Hacienda Hotel and Casino In Boulder City Is A Fun Place For Locals

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EDITORIAL UPDATE 05/03/2013:

Due to a review of current reviews of this property and recent personal bad experiences with the staff, I can no longer recommend the Hacienda Hotel to anyone for gaming, food, or lodging. I have kept the original blog entry below intact and will be updating my review on Yelp.

If I had only depended on reading the Yelp reviews, I would never have come here. But it does overlook Lake Mead and is near Hoover Dam. And I have always found the staff (especially the cocktail waitresses) to be friendly and courteous. And, big bonus for me, the food is very reasonable and mostly very good. And there are raft tours of the Colorado River that originate here. Also, for a price you can walk a short distance from the hotel and ride a helicopter to view the lake and beyond, including the Grand Canyon.

I have never stayed here, but I would imagine a room on the top floor of the tower would yield a wonderful view of the lake. Maybe we will do this over New Year's, since the room rates are so reasonable !

There is even a modern movie theater with two screens on the premises, so unusual for a small property.

There is free live music entertainment every Wednesday thru Saturday night. The quality of the entertainment is often surprisingly good, since some quality bands tour here from Arizona and California. Two fully stocked bars exist, one on each end of the casino, for those who care enough to pay for their drinks. (I never do.)

The casino is small, but has an interesting variety of slot and penny games and live gaming for a place of its size. The gaming club ( called the Matador club ) is quite generous, offering both free play and points for food, gifts and gasoline ( gas station is across the street ). I am not a big gambler, but on occasion I have accumulated enough points for a free buffet, with not that much expenditure.

So, Yelp is a good thing to read for pointers, but the way you experience a place is greatly colored by your expectations and tastes. After all, this is not the Bellagio. If the only reason I ever went to the Hacienda Hotel & Casino was to enjoy the fine dining at the Hacienda Steakhouse that would be enough for me. A good meal there, followed by a relaxing scenic drive through the Lake Mead National Recreation Area ( I have a lifetime pass ): that would be enough for me !