Sunday, May 19, 2013

Grand Sierra Resort, Reno, NV

Once again I have returned from another business trip. This time I visited Reno, NV and stayed at the Grand Sierra Resort. I heard this particular hotel and casino has changed hands many times. Currently, the Grand Sierra is undergoing a renovation. The place I noticed this most was the very underlit shopping and amenity area on the ground floor. It was akin to walking through a dimly lit cave. Many of the store fronts were empty with the windows darkened. The few shops that were open included a coin collector store, lady's boutique, and candy shop (Yes, I'm not impressed either).  The temporary fitness center and group workout room were also located on this floor.

The hotel room I received was nice enough but again, it suffered from the lighting problem. There were no overhead lights and the lamps just were not bright enough. The windows were tinted which was fine for privacy but really limited the amount of natural daylight.



I did not gamble in the casino but everything was easy to navigate through and the cashier was easy to locate. The majority of the games here were video slot machines (reverse ATMs). There was every type imaginable and most of them had a few players at all hours. The table games were not manned until later in the day or if they were manned only a few tables had staff. 

I always felt the hotel was mostly empty, granted I was there during the middle of the week. This is also the largest hotel & casino in Reno (I think) with close to 2000 rooms and over 50 acres of property.  The parking lot alone was massive. They have a driving range, swimming pool, bowling alley, and arcade (some of the games were not working and some were old...Killer Instinct 2!).

The food was actually not that bad. I ate at a few of the onsite restaurants which didn't impress me but didn't disappoint either.

Anyway, if there's anything else you'd like to know about this place, leave me a comment!

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