Mark Popovich

Review of Harrahs Resort & Casino

We arrived on Friday afternoon to begin a nice Lab...

We arrived on Friday afternoon to begin a nice Labor Day weekend. As we approached the hotel we saw smoke billowing from the building. When we got out of our car in the parking garage we heard someone saying something about a fire. We had to walk through the casino to get to the check-in counter. A loud recording was telling everyone to leave the building and lights were flashing. No one seemed concerned. Once we got to the front desk the woman checking us in said the fire was out, but the lights were still flashing and the announcement kept playing. We left the building to avoid getting a migraine from the flashing lights. Once it stopped they opened the elevators and we went to our room. The room was very nice. We were on the 15th floor and could see firemen climbing onto the roof which didn't make us feel very comfortable. At least 6 firemen got on the roof and approached the area where the fire had been (in a kitchen). As they poked the roof, smoke came out. They sprayed it with a fire extinguished. This happened a few times and then it seemed they thought it was out. We proceeded to the pool. We were unable to get a seat at the swim up bar so we sat at the other side of the bar. Immediately many bees flew around us and the bartenders. The bartenders said not to worry about them. I worried about them because I'm allergic to them. I had to move to a location away from the bees while my husband ordered food and drinks. About this time the fire lights and audio recording started again so he was told all kitchens were closed (again). We hadn't eaten lunch because our plan was to eat there--at the pool. We also had a hard time charging our drinks to our room because we didn't have our id. We've never been to a resort where we were guests and had to show id to charge to our room. Since the fire alarm was ringing again, all people were cleared from the gambling floor and they all came out to the bar area! Our relaxing afternoon turned out to be nothing like that. Once the alarm was turned off (again) we tried to order food from the bar. We were told it was too late to order food because it was 5:15pm. We would have to go inside. We did go inside and ate. We then went to a show (Norm Macdonald and Colin Quinn) which was the reason we booked a night in the first place. Norm Macdonald was so wasted he couldn't remember what he had planned to say. It was pathetic and unprofessional. A lot of people got up and left. Fortunately Colin Quinn was quite good but we paid to see 2 comedians, not one! After the show we went to our room and tried to order room service. It was 11:15pm and we were told it would take an hour to get food! So, my husband went downstairs to get something and bring it back to the room. He returned just shy of an hour later with a sandwich. He said the lines were very long because of the kitchen fire earlier. Suffice to say we did not have the experience we were expecting on many levels. I suppose if you got when there isn't a fire and you aren't expecting to get the show you paid for, you will have a nice experience there. Make sure you bring your id to the pool--something they should have told us when we checked in.