sfamylou

We went this past weekend with friends to Reno to watch a fight. Fight was good; friends were great. But Reno -- not so much.

I can forgive a city for not being gorgeous, or for being windy. But the hotel (Pepermill) wouldn't honor our reservations. They said they would, tried to take our luggage, then said they couldn't because they were oversold and other people had contracts and they had to give them rooms. The manager was smarmy and most unhelpful. For example, he wouldn't call other hotels. He would dial and hand me the phone to do the talking, which didn't help because of course, I don't have any pull. They finally put us up miles and miles from everything. They said it was a Marriott Courtyard, three stars. It actually was a Courtyard Super 8, no casino, no elevator, only smoking rooms. They gave us an $8 cab voucher, but we ended up spending $20 for cabs each way to meet people who did get rooms at the Pepermill. Meanwhile, the cabs were gross. One had dried substance spewed all over the back seat, and a driver that was smoking and actually tried to take my friend's vodka drink out of his hand.

Obviously all this put me in a lousy mood, but I just saw Reno as a kind of low-rent, dirty place where you don't get treated that well. I can't imagine going there unless it was for something specific, like a fight or a meeting. It was a pretty awful experience.

LoveItaly

Hello sfamylou, sounds like a nightmare of a trip!! I do not like Reno either. The last time we were there (stopping for a couple of nights on a vacation from elsewhere) we left at 8:00am the next morning. I have never been back. What finished it for us (besides the horrible hotel room which we paid quite a bit for) was trying to eat breakfast at the hotel's restaurant the next morning. A fellow next to us was eating his breakfast with his dirty bare foot up on a vacant chair. I almost gagged and did not finish my breakfast.

milkeway4

I am not a fan of Reno either. I use it only to fly into to go down to Lake Tahoe. Seem's very depressing to me.

Little_Man

So Reno 911 is pretty accurate, eh?

JJ5

We were stuck there (arriving 2am in the morning) from a misadventure to help an aunt who got sick in Lake Tahoe.

It's a bad/sad night in my memory. AND they actually close down all the gambling in the airport after midnight, so I didn't even have a slot to pass the time. Our flight got out at about 6 am.

I remember it very vividly because the only other awake person I noticed walking anywhere was an 11 year old boy who started to trail after me. Turns out he was a run-away and trying to act like he was "with" me because some security was following him. I listened to his story as we waited for the Social Services people to come give him a ride. Was it dismal! One of those cases where I just wanted to take him home, as he was SUCH a nice kid just trying to get to an aunt's house in Iowa.

I've never been in Reno enough in the daytime to judge the whole city, but the airport experience was sorry all around.

ltt

i'm amazed that you had problems finding another hotel room. i thought reno was pretty dead these days.
i heard a rumor a while back that said they were considering trying to redo the city to make it more desirable. it was stated that since vegas is getting so expensive, if they improved the look of the city, people may start going to reno for the gambling/show scene.

j_999_9

Your tale reminded me of a similar Reno story told by my aunt -- bad hotel, bad food, bad people, etc.

The funniest part of her story is that just as she was getting into a cab to get to the aiport (and out of Reno) she stepped in dog crap --and she was wearing sandals.

GoTravel

sfamylou,

I believe there is a law against a hotel not 'walking' you to another hotel if you have a confirmed reservation.

Do you have proof of a confirmed reservation? Did the GM refuse to book you elsewhere? If so contact the Nevada Attorney General's Office. Mr. Unhelpful GM may be in trouble.

indytravel

I visited Reno in July 2001. It was the last stop on a cross country Amtrak adventure with family.

We walked from the train station to the Circus Circus hotel. I'm not a fan of Circus Circus Vegas but I had a 13 & a 12 year old with me. I'd also read that they had done a complete renovation for the end of 1999 New Years celebration. The room was comfortable, a good size and in great shape. I paid less than $100 a night for it.

The carnival level with circus acts was all very tidy as was the casino level. The kids liked all the games and the circus acts. They had all that to play with but started bugging me anyway. They were much, much more curious about the adult gambling. Of course, it was forbidden.

When they would tell me how the kid games weren't very interesting, I'd start to drone on about being in Las Vegas when I was 7 years old. Not a kid thing to do in town and my brothers and I sat in a hotel room for 3 days while mom, dad and grandpa took turns going to the casino. That would make them realize that maybe the huge video arcade wasn't as bad as they had thought. Or at the very least more interesting then my, "when I was a kid life was so hard" stories.

We saw an all-ages vaudeville show at one of the casinos. To this day the kids still talk about the Michael Jackson impersonator. My niece and nephew both bowled at the time and liked bowling at the alley where a national tournament happens every year.

My dad was fascinated with the antique car collection that had been gathered by Harrah. The same Harrah who built the Harrah casino empire. After his demise the family sold to a hotel conglomerate that sold and donated off all the cars he'd so carefully collected.

I had a very pleasant couple of days in Reno.

FainaAgain

We went to Reno from San Francisco at least once a year in the past. Before it would depend on the tour company or how you travel there, where you stay.

Since the Indian Casinos the town went so much down, some casinos went out of business. The tour I could tolerate was Lucky tour who has agreement with Sundowner. Now this hotel/casino is permanently closed, they've switched to Sands.

While inside Sands, Silver Legacy and such it's the same: safe, last time I stepped out of Silver Legacy to walk through the row of gift shops - some of them closed, the area didn't feel safe even for me, a San Franciscan, lots of questionable "personalities" in the streets. And this is the central casino area!!

We've stopped going to Reno - Indian Casinos are much better, instant service, better security. Besides, there are Vegas, South Tahoe, Palm Springs.

crefloors

I live in Reno, and unfortunately a lot of what has been said is true. I would never stay at the Peppermill but at this point, it's a done deal for you, so anything else doesn't matter. Service at many of the places is not that great because they have all cut way back on staff. All the slot machines are ticket in/ticket out now, so they don't even need change people anymore. My ex-husband works night shift at the Silver Legacy, and he's a Key Person..among other duties..and granted it's not that busy on graveyard most of the time, but if a machine gets jambed etc. he is often the ONLY Key Person there so if there are three of four at once, someone is going to have to wait a very long time for assistance. He just gets totally frustrated because he is NOT giving good customer service. But the "bean counters" call the shots. I never go downtown but went down year before last with my friend who was up for the bowling tournament. It was absolutely awful down there. I really was shocked. Having said that..there is much going on downtown that will eventually change that. Many of the closed casino's are turning into condos, Longs Drug store is opening downtown, there are several new upscale restaurants, coffee houses, and retail stores that have opened. They are trying to get a grocery store down there so that people that live downtown don't have to leave the city center to do their grocery shopping. The new court house is almost finished and they are almost done with the train trench..the train will run through below street level. There will be walkways and bridges over the trench but I hope that they actually cover it in some places..that's being debated and then of course there is the cost. They are putting in a park and a permanent ice rink at the old Mapes Hotel site..I wasn't sure that was such a great idea because a business etc. would generate tax revenue whereas the park and rink is an expense to the city. Parking will continue to be a problem and I don't know why nobody seems that concerned about it..it's nice to have all this stuff happening downtown but if there no place to park, no one will go there so duh....So, there are changes happening but I frankly see a 10 year process before it all truly falls into place. As far as the Peppermill goes, their service sucks all the way around anymore and they are going to start a huge expansion next year..going for convention business, but when you can't get a cocktail waitress, when the rest of the help is surly, when they screw you out of your comps..well, they aren't going to have a lot of happy campers. The Hilton has been sold and that place is going to be totaly remodeled..a several year process..not sure I'll live long enough to see it..LOL..so big plans are in the works, but you can build all this stuff but if you aren't welcoming and gracious and helpful to your guests, then all the "flash" doesn't matter. Sfamylou, I think you should write the manager of the Peppermill and also our Chamber of Commerce and tell them of your experience here. You probably didn't get the name of the manager who blew you off that day, but it would be great if you did. They are doing all this stuff to get people and conventions etc. to come to Reno, but if they don't get their act together none of it matters. We tried to be a "Las Vegas North" in the mid 70's when the MGM (now the Hilton) was built but it just never panned out..Reno is NOT Vegas and shouldn't try to be. So, I live here so I have another kind of life, I don't go to the casinos very often, never go downtown, so I just don't get involved in all of that. We have some gorgous residential areas with multimillion dollar houses, we have beautiful mountains and lakes, a great university, theater, symphony, opera and the like, but those things are not what visitors are coming here for. So, sorry you had the experience you did, but actually at this point in time, I'm not that surprised unfortunately. Hopefully, they will get their act together as they make the changes, but you really need to contact someone about your experience.

suze

i thought mostly people went to Reno to gamble, no?

Kal

We like to stay in Sparks at The Nugget.
Just a cheap taxi ride to Reno if you'e so inclined.

Love the Victorian Sq area and the brew pub in there. I love the Icky!!!!

emd

I guess this is why we don't see alot of posts on this board w/Reno as a destination. For us, it has always been a gateway to Lake Tahoe area, and that is all.

OldSouthernBelle

We've been to Reno twice in the past. Stayed at the Nugget, and loved it! Drove up to Mt. Rose and learned to snow ski...it was perfect!

I'm not a gambler. We were there for meetings. If I were on my own dime, I'd go on to Lake Tahoe!

Belle