides me. He fails to have common sense and even if he has seen and verified peoples age himself, numerous times, he still gives trouble. I understand it is the job of all the security guards to ensure everyone is of age before entering the casino, but the individuals that get carded often look over eighteen. It is questionable why one should consider drinking at the bar or spending any money here on the rigged games if you have to repeatedly prove your age to enter the casino. They hire security guards that look under the age of eighteen so maybe everyone that gets carded before they are allowed to enter the casino should card those young security guards. Turning Stone Casino and Resort does not have security guards at the door, so I do not know why Vernon Downs does. Turning Stone does have security guards walking around the premises, but I have never been carded there. If you are in question, they come up to you and ask but they assume you are an honest and responsible individual as they should. Vernon Downs seems to not trust people are being factual about their age. I would also like to mention the agreements for the rewards card in this place are horrible. You do not often win much money and the points on the cards expire. It also says Vernon Downs can demand your card or cancel your account at any time. Despite the negativity, the older lady at the Player’s Club being knowledgeable and helpful as well as the Cashier people being friendly, it is all done to get you to come back so they can swindle you into playing overly rigged games that pay out the minimum amount of money that they are required to by law unlike Turing Stone. I recommend Turning Stone Resort and Casino over this place because Turning Stone has many bars and a wider variety of games to play and well-maintained machines with buttons that are replaced if they are not working and software that is reset when it needs to be, which is another issue at Vernon Downs… The kiosk being down for Player Rewards seems to be an inconvenience more often than not, unfortunately… Turning Stone has a much better system for this, and you can even redeem rewards on the menu of the game you are playing. UPDATE 10-31-2022: Vernon Downs has responded and says they have strict laws to follow for carding people which is understandable. They also mentioned Turning Stone does not have to follow these rules of which I do not understand why. I understand they are a tribe, but they should still have to follow limited rules at the least. Vernon Down says they do not rig the games, but all casinos do because they have to make sure they are not losing money but are paying out at least the minimum required by law. Vernon Downs pays out much less than other casinos, based on their payout record and their Facebook posts. The agreement you sign when you sign up for the Vernon Downs rewards program is the card agreement I mention in my review. It says it is Vernon Downs property and must be turned over to Vernon Downs if they demand it. That is general legal mumbo jumbo, but it could have been written better... I look forward to enjoying the games at Vernon Downs, and I do like to eat there sometimes, even if the food is average. The Hotel at Vernon Downs is rated poorly and is a two-star hotel according to Google, so I am it would be worth taking a chance staying there... UPDATE: 11-7-2022: I did win a couple times there a few hundred dollars, as well as got to spin the wheel as well as a free play from one hot seat drawing and a Thanksgiving Turkey and a few hundred dollars from a hot seat drawing and all...

Disappointing service and dirty facilities.

We were guests at a wedding offsite, and booked a room over the phone as soon as we got the hotel block information. The person that helped us on the phone, Noah, was slow and obviously new. It took a half hour for us to get the reservation done. This usually takes me no more than 10 minutes at other hotels.

Then, we decided to split the room with 2 other guests, and so had to change our reservation. We called and the person we originally talked to, Noah, hadn't actually put us in the system! He said he couldnt find our reservation. So had we not called, we would not have had a room. We were told there were no more rooms with 2 doubles, but we could get the executive suite, which has 2 rooms, and they would set up trundle beds for us in the living room area. Having no other choice, we paid the extra to get the suite with beds.

Check in arrives and lo and behold, no beds. We try to call the front desk to ask to have them brought up but the phones in the rooms do not work. Several people come in and out of the room to attempt to fix our phones but cannot. Eventually we say it's fine just to keep people from showing up, we've been visited 5-6 times within an hour and really we just wanted to get ready for the wedding and have the beds set up. We are told that they will be set up when we return from the wedding that night.

Get back from the wedding, and guess what. No trundle beds. We go down to the front desk to complain, and some are eventually sent up, but we have to make them ourselves. Keep in mind we paid $50 extra so that we wouldn't have to deal with that, then ended up having to do it anyway.

Other joys include: Noah told us that the suite would have 2 rooms, it didn't. Just one big room. the guy that delivered our beds saying "Sorry they're so late, no one told me you needed them." WE SPECIFICALLY ASKED FOR THEM MONTHS AGO WHEN WE MADE THE RESERVATION. an empty Poland springs water bottle left by a previous guest in plain sight behind the bedside stand. If they missed that, what else are they missing? disgusting black mold in the grout in the shower, was so bad we didn't want to use it.

Needless to say, it was not worth the money and we will not be returning.

Pros: No bedbugs Cons: Terrible front desk service, obviously poor communication between...