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50 reviews for Barona Resort & Casino
This business is a Yelp Sponsor
8/24/2009
10/26/2009
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7/25/2009
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9/21/2008
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12/25/2008
3/8/2009
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7/31/2006
6/29/2008
One of Barona Resort & Casino's Favorite Reviews What's This?
First time to take advantage of the comped room. Called in the reservation for the room for a Friday night and the reservations person was very friendly and informative. Got there at 8pm and checked into the room. The room was nice overlooking the small lake, mountains, and golf course. It was a beautiful view.
It seemed that the room was new because the place was emmaculate. Free WI-FI, chocolate.
The casino was a walk away but secured connecting the hotel and the casino. You need your room key to pass the doors when you go back to your room.
It's a busy casino and the fairly sized for being in the middle of the mountains. Slots are updated games and seem to be pretty loose. It seems that someone is hitting a jackpot every 15 minutes as they announce it. I've hit several too. Majority of the dealers are helpful, friendly, and personable. Gotta get Su as your dealer. She is always happy and recognizes regular guests and makes them feel at home.
The food court is not bad. Can't beat the $1.00 hot dogs. $1.25 with chili. Rubio's, the Cafe, A burger joint. Haven't tried the buffet yet but will when I don't see the line so long next time around. You have to enroll in the player's club, it has been quite rewarding.
Overall. The best in those parts so far.
1. damn you for always taking my money.
2. damn all the smokers for giving me a huge headache and smelly-ass clothes all the time
3. damn your windy ass dangerous road that is almost as scary as winding down on lord sauran's tower.
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"Barn-rona" Casino has a very distinct look from the outside that has a certain pastoral charm. Gamblers drive through winding country roads past farm stands and horse ranches to get to the peaceful sound of... the TING-A-LING-A-LING of one-armed bandits, the chucking of dice against the craps table, the shuffling of feet in the buffet line, and the shouting of poker players over bad beats.
3 hands after sitting down next to our hero at a game of $1/2 no limit hold 'em, his friend hit a 4 of a kind with pocket nines. This got him a free spin on the "high hand wheel", which netted him a cool $100 cash bonus. A high hand of full house kings over tens will garner players a spin on the board, which can get them prizes of $50-500 for themselves or $50 for everyone sitting at their table.
One major qualm our hero has about the poker scene here is the tables. The shuffling machines don't lie flush with the board, so cards often catch on the groove in the table when people at the end throw their cards into the muck. Also, there are no drink holders in the rails.
Their running jackpot that requires a full-house of Aces over tens getting beat by quads to win seems to be smaller most of the time than other casinos. This is probably because Barona has one of the lower hand requirements for winning a bad beat jackpot and the room is usually pretty packed.
Although our hero prefers the physical feel of many other casino poker rooms to Barona's in the San Diego area, Baron's room is managed very well. Chip runners are fast, waits are short, and you can request a pager to alert you if you're on the wait list.
Despite the cheesy farm theme of the casino, it feels spacious on the inside, and the variety of games is nice.
PROS:
- Generally friendly dealers, especially in the poker room.
- The low limit $1/2 tables with buy ins of $20-60 make for some fairly affordable poker. The players at low end tables here seem to roughly know what they're doing, but there's still a lot of fish.
CONS:
- No drink holders on their poker tables.
- No Limit Hold 'Em tops out at $2/5 blinds, with $300-$1000 buy-ins.
- Slot machines get fairly crowded on the weekends.
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Place is pretty fab, and I haven't even gambled here yet!
I must tell you though, as soon as you hear a little grumble in your tummy, head on over to the food court, it's dee-licious! But DON'T head on over to the regular food court places. DON'T!! Head on over to the hot dog stand conveniently located on your walk to the food court. $1.00 hot dogs!!!!!! Large hot dogs, too! Not your regular baby hot dogs, but ridiculously fab ones!!!!!! Plus, chili dogs (the one I had) was fab! Well worth the extra quarter ($1.25!)
Come here for the free bevs & $1.00-$1.25 hot dogs! Whoo-hoo!
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Ho Wan has the best chinese food~
But, always lose money in Casino.....
The scene is something out of vegas! The environment is unbelievable, by far the best casino in San Diego i've gone to all the casino's in San Diego and this casino is put together the best, everything is top class from the bathrooms to the HUGE buffet! Oh not to mention the table games and slots.
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I probably would have given this place three stars if I reviewed it a week ago, but I have to bump it up a notch because I just received my postcard for two free hotel night stays in August and two free hotel night stays in September in the mail. Not sure how much I had to spend to earn it though.
Overall, I really like this casino despite the fact that it's really hard to find a slot machine at peak times and there really does not seem to be an abundance of lower denomination machines. The gaming area at this casino isn't too big, which is something that I actually like, and I also like the open layout. There's a friendly and comfortable atmosphere here as well unlike some other casinos. Also, it's nice that they have a free soda and coffee fountain and the food court area is pretty cool as well.
I had a free day and some moolah burning a hole in my pocket so I called my BFF to see if she wanted to join me in making a donation to one of our local tribal nations.
I've been to all the usual suspects: Pala, Pechanga, Harrahs and San Manual but decided on Barona today. Only been there once before when they first opened and realized what a really long ass drive it was to get there, haven't been back until now.
I always liked the place, the property is beautiful, nicer than all the others and its really a resort with a capital R. Golf course, nice hotel, very upscale. Haven't golfed there yet but hope to sometime.
The casino is laid out well but not my favorite. I'm a video poker girl and they have very few of those machines and of those, they are mostly dollar slots, me thinks not...I'd be out of there in way less time than it took to drive there if I start playing the dollar machines. So way in the corner I find a machine I like (25 cents thank you) and spent a couple of hours there turning $60.00 into $210.00, yea baby! So eventually common sense prevailed and I cashed out. Off to find something to eat.
We decided to check out the buffet because lets face it, casino buffets are the only ones worth going to. This one was a tad pricey, $17.95 PP for dinner but they give you 20% off if you have a Barona player's card and of course we did.
Not the best buffet in the Indian casino world, in fact Pala and even San Manual for much less is better but there is a brightspot here, the dessert section. Deeeelish, I'm not much of a dessert person (usually quite full by then) but I had bites of this and that and I was pleasantly surprised, the stand outs: the mini (ok they're all mini) creme brulee, german chocolate cake and the bread pudding.
I'll let you know about the peanut butter cookies as soon as I fish them out of the bottom of my purse..
So the place is fun, gorgeous and clean but not enough machines I like, the food a bit pricey and the drive way too long. I would go back but probably no time soon....golf course looked very inviting though...
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Barona's is the shining star of Lakeside. Haha what a travesty.
This casino is a strange place. While I went to UCSD, Barona's was the last-resort plan for any dull weekend. We'd roll out here around midnight and hit the poker tables with all the grinders that lurk the casino.
When you go at this time, there's hella awkward people. Tons of wrinkly vietnamese women who are far past their prime hover over the tables. They're prob cougars waiting to pounce.
Anyway enough of the shennanigans. This place has claimed the academic lives of three people I know. They ended up failing out of UCSD. Needless to say, none of them play poker anymore. Beware.
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Ok I find this quite ironic Kenny Rogers is Barona Casino's spokesperson who I might add is a raging alcoholic. The reason I say that is I'm thinking to myself as I arrive on Barona's Resort grounds "I can't wait to have my mixed drink by the pool!" Well low and behold as we get our room situated, by the way took forever.
We finally got up to our joint rooms they were very clean and nice. The group changed in to swimsuits and we headed down to the pool, which disappointed me, it was very small I guess i'm used to casinos having larger pools. So here we are at the pool with our cooler in one hand, towels in the other and a bottle of sweet smelling coconut suntan lotion, We pry open our bag which is filled with the famous RED CUPS (Who's the idiot that bought red cups?) Start mixing our drinks etc... Then here comes the Hall Monitor Barona rent a cops in a pack!! Bored eh? I had no idea we could't drink here I mean Kenny Rogers drinks why can't we?
The pool was filled with crumb crunchers, Seriously I couldn't even see the water in the pool, it was packed there was even no lounge chairs left and it was also a hot day, I wanted to jump in so bad but resisted I didn't feel like dunking myself in urine, i'm assuming those kiddies were peeing, I mean I did when I was younger and sometimes still do if I feel lazy. So at this point i'm a little peed off...LOL peed LOL I crack myself up sometimes. Anyways, after the alcohol bust and the crowd of kids I was over it and ready to go back to the room and take a shower so I can check out the casino.
The casino was nice there was tons of machines I always stick with the quartes slots so at the end of the day I don't feel like i've been bent over and taken advantage of, I just gamble for just shits and giggles anyways, it's not that serious to me. So you know some quarter slots require more than one quarter for the jack pot, well I was at one of those slots, Forgot to put in the fourth quarter and guess what I hit, but I didn't get crap because I didn't insert that last quarter. So I wept because I could have won $5,000 My luck I swear.
We had dinner at their buffet, The food was soooo...good. It was up there in comparison to the Rio Buffet in Las Vegas. They had everything from Chinese to Italian food, I would seriously come back to Barona just for the food!!
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I'm a fan of Barona' s Resort, not so much the Casino. I come down here from LA for New Years usually and my friends and I get the huge suite cause his dad is a VIP here. The place is very clean and the staff are all super friendly! I mean there's a guy waving at you on the way in for goodness sake!
The resort itself is just beautiful. There's a lake that you can walk around and if you have the view of it, it's really beautiful. During New Years they have a little concert and they pass our free champagne, but it's not very good.
However, in all it's goodness, in the last visit that I was here, my friend got his D&G glasses stolen. He only wears them to bed so he left it on the counter in that bathroom, when we came he couldn't find them. So either one of us stole it, or it was room service. They left the case but the glasses were no longer there. We called Lost and Found and they were no help what so ever. They basically asked us if we looked for it, (Duh, calling them was our last resort) and then they said they'd look for it and call us back. They said there wasn't anything in the box and they asked the person who cleaned out room if they'd seen it and they said no. -__-' I don't know about you, but if you stole something of course you'd say no.
SRLY NAOO.
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I cant f*ckin win at casinos. Not a dime. The dealers actually look like they dont give a rats ass if you just lost your mortgage money.
I hate them.
I was here once for New Years and when they did the countdown, half the casino didnt even pay attention. They just kept on playing.
Losers.
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It's a casino with no alcohol (but I think you can still get booze at the restaurants, etc.). I have been told that there are safety reasons for no alcohol in the casino (because the road you have to drive to get here is narrow, possibly dangerous, especially when raining). I don't know if it's true, but it's something to consider.
I've played here a few times, it seems like a normal casino. We also stayed here and I have to say I was impressed with our room. It had a very large bathroom with both a tub and shower, a view, and overall was in very good condition. The resort is a great place to walk around. They have several walking paths and it's a really pretty place to take a relaxing stroll. In fact, that was my favorite part of the trip!
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It's a casino, nuff said. It's not Vegas, so don't come expecting to play a real craps game or bet on football. If you have a gambling addiction like I do, you can get you fix here.
I scored $190 from them on Sunday.
Oh, the road to get there is more of a gamble than Caribbean Stud. I've seen wrecks here numerous times... Including Sunday, someone rolled their Camry or similar looking sedan and jammed up the road eventually causing them to close it. I've been in a VW Bug when it rolled, so I know to roll a sedan you have to be doing something retarded.
Wear your seatbelt, you don't want to lose more than your money.
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EVIL HAHA it a pretty chill place to gamble win some lose some that is what gambling is. Like all the food they serve there. Black jack, craps are the games I play.
*This review is based on my last visit, 3 years ago.
Waving the man in the front is definitely an good luck charm. I thought it was foolish to do that at first, but having to come up from $20 to $100 is a mega bonus to me (I'm not much of an gambler, so winning something is always satisfying).
The dealers here are quite entertaining and friendly; (at that time, don't know about now) they'll do the best in their effort to make you win. I was, and still is a newbie, and they'll give their 2 cents of advice to go further with the situation.
My friend in the other hand, has had an awesome experience as well. He came up $600 in an matter of 2 hours. Talk about JACKPOT!
I wish there would be an dope casino like this place up in Nor Cal.
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What's up with the weird rules California has for their casinos? Can't I play a regular craps game? Where are my free drinks?
Barona is just another casino in California that is held back by rules. Sorry, but three stars is all it deserves. I rather just drive another three hours to Vegas. Not worth it here.
First time visiting........
We came, we saw, we lost our money quickly.....
We left.
I don't know, maybe everyone there (patrons & staff) were suffering the "after-the-holidays-blues" and there was no excitement in the air. There was really no different wow factor to make me want to bypass all the other casinos closer to home the next time we feel "lucky".
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Old little ladies and slot machines go together like civets ass and coffee. Shur, I'm not old yet, and I only have 2 cats to start, but I'm essentially the little old octogenerian from Pasadena in training. Figure, might as well get a head start now before my sight leaves me...oh wait too late...I can't see what I'm writing!!! Where's my walker! Help I'm yelping and I can't get up.
Not knowing where to start, who better than to take tips from than my own ma'!?
Well, my mom has got this down to alieneate just about any stranger she ever crossed paths with. She has her lucky cup, lucky hat, and lucky nickel slot machines - every time she comes to Barona. One time she walked out $25 dollars richer. I saw it with my own eyes!
Me on the other hand, I have yet to understand the concept of doubling down when you're down, or even when I'm up, when playing Black Jack?
OR, maybe I should learn how to count to 21 in my head, it really holds up the game when I have to take off my shoes to count...thank god my right foot has 6 toes. How do other people do it?
In fact, it'd help if I knew how I always get dragged along...This is probably a good place to pick up a good drug habit, because I get bored to tears. Why don't they have strippers?!!! (just so you know I think it's degrading, cause I'm holier than thou like that)
I think they smoke here, it's hard to tell when you're smokin like me. Which is cool? No it can't be cool, smoking kills. It's not too cool...
One suprising thing, they have not-bad food here, and the servers are strangely nice, I suspect that has to do with San Diego, being close to the border, hence, easier access to happy pills and such.
The slot machine selection was awesome blossom!
So if you're a dolt...like the kind that likes to get into debt, or maybe even win some money, this place is a nice 2 hour drive away from L-A to feed into your gambling problem. Wait no, no, don't come here, unless you're over the hill, or you take wanting to become a geriatric tater tot seriously.
Oh, and in case you don't know, the road to the actual resort is in a sort of steep, rural, and mountainous area, you might get driving sickness, and I've personally seen many cars pulled over because they drove too fast and hit the side of the mountain. So be careful! I don't want my junkie dreams crushed because some other junkie decided to vehicular manslaughter me.
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This is the first casino I visited after I turned 18. I received a free deck of cards when I joined the player's club, but I think they don't do that anymore. Anyways, it is a nice place to visit but requires traveling through an older two lane road that can be dangerous if there is bad weather. Nice ranch theme with a giant barn exterior and spacious free parking garage. There is a nice exhibit of the blackjack hall of fame and gambling cheater devices to look at in one of the hallways. Great dining and gaming options. Also, don't miss the Barona Coffee cart with great cheap hot dogs.
I remember when Barona only had Bingo.
Now, they are a resort & casino.
Their golf course ranks up there with the best. Reason for the 4 stars.
I played my best round of golf here
.
Their buffet is average. If you're not a VIP card member you end up on the longest line ever.
When we were there, there was a wedding being held in the gazebo outside the hotel.
I don't really like to gamble. I saw some people win, a lot just having fun.
They do live up to the label, resort & casino.
Barona has come a long way.
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My mom is a diamond club member at Harrah's, so after she played quarter slots for 45 minutes here, Barona sent her 2 free nights. I've yet to get a "thanks for joining the club" postcard, but I won $500 on one of their video poker machines...fair trade I suppose.
Our room was really nice and the bell boy that helped us even told us to feel free to use the service elevators to cut down on the walking. The spa was OK, but they really have nothing on Pala's spa. It's by far the cleanest hotel I've ever been in. We saw people scrubbing the wallpaper in the halls and the walls and balconies on the outside of the hotel.
The only bad part of the hotel was the amount of white trash around. It was both funny and sad! We watched the pool attendant dump out someone's self mixed screwdriver while she acted like she would just die if she couldn't have a drink in the 15 minutes she'd be sitting by the pool. Then she went and yelled at the pool attendant for doing it saying that he had no right to dump her drink (sorry lady, it's private property, yes he does). The next day we watched a 3 year old nearly climb over the balcony on the 8th floor. Every adult in the pool area watching screamed "GET DOWN!" and she got scared and ran back in the room. Security went up there and the mother was sleeping. Who sleeps with a balcony door open and a small child around? Mo-RONS! That's who!
Awesome hotel without the white trash.
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I never really understood people that were addicted to gambling.... until I played Blackjack.
I came here for a friends birthday and could have left 35 dollars richer, but got greedy and didn't just walk! I now also understand the idiots on "Who Wants to Be a Millionare" who don't just take the money and run when they don't know an answer and in turn, lose everything. What an eye opening experience. I am now the equivalent of a greedy loser on "Millionare".
Anywho, had the buffet which was very tasty, and even though it's a bit pricey, I think the variety and friendly service make up for it. Friendly tip... sign up for the VIP card, it will save you 20 percent on the buffet for up to two people (about 8 bucks).
I'm not usually wowed by bathrooms. but the ones here had me feelin like I was Anne Hathaway in the Princess Diaries! Dang!
After being completely bored (and confused!) on the slot machines, I was almost ready to call it a night until my wonder of a best friend introduced me to the 5 dollar Blackjack table. Fun as hell, and it's really good for people watching, plus the dealers are super nice and friendly and basically tell you whether you should stay or hit it, which was good for a first time idiot such as myself. However, by the end of the night, I realized I had sat at that table for nearly 2 hours and I was starting to sympathize with addicts (and question my morals!). I almost bolted back to the table after we had decided it was time to go because I "wanted to win my money back, damnit!!!"
After we had finally decided it was time to go, we wanted to take a picture to commemorate.... BAD IDEA! don't do it! some friggen undercover NARQ took out her BADGE and told us who she was, where she was from, and stood there while DELETED all my pictures. Yes, because the first time black jack loser is skilled enough to take pictures, study them, and replicate the movie "21".
... I can't wait to go back. Am I sick?
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The resort is clean and well maintained. The bathrooms are spotless clean. The rooms are spacious and the bed is comfortable. The golf course is well kept as expected at $150 a round. The scenery is beautiful and Barona buildings are cool looking. The two big things I came here for were the buffet and a bit of gambling. I wasn't happy on both counts.
I'm no craps pro but I play whenever I get the chance. The way Barona does it is confusing and not fun at all. They randomize the dice numbers by assigning each number a card that will be the true number. First, I was at the end of the table and I can't see the dam cards. So when someone is about to throw I don't know what number I'm rooting for. Second, if I get a seven on my first roll I expect to win dangit. There were only two craps table and only one was open during the day.
My wife played the slots and we were not impressed. All you see are 5cent, 2cent and penny slots. You will see a few quarter and dollar slots. She played about $60 bucks (Burned $60) on the quarter slots and she won big a few times but the winnings are tiny compared to Las Vegas. Expect 10-30 dollar wins at Barona with the same frequency that you can win 30-80 dollars at Las Vegas. I would agree with most of the other reviews before me that Barona slots are tight.
The Christmas Buffet is overpriced at $30 per head pretax. I was ravenous so I ate a lot, but nothing kept me wanting to go a second round. I hear the regular night price is $20 and even then I don't think I would go there to eat. It's on par with Luxor buffet which if you been there kind of sucks.
They allow smoking in the casino. I smoke so I don't care but just an FYI. We didn't think they would allow smoking indoors in Cali. And I don't think the air cleaning is as good as Vegas does it.
Anyways this review would be a five star if the buffet and the gambling had been a better experience. I'm happy to have tried Barona but I'll stick to Las Vegas.
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As embarassed as I am to confess this, I am a frequent vistor of Barona. In all fairness though, I go there for various reasons, the main one being the food. I'll admit it, I like to hit the slots occassionally with my mom and dad, but I LOVE the food here. The buffet is great, we've been known to celebrate a special occassion or two there, and the best part is you can take your kids( until 8pm) unlike other casinos(Sycuan.) It can get pricey but if you have a good appetite I say go for it. They have a food court also with pizza, a Rubios, burgers, gelato, so yummy. And then there's my beloved Sage Cafe- always open and always so tasty. Barona has the best incentives for their card holders too; discounts at any of their eateries, free play money, free hotel room stays. I just can't get enough.
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Ahhh Barona, host of many of my degenerate gambling sessions.
I haven't tried the buffet, I don't valet my car out of superstition and I mostly like to lurk in the poker room but will occasionally hit the blackjack table and slots bore me out of my mind which is my standard background for rating any casino I've ever been to.
The poker room is alright, most of the staff are pretty good but there are a few dealers there who need a little more training. A few more tables would be good because nothing makes for a more boring time than waiting for a poker table. The promotions they have are probably some of the better ones in San Diego. If you do play poker, there's a good mix of loose players and capable players so if you're somewhere in the middle you'll probably have a good time. I don't usually get a lot of bad beats here.
The blackjack is well, blackjack. They pay 3:2, there's plenty of $10 tables and the occasional $5 table and the dealers are pretty solid and friendly for the most part.
I find I like the bathrooms in most casinos but I would have to give the bathrooms, OK, the men's room by the poker room 5 stars if I were rating that alone. They have cool faucets that make the water come out flat and the marble fanciness and a nicely chosen aroma for the air freshener and always ample towels.
The overall atmosphere of Barona is pretty nice, high ceilings make for generally fresh air and a cool ambiance. I don't really get the silo and barn motif on the outside but you can probably have a good time here no matter what stakes you prefer for whichever game of your choice.
P.S. to Yelp, why is the only survey question on here "Good for Kids"? Ummm, it's a casino and if you're bringing your kids here, I'd suggest calling Gambler's Anonymous.
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Let's see its been a few months since I've been here...I guess it gets an extra half star because I won. Anyway, I don't think there are enough tables. The pit boss is really nice though. If your waiting on a table and the minimum goes up you can still bet the minimum as long as you stay at that table.
Not a good place if you don't like smoke. Way smokier than Vegas. Free drink machine by the bathrooms which is nice since you don't have to wait or tip those cocktail waitresses.
I guess it's an 18+ casino, but seriously, you wouldn't get caught gambling if your like 14. Security's lax here. Just don't be obvious.
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We were treated to a free night in the hotel as part of some promotion mailer, and we had a blast~.
The room was amazingly nice and spacious, the bathroom had a huge tub and a separate shower, the toiletries were nice, the bed was comfortable, the view was beautiful.
Thanks for the fun mini-vacation, Barona!
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This place is a far cry from the slick advertising campaign that leads one to believe that well-dressed, well-to-do people hang out here a la Las Vegas. I always find overweight, poorly dressed chain smokers. Although they have a "non-smoking" area, you would never know it because the place is poorly ventilated.
I'm a SUCKER for slots, and I tripled what I started with for the night... not too shabby for nickel slots. I ended up winning back what the bf lost at the poker tables though, which makes me glad he didn't pull out too much to play w/...
Not too bad considering the square footage and close access from P.B. Their food court restaurants are alright, nothing special, but I've heard the buffet is pretty good. If ever I am back in SD, I really wouldn't mind... because it was the first time I played slots ANYWHERE I wasn't being watched by slot swoopin' old ladies just waiting to score on MY machine. =D
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I remember I won $150. In life, you sometimes just have to take the good with the bad. Hopefully, if you're at a casino, you realize that while there's potential to win, you can also lose it all.
If you're at a loss for what you could possibly be living without, post-Barona, I'll help you brainstorm a list:
a) Money - the thrill of the next spin, roll, or card will undoubtedly be a factor.
b) Keys - Keep these close by at all times, so you can make a hasty escape if need be.
OMITTED: don't not come just because of these reasons. Look what happened when I didn't!
While it's like every casino you've ever been to, there is something special about Barona. Maybe it's because it's located right in the middle of a mountain range? It might be that it actually has it's own gas station? Actually, what about the fact that if you're too lazy to walk the 40 yards to the front door, they will drive you there in a golf cart?
Barona has and does all of these things. Depending on your luck, you'll either leave in a great mood, or scraping yourself off the swirly carpeted floor...super mesmerizing.
People seem nice. You can always tell where they're coming from:
Front door - walking fast, looking determined and ever-so-excited.
Winning slot machine - three rows of cherries spinning in their eyes.
Bathroom - a lot more relaxed
Buffet - Role-y-Pole-y.
Come, and spend a whole entire day. If not, at least ride the golf carts around, and watch all of this take place.
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We drove up at night, but from what I can remember it was a nice drive. People are complaining about the dangerous drive up, maybe these wusses should take advantage of the shuttle that departs from the Park and Ride.
"How do we get there? Follow the signs, yo!"
Just when you think you're lost, bam! there's Kenny Rogers' mug pointing the way.
"Dooode, do I turn left or right here?" BILLBOARD SAYS: Turn right here.
It's like Kenny Rogers reads our minds. Or maybe the signs are strategically placed.
+1 Star for the cool barn style casino
-1 For no alcohol!
-1 For the cigarette smoke
-1 For the fake "One Arm Bandits"
+1 For Kenny Rogers
I hate gambling, but I went along with the unexpected trip. I played $10 and lost $10. It's an effen Casino, I can't say much more.
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I'm not much of a gambler, well at least compared to my parents who gamble every weekend, but I know what a good casino is...Maybe I'm just biased because I have won a jackpot of $6000 here or I've had some great times in the hotel rooms (not that way you dirty minded people!)...But this is the casino with the best buffet and gelato! I can't think of any other casino in the San Diego area that can boast that. I love playing Roulette and they have pretty affordable action here for it. I've been in their slot tournaments and they do go out of their way to make it have cool themes like "Pirate Treasure". The casino hosts are definitely on top of their game, they definitely always give my mom a lot of attention.
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I came here the other weekend for a Bachelor's Party turned gambling festival (we decided to stick to the one vice we were good at).
I was really amazed how different this place was from the last time I came here, about 10 years ago. It has grown a small casino with some decent outlets to a full fledged Las Vegas style casino.
You could literally put this casino anywhere on the strip and it wouldn't look out of place (a bit small maybe, but not out of place). The slots of course are everywhere, but they have a pretty good range of games here.
A poker room, roulette, craps, and pai gow.
I mainly stayed in the poker room, which was ok-sized, but much smaller than what you'd find in any card house. There were some decent players, but mostly a lot of college kids who were relatively new to the game the time I was there.
The only bad part about this place is it's so far away, between 20 to 30 minutes away from downtown SD.
When I made reservations I thought there prices were kinda high, but when I reserved one of the specials $170 per night and it included 2 buffets and $20 for gambling then the price seemed more reasonable. I arrived before my wife and they gave me a room on the first floor next to the pool. The room came with an outside patio and it was so close to the pool you could smell the chlorine and hear the people playing. I took a shower, slept in the bed and then my wife arrived to say she did not like the room because it did not have a view. The front desk had no problem exchanging rooms even though I had made good use of it. They even provided us help in moving. The grounds at Barona are beautiful. Barona's buffet is better than most buffets in Las Vegas. The only down side I can think of is it is a long walk to the buffet.
How's that Kenny Rogers song go...?
"You got to know when to hold em, know when to fold em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run."
The lyrics don't have much to do with my experience with the slots at Barona, but then again they do. I doubled my money (all of $20) at one point and had a good thing going, but then someone messed up my flow and I lost all of it, along with another $20. I might check this place out again when I'm in town, though. The odds seem to be better here than Vegas, and it's a less intimidating atmosphere than Vegas.
I don't recommend getting (free) hot coffee and then driving over speed bumps with it in your hand. This is common sense to many, just not to me.
Meh. I've experienced better (thanks Yelp). I paid another visit on June 11 of this year and was not impressed. The casino/machines didn't sound anything like Vegas (I LOVE that Vegas sound), my WOF machine had somewhere in the area of 30 losing spins in a row before finally hitting a "SPIN" for...20 credits, and, for whatever reason, a large portion of the gaming floor was curtained off--I peeked in and all I saw was carpet and nothing else. Go to Pala, Spa, or better yet, the hell with Injun casinos and pay a visit to Reno/Vegas/Laughlin with REAL craps/roulette and regulated gaming.
But the scenery was nice; when leaving the casino--most likely after a losing visit--bear left on Wildcat Canyon Rd. (unless you live in SD); it's a beautiful drive.
They keep taking my money, but I stilllllll likey them. That's something only Louis Vuitton really manages to do for me.
I like to think of it this way - I mean, it is an Indian reservation. There's a reason that it exists. In fact, I'm Little Bear's personal scholarship fund. On my first trip, I paid for his schooling. On a subsequent trip, I bought him healthcare. These days I'm just spoiling him with fun birthday presents. I think my last visit might have gotten him a pair of Nike dunks.
I know, I know. He needs to learn his own money smarts. I'll try to let go, but it's just so hard when you know you're doing making a difference in someone's life, you know?
... no but really, the dealers are fun (except the one who smirked and asked me how old I was - hey! not cool! we all get carded so stop hating because I look young), the hot dogs are only $1, and there's always an interesting mix of UCSD/SDSU kids, middle-aged men escaping their wives, and old Asian ladies who wear big gold rings and permanent frowns and curse under their breath every chance they get.
Minus a star because I know it's a casino, but I just wish I didn't come out smelling like an ashtray.
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BINGO!
The cry of victory.
I never knew how thrilling it could be just to hear the alphanumberic combination "B-8" called out. This relaxing game associated with church fundraisers and my geriatric friends has now become my new obsession. My heart races and my palms sweat as I wait for my last ball to roll out before I win the jackpot. Thump-thump, the inside picture frame is almost complete, thump-thump, I could be $1,199 richer in 20 seconds, thump-thump, yeah baby, give it to me, thump-thump...yes...Yes...YES...the next ball rolls out....NOOOO!!! I hear bingo called at the next table and my spirits drop as some bitch steals my prize.
Nevertheless, I will return. I will win. I will call out BINGO!
Oh yes, the casino. It's a nice establishment. They serve complimentary drinks throughout; however, there's no alcohol. Roulette there is a little weird though. It's not like Vegas where you wait for the ball to drop on your number and you win. There's an additional part where there's 3 cards on the table, and after the ball lands and falls into a section of numbers represented by the card, the card is flipped, and that's the true winning number. It's simpler than how I explain it, so it's just one of those things you have to see for yourself. The casino also has loose sluts, I mean slots. So go for that if you feel BINGO isn't your thing.
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We only went there with $130 bucks. Our main goal was to eat at the buffet and hang out. I was happy to find out if you have a frequent player card at Barona Casino, you get discounts at the buffet. (Which may be worth signing up for the card in it's own) The Buffet featured crab legs, and is only $20.99 not including the 10% off we got. So for about $34 bucks we had all you can eat sushi (kinda the boring cali rolls and others of the same sort) and Crab Legs. Theyalso have different stations, American, Chinese, Mexican, Italian and More. Boy did we roll out of there!
Next, it's off to play some games! They had a special that for $20 buy in at black jack, you get $150 in chips and 30 hands to play to try to win. After 30 hands anything over $150 that you have, you keep. This is nearly impossible! It is fun and entertaining because there is no pressure, and we played for about an hour for $20 which is fine with me. After playing this "fake" 21, we headed over to play with real cash.
Long story short, we walked with $40 bucks left. And for me, thats a good deal for a crab buffet and an hour and a half of blackjack play!
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