Review of River Spirit Casino

☆☆☆☆ 1/2

Kathleen and I wanted to take a trip to celebrate our wedding anniversary this year. However, with all of the issues with flying recently -- and, as it turned out more than 1,100 flights were cancelled and 6,000+ delayed when we would have had to fly -- we wanted to find someplace in driving distance of Wichita. So, we chose the River Spirit Resort and Casino in Tulsa. We are very glad we did.

This hotel complex is extremely well kept and the staff is polite, friendly and helpful with a few exceptions (see below). The rooms are very nice and both Kathleen and I thought the beds were extremely comfortable. 

River Spirit has first-rate entertainment with Travis Tritt tonight and Trevor Noah tomorrow. There is live entertainment in the evenings scattered through the hotel.

The casino is huge. I'm not much of a gambler, but because everyone asks, "How did you do at the slots?" when you vacation at a casino, I put $8 into them, won $14, for a net gain of $6 -- more than happy with that outcome!

If you wish to leave the hotel, they have the fastest valet parking (which is free) that I've ever seen. I don't know how they do it. 

However, there isn't much need to leave the hotel as there are six restaurants that offer really good food, including a Ruth's Chris Steak House where we dined on our anniversary. Outstanding! Kathleen said it was the best steak she has had in years.

The pool is beautiful with a pool bar and a second pool bar + restaurant.

Now, the negatives:

• Allegedly due to COVID, there is no maid service. After three nights, they will move you to a new, clean, room at no charge but they won't come into your room to make beds, vacuum, etc., even if you offer to pay extra for it. Each morning, they put a 55 gallon trashcan on the floor so guests can empty their own wastebaskets. 😟  This seems to be part of a trend across the industry -- even at "full service "hotels -- to get away from servicing rooms. I don't like it. 

• The food service at the restaurants is of uneven quality. At the Grill Saturday evening, it was downright poor. They are also out of things (Kathleen overheard a staff member say, "we are having trouble getting our deliveries") and make odd menu decisions. For example, they don't sell iced tea at either of the pool facilities. That's just weird in summer. Plus, when there were restaurant issues, the staff was not helpful which was quite a departure from the rest of the hotel. 

However, when you consider the price, as low as $162/night during the week, the value is outstanding. I only dinged them a half star for the issues because they may be short-staffed and supply chain issues are affecting the entire economy. 

So, even with some issues, I rate River Spirit at 4.5 stars out of 5.