More about John Ascuaga's Nugget Casino Resort
NOISY Rooms, Needs Updating, Rude Front Desk
by TripAdvisor Member staunchsteve
Don't even think about staying here if you would like a quiet nights sleep as this hotel is positioned above, that's right ABOVE, I-80 and next to a railyard switcjing station with almost continuos train traffic. And the higher up your room is, the noisier it is. The furnishings appear to be from the late 70's and the bed was very uncomfortable. Front desk staff was rude and when I requested to speak with a manager at 10am, I was told, "She will not have time to talk to you until 6pm today". What? Anyway I wrote a personal letter to Mr. Ascuaga informaing hm of these problems and got absolutely no response.
Xmas weekend bargain
by TripAdvisor Member tennisgirl619
Stayed here Dec. 24-27, 2004. What a bargain at under $60 per night. Room was clean, a really good bargain for the price and it was Xmas weekend! I wasn't expecting decor like the Bellagio or Borgata. I would have given this hotel a perfect rating but the check in took more than 2 hrs. Food wise it was average. For the budget conscious, right across the street is a mini casino (all they had was slots) but they had a cafe that had 2 NY steak dinners for $9.99. It was good too! It is now my favorite hole in the wall in reno. Please, it is a hole in the wall decor to the tee!!! so you have been warned...lol Right next door is the silver legacy casino which offers a steak and lobster dinner for $9.99. The hole in the wall had better steaks! All these bargains left me room for more play money. Hey I came to have fun and gamble, not to stay in the room anyway. Hope this helps you out! p.s. I stayed downtown before in a more expensive hotel... I would return to Ascuaga's Nugget in a heartbeat.
Mixed reaction of the Nugget
by TripAdvisor Member WindowPlease
Stayed at the Nugget Feb. 20-22nd, president's weekend. We had a reservation for an "upgraded suite" with two queen beds. However, when we got to the room in the West Tower, it had only one bed and hardly looked like a suite. I called the front desk and they made us wait 2 hours for a room switch. They moved us after 5:00pm to a room on a lower floor-another supposed suite, but gave us the wrong keys. We stood outside this room for 1/2 an hour like morons! And strangely enough our neighbor was waiting for keys to his room too! I guess it happens alot. When I called the front desk, the lady acted as if it was my fault!?!?!?
Anyways, I wish I took the manager's offer for a club level room instead. Apparently, it has secured access to 27-29th floors, a coffee maker and someother perks. Our suite was pretty lame! It was small, dingy and the only plus was that it had a jacuzzi tub-- big deal.
The indoor pool appears nice on the web, but in reality it was crowded and full of kids. The pool was foggy colored, maybe b/c of the kids (yuck!). The jacuzzi was always full of people. The pool area seemed a bit unkempt and the temperature of the pool was on the cooler side; not tropical as mentioned on the website.
Also there were lots of business conventions at the hotel, which made me think its a cheap-o place to rent. So the hotel seemed crowded. Lot's of airline crew came through too.
Overall the casino floor was a bit retro and dingy. The clientelle was kind of shady and some locals were very boisterous characters often inebriated at the bar. My friend was always getting hit on by strange men in the casino and elevators, and she hated that!! In fact, I didn't quite feel safe at this casino.
I guess the pluses were the restaurants were good and reasonably priced and the casino slots were pretty loose. Had a lot of fun playing at the Nugget. Keno was great-- good returns. Friendly staff.
But my suggestion is stay at the Silver Legacy in Reno. It seemed much bigger and cleaner and more Vegas style. Sparks is a deserted old town and we almost got mugged walking outside the Nugget since we looked like such tourists and there weren't anyother tourists around.
I don't hate the Nugget, but don't think I would go back.
Highly Recommend Nugget. Very Satisfied.
by TripAdvisor Member Rox-In-Box
I am writing this review because this page helped me pick this hotel and we were very pleased with it.
We stayed at the Nugget twice on the way to California, 2 nights in the week before Easter and one night after Easter Sunday.
We purposely stayed in Sparks instead of downtown Reno. This hotel must have been recently renovated. It is very very clean. We asked for a non-smoking room near the indoor pool on the fifth floor because we have a young child. The room and the spacious bathroom were very clean. We had a nice view of snow-covered mountains. The glass-covered pool is large and nice with a beautiful view of the mountains. In our second week, the pool was more crowded with more children. There was no smell of tobacco on the floor or for that matter hardly any in the casino.
The casino is clean and very easy to navigate and is accessible if you have a disabled person with you. There is also an arcade for children. (The next day we went to see Circus Circus and Nugget is better in every way)
There are 6 restaurants, one open 24 hours. The buffet has different nightly menus and an excellent salad and dessert section, all for $12.95.
We used valet parking. The desk staff was professional and there was a good gift shop too. There is a spa, exercise room and entertainment too which we did not use.
Quite a bargain for $59.00 including all taxes and fees. Couldn't ask for more. Don't hesitate to stay at the Nugget.
Nice Hotel but rooms are so-so...
by TripAdvisor Member Rickster25
We had to stay in Reno an extra night after a week-end getaway due to the Blizzard in Denver shut down the airport there. We decided to try another hotel and stayed one night at the Nugget. We thought the value was good but the room seemed a bit run down and dirty from its age. Our room was large and had a jaccuzi tub which we enjoyed. I liked the Atlantis Casino room much better and it appeared cleaner. The Nugget looked like they had great entertainment booked in the future but nothing was going on the weekend we stayed. Stars like Jay Leno and Don Rickles were in the future line up. This casino is like the Atlantis, away from downtown strip and by itself. Not much to see outside the Nugget and no shopping within walking distance. Big Bingo Parlor downstairs if you are into that! Great convention location on sight. Didn't win on the slots but that's life huh.
Incredible Stay at the Nugget
by TripAdvisor Member smonty11
Just returned from a quick weekend at the Nugget. We've stayed downtown before and would stay with the Nugget from now on.
Hotel - There are two towers on opposite sides of the casino. We stayed in the east tower with a corner room on the 25th floor. Room was very nicely appointed and spacious. The view of the mountains was incredible. Some say this hotel is stuck in the 70's, the furniture, carpet and wallpaper are 70's retro but very nice. Who stays in the room that much anyhow. Your in Reno!! Make sure you check out the pool area on the 5th floor and the arcade on the 2nd. Pool was amazing. Again, the views from the pool area are incredible.
Casino - Casino is on the main lobby floor and very large. We stuck with the slots the majority of the time, but there are ample amount of tables for you table gamblers. The only small adjustment for the casino we would have changed would be more cocktail waitresses. They seemed to pay more attention to those at the tables than those at the machines. Better tippers I am assuming.
Food - We didn't eat at the hotel, so can't really comment on the food quality. However, I will say they had many restaurants located on the perimeter of the casino floor. We actually ate across the street at the Silver Club for breakfast one morning. Great cheap meal for under $4.
Getting around - If you prefer to play downtown or want to get downtown. You can catch the #11 bus at the bus stop behind the hotel. It's only $1.50 to go downtown. It's a short ride and will drop you at the city center one block away from the main strip.
To sum it up. When we return to Reno, we will definitely stay at the Nugget from now on. Great deal, great hotel and great fun.
Enjoyed the Nugget
by TripAdvisor Member tillyjane
Stayed at the Nugget for the first week in May. Before arriving, our first preference would have been to stay at either the Silver Legacy or the Eldorado because they are situated in downtown Reno where the action is. But we were meeting my parents who have a long history with the Nugget. The Nugget is isolated out by itself, and the action at times is not very lively. In contrast, the Peppermill, Atlantis and downtown casinos all seemed very lively and crowded. The Nugget is divided into three parts; the Courtyard, the East Tower, and the West Tower. The Courtyard is the original part of the Nugget, and is therefore older and more worn. The towers are newer, with the West Tower being the newest. For weeks before arriving at the Nugget, we were quoted a price of $99 a night for a tower room - this price was listed on Expedia, Orbitz and even on the Nuggets own webside. However, a few days before we arrived, I noticed that Expedia had lowered the price to $66 a night. I called the Nugget to see if they could match that price, and they did even better than that and gave us the room for $49 a night. We had no problem getting rooms in the newer West Tower; however, that tower is sitated a small distance from the casino portion of the hotel, so be prepared to walk a bit. The East Tower is closer to the casino. All of the elevators were very fast with no wait time. The common areas are bright and classy. We are non-smokers, and the ventilation was fine as we were never bothered by smoke. The rooms were spacious and comfortable with a small loveseat, coffee table, and another table and chairs. The bathroom was nothing fancy, but was large and adequate. Rooms in the towers seem to overlook either the railroad yards on one side, or the freeway on the other side. We chose the freeway side, and the soundproofing seemed adequate as we heard only the occasional low rumble at night. Never heard the neighbors. We ate at Rosie's Cafe (adequate), the Farm House, and John's Oyster Bar. The serving staff was friendly at the Farm House, the food was adequate. The combination pan roast or the bouillabaisse at the Oyster Bar is fantastic!! Trader Dicks looked more intimate and has an aquarium throughout the center of the bar. Live entertainment was also provided nightly at Trader Dicks. One sour note; we were having all of our meals at the Nugget added to the room tab, which worked out fine until there was a computer glitch. After arriving back at our room on the 19th floor, the Farm House called us and demanded that we return and pay for our meal in cash! They claimed that we had reached our credit limit for the room, but we had only eaten three meals at the hotel at that point! After I shlepped all the way through the casino back to the restaraunt, they admitted that their computer wasn't connecting with the front desk computer, so they had no way to assign the meal to the room. If that had truly been the case, why didn't they tell us before we left the restaraunt? Another funny thing, I had been looking forward to getting back to a computer poker machine that I had enjoyed the previous night, but the next morning they had replaced the machine?! It was the only one like it in the whole place! What gives with that? But overall, the staff was very pleasant and accommodating, and we really enjoyed our stay at the Nugget.
Don't Compare JA's Nugget with Anywhere Else!
by TripAdvisor Member CJKatl
Just got back from four nights at the Nugget on business, and was once again happy to have been there. The staff goes above and beyond (special shout-out to the front desk, business center, concierge, and bellmen), the food is excellent, (I travel for work every week and rarely like hotel food), and the view out the window is breathtaking. An interesting, diverse crowd at tables - or at least as diverse as a mostly-California crowd can be - only adds to the experience.
Here's the caution - if you go to the Nugget expecting a Las Vegas experience or a south-side of Reno-like Atlantis or Peppermill, you will be disappointed. The Nugget is not those places. It is a unique experience. Just go in expecting a good couple days and you will not be disappointed. You'll want to go back.
I do Vegas about ten times a year. And I get treated well there and always have a good time. So please do not read into this I'm prefering one experience over the other. This is not Bellagio or even the Stardust. But if you approach this hotel looking at what it has, not what it is missing, you will be blown away. While it may be missing some of the Vegas touches, the place more than makes up for it with a real sense of genuine people having fun. No Vegas posers. No feeling that the hotel is trying to one-up the hotel next door.
With that said, the rooms could be a little nicer. My windows were dirty until I cleaned them, and there was a mystery stain on my dust ruffle. But the bathroom was spotless and the housekeeper was helpful. And the wireless internet connection would not work with my laptop due to security features on my computer. This has never happened at any other hotel. But overall, this place is top-notch.
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