Lady Luck

Just returned from a two-day trip to the new Belterra Riverboat Casino in Indiana. It's nice, as riverboat casinos go, but it isn't anything like Vegas or even Atlantic City. The rooms in the hotel were luxurious with whirlpool bathtubs and many amenities. But in order to get into the casino, you had to 'board' at a certain time, and the boat actually left the dock, so you couldn't leave even if you wanted to.You were stuck until the boat returned to the dock, every two hours. The golf course had just opened the day we arrived, so there was another activity besides gambling if you wanted to do that. Green fees ranged from $60 to $75 per person. We had buffet meals included with our package and ate dinner there the first night. After that, we paid for our meals in the restaurant and coffee shop. The buffet food was cold, starting to dry out and far too highly seasoned for our tastes. Since we travelled by bus, we had no way to leave the 'resort' area and there is NO PLACE else to go. There are a few shops in the hotel for those who like to shop, but they were really sparse also. There is absolutely no provision made for children, which to some is a plus. I don't think we'll be going back there. And in case you think this is all sour grapes, I did win at the casino. I came home with more money than I took even after two days of mild gambling.

Frannie

This sounds like a duplicate of a trip I took in June. Except for one thing...I didn't come home a winner. I kinda lost a lot of money, but that's no fault of the casino.

MaryKarenK

We just returned from what was to have been a two night stay at Belterra. The deluxe king room which we reserved was very nice, and the bath was extremely nice. Dinner at "Jeff Ruby's" was just wonderful. Even though we did not play golf, the course looked to be in great shape. So why did we cancel our second night's lodging? The cigarette smoke in the casino was simply overwhelming and unrelenting. We had been to a few of the other Indiana river boats, and found that they had non-smoking areas, where you could at least get away from some of the smoke for a spell. As a former smoker, ( thirty years on the wagon), I can usually put up with second-hand smoke, but this was truly unbreathable air. I could not believe that the air-handling system was not better. We were dissapointed to have to cancel our second night, but the thought of spending more time in the midst of all that smoke was truly disgusting. I must say that the staff gave no resistence when we checked out a day early. The hotel seems to be quite busy, so perhaps this is not an issue with other travelers.

LLindaC

Reopening the post! We went to hear Jay Leno at the Belterra last night. He had 2 shows and we paid $85 per ticket. We were in the back row under the "overhang" by the bar. We could not understand one word he uttered for the first 10 minutes. He didn't use the mike well, but the biggest problem was the sound people and the fact that they had no speakers in this area. Besides that, the staff were shutting down the bar, breaking ice, talking and using cell phones. I finally got up to complain at the sound booth and was treated rudely. The place is a smoke pit as well. People were walking through the halls puffing away. The buffet is overpriced and not original at all. The food was bland and tasted like a cheap cafeteria. The seats were ripped in our booth and there was food on the floor that wan't cleaned between guests. Yuk. Thank God, we stayed at a B&B in nearby Vevay (the Rosemont Inn) which was fabulous, gotgeous and a great deal. I'm sure I would have been "smoked out" in the morning at the casino hotel!

swaymock

I started to read this post and was shocked to learn that the ship actually sailed --- as I was there last month for the first time and it certainly wasn't the case. Then I realized the first post was written in 2001!

As an update, the ship no longer sails. We got a fabulous room on a Sunday night for something like $39.

I didn't eat in the buffet so I can't address it. We ate in the Aquarium restaurant and the food was good but not great. Not overly pricey though. Service was horrendous.

I have to say that I didn't notice an overabundance of smoke though (I'm not a smoker) --- but it is a casino so I expect there will be smoking--- there always is.

I would have been extremely disappointed at the Leno show. Sorry to hear about that, Linda