Trip Report - Bates Hotel
I just returned from a three night birthday trip to Tunica, staying at the Roadhouse Tunica. It is an experience I will never forget and one that will not be duplicated. The only good thing about the Roadhouse casino and hotel are the employees. What a great bunch of people. They were accommodating, friendly, and went out of their way to see if we needed anything.
When I first walked into the hotel there was a putrid smell. Unfortunately it wasn't anything that went away, it lingered. The hotel is dark and dreary looking, therefore the name Roadhouse, obviously replicating a distinct old roadhouse, it did a good job. We checked in and already feeling doom and gloom took the walk to our room. When I walked into our room my heart absolutely dropped. In all fairness the room was clean. Housekeeping did a good job with what they had to work with. The hotel is just old and in definite need of an upgrade. To some, old may not matter, to me it does. The reviews I read did not prepare me for this hotel. I always go to Trip Advisor and relay on what the past patrons have to say but this time I was let down. The carpet in the room was filthy. There were dark dirt spots everywhere, mixed in with red spots. Also there was a strip of carpet in front of the dresser that was about 4' long, and about 6 " wide that was absolutely disgusting. It looked like the carpet had rotted out. The baseboards of the walls was in need of painting, it was horrible. The chairs in the room were filthy and were ripped in places. In the bathroom the corners of the floor had wood that was rotting. The walls were dirty. I was so outdone. Even old can be kept up and the conditions of the rooms are unacceptable. It needed a condemned sign on the door. I picked up the phone and guess what, it didn't work! I used my cell phone to call downstairs to the front desk to express my displeasure with the room and asked to be moved to a suitable room. Mario nicely informed me that most of the rooms were the same but he would send housekeeping up to see what they could do. I told him then that the problems could not be fixed by housekeeping. Housekeeping and maintenance arrived and they were both empathetic but it was nothing they could do. Housekeeping offered to show me another room. It was the same as the room I had. Housekeeping apologized and told me they were sorry for any inconvenience and offered us two free buffets. I didn't want a free buffet I just wanted a decent room. About ten minutes later housekeeping returned and said her manager had found us another room in lieu of providing us buffet vouchers. Strange! It was hard for me to believe that the entire hotel was filled with disgusting rooms. I was surprised to be shown a room right across the hall from my room. I was even equally surprised that the head housekeeper did not know this. The room was much better than the room we had but was still in need of an immediate update. I was still ready to move to another hotel, but my husband was tired, he had driven for six hours and just wanted to shower and change so we could get to a 5:00 engagement on Beale Street so we took the room.
Upon returning to the hotel that evening we were attacked by a swarm of mosquitos in the lobby. I was literally covering up my head to protect myself. Everywhere you looked people were swatting to keep mosquitos away. We went into the casino and mosquitos were everywhere. After about an hour and a loss of $500, I left. You couldn't even enjoy the casino because of the mosquitos. It was a crazy scene. Also the hotel had no restaurant, and another thing, you use the slot machines to place a drink order. What a waste, they never showed up!
The next morning we headed over to the Horseshoe the sister property. We had a nice breakfast, played slots and although I didn't win anything my sister hit for $800 on a penny machine. That's good because things were looking pretty dreary. Two hours into playing here comes the mosquitos. Why doesn't this place spray!
The Horseshoe was a nice bright hotel. Didn't see the rooms but I can't imagine that they were anything like the Roadhouse rooms. I inquired about getting a room there for our other two nights but they were full. As I walked out the door I saw three charter buses pulling up.
Not to belabor this trip report any longer, I'll let you know that each night was the same. Trying to get to the Horseshoe at night was a running game to beat the mosquitos. They were also in the lobby at the Horseshoe but were not as bothersome in the casino like they were at the Roadhouse. I had a bankroll if $1500.00 and left with $5.00 that I found in my purse. On top of that I was rewarded with a $5.00 free play offer for my next visit. Are you kidding me - $5.00. No thank you, I pass! One more thing, at the Horseshoe and Roadhouse they had too many card readers that did not work. I brought it to the attention of the slot attendants every night. I want every dime to count.
My standards are just higher when it comes to hotels, especially when it's a casino hotel. I'm dropping my hard earned bucks in their slots so I believe I deserve a decent room. If I'm licking my wounds from a night of losses or celebrating a good night I want to do it in a nice room!