Was on my way to Reno from Salt Lake and decided to check out the Red Lion in Elko. What a depressing sight and atmosphere. The outside looks like a dumpy apartment complex built in the 60's with pale yellow brick and Elvis King Creole Balconies. The casino smells like a research center for lung cancer and looks like the prep room at a morgue.
The rooms were overpriced and down a prozac hallway. The front desk clerk was synapsely challenged or overcome by the fumes. The clientele was either withered or had just arrrived from an understimulated and under exercised part of the country and they acted like they were accomplishing something.
Otherwise it was a lovely speed bump and drove on to spend the night at Winners in Winnemucca, old style genuine place.

For the money, this was definitely one of the WORST values. I am really suprised there are good reviews here. We paid $80, with a Triple A card. I would think it would be okay if all you do is gamble in the casino, and you smoke. We went to the Red Lion only because we were on a long road trip and met up with some friends who were from the Reno area. We had our 10 year old daughter with us as well. I'm sure this area was NOT for us, so like I said if you smoke and just want to gamble it would be okay. First of all the swimming pool was closed, which it didn't say on the website, also no jacuzzi. The room looked like it was furnished in the 60s or early 70s, and EVERYTHING smelled like smoke even though it was a non smoking room. There are no microwaves or refrigerators either. We were at the VERY end of the hotel - a long way from the casino- every ice machine and soda machine they had until you got close to the casino was "out of order".
We found out why our room stank like smoke so bad. The maids would smoke in the hall right outside our room. When we were leaving we had to walk through a huge cloud of smoke. It was really bad.

I wouldn't complain if we had paid $40, but for $80, especially in a town where there is absolutely nothing to do but gamble, you would think the room would be nicer.

A group of us have been going on the gambling junkets to Elko for the past nine years...it's our yearly get together and we anxiously await the summer dates to be published.

Positives: We generally do very well gambling. We have hit a combined 7 royal flushes on video poker on the 25 cent and $1 machines...some of them progressives as well as a few 'taxable' slot jackpots.

It's a very relaxing if you just enjoy gambling - which we do. The food is reasonably priced and tasty especially across the street at the Gold Country. The buffet in the Red Lion is not that great but Misty's has excellent food.

If you do much gambling at all, your subsequent trips will generally be comped. I haven't had to pay to go to Elko since our first trip out there.

Negatives: If you are flying on Casino Express make sure your plans are flexible. We've only had two trips without a delay of some sort and on our 2003 return trip they had to shut down an engine, turn around and return to Elko where the fire trucks and emergency vehicles were awaiting our landing. A bit unnerving. The planes are old and unreliable however, I figure the flight attendants and pilots would not work on the planes if they thought a crash was likely (and they are wonderful by the way!)

My other suggestion would be to keep you money on your person. I had one recent trip where I won two substantial jackpots and had about $1200 taken from my room and did not notice it until I returned home. I had asked the casino hosts if there was a safe that I could use and was told no...since then I have found out that there were safes to rent within the motel...you would think the casino employees would be aware of that. I did not receive any help once I called back to the casino other than an offer of a free trip - I already get those so bit deal.

Overall Elko is a positive experience. The machines are very old (many are in the same place and same machine as the first time I went out there!) but you can win enough to keep playing and that's all I want from a gambling trip. Many different progressive video poker options including a $3 max play at the bar!

Have fun but I suggest you drive if you want to feel safe.

I just returned from a Casino Express trip to Elko, Nevada from Wichita Falls, Texas. I had never been before and knew nothing about Elko, the Red Lion or Casino Express. After seeing the ad in the local paper, I read the reviews on this site and finding them to be mostly favorable, a friend and I decided to give it a shot.

Overall, we both agree that we had a great time. Was it the best vacation we ever had? No. However, we had a lot of fun and for the price (under $300 total for airfare and three nights hotel for the two of us) it's hard to beat. Since previous traveler's reviews were so helpful for me, I write to assist others who may also be considering a trip.

The Red Lion Inn and it's sister property across the street, the Best Western Gold Country Inn, are both owned by the same folks who own Casino Express. They offer extremely reasonable three and four day getaways at dirt cheap prices in hopes of people gambling lots of money at their casinos in the hotels. I will summarize each part of the deal, both good and bad, as my friend and I saw it.

Casino Express.
The planes themselves are older 737's. They are clean enough, but the seats are a bit cramped and the overhead bins are pretty small. Our flight was only about 2/3 full, so my friend and I were the only two on our three seat row which made the 2 1/2 hour flight a little more bearable. The food and beverage service was limited, but about the same as coach service on any standard airline. On the return flight, the airport in Elko was shut down by fog and after several hours spent waiting at the hotel/casino, we were finally bussed out on a 2 1/2 hour ride to Twin Falls, Idaho where we waited another couple of hours for a plane to be sent to pick us up and bring us home. Although the 10 hour delay getting home caused some inconveniences, our group was given a complimentary lunch at the hotel restaurant while we waited for the bus to take us to Idaho and drinks were comped on the flight home. Given that the weather delays were beyond their control, I feel the airline handled it as best they reasonably could.

The Hotels and Casinos.
Vegas it ain't, but that's not all bad either. At the Red Lion, the tables were $5 and under and the dealers and pit bosses were generally very friendly. The casino was nicely appointed and the cocktail service adequate. There are a couple of non-smoking tables, but the overall casino was a bit smoky. There are plenty of slot and video poker machines, ranging from 1 cent to 1 dollar coins. There is also a small sports book with video screens, keno, bingo, and a poker table area for you Texas hold-em fans. Our room was very clean, spacious and comfortable. I would compare it too a very nice Holiday Inn or Raddison. There is also a small showroom in the casino, but it appears to only be used for small to medium sized acts that travel through on the weekends 2 or 3 times a month.

The Gold Country across the street is strictly slots and video poker. It was much smaller and we spent only a few minutes there playing. I didn't see the rooms, but the motel itself is two story with the rooms all exiting outside. They appeared to be like what you would expect from a typical nice Best Western motel.

We went downtown one day to the other two casinos there, Stockman's and the Commericial Casino. These two are owned by the same group, but are not affiliated with Red Lion or Gold Country. Stockman's has a few tables, along with slots. The Commerical Casino is strictly machines. These places seemed to be more local and had much older appearance and feel about them.

Overall, the Red Lion was the most enjoyable and comfortable casino.

Food.
The Red Lion has two restaurants. The Coffee garden serves buffet and standard menu items. The food and atmosphere are decent, similar to an upscale Denny's. The other restaurant is Misty's. We ate their twice and found the food and service to both be very good. Other people we talked to there also agreed. We did not hear about any bad dishes, but the steak and salmon were generally considered to be the best choices. The prices are a little high (most dishes are ~$25 - $30), but they include two sides and a salad or soup appetizer. For the amount and quality, it is not a bad deal. If you want to save a few bucks, they also have an early bird dinner from 5-6:30 pm that offers 5 or 6 different meals in the $9-$15 range.

Across the street at Gold Country is JR's. It had a few more choices than the Coffee Garden and the food reminded me of what you might find at Applebee's or Chili's. It was pretty tasty and reasonably priced. Most everything was in the $5 - $10 range. The atmosphere was definitely casual, but nice enough for breakfast and lunch.

There is a fairly large Spanish population, from the Basque region, in Elko. There are a couple of different restaurants near downtown that feature food from the region. Although we didn't try them, we were told by some of the people who worked for Casino Express that they were quite good.

Overview.
I first went to Vegas nearly twenty years ago and have been many times since. If you want the fancy hotels, restaurants and shows (and the very high prices that accompany them), then you should go to Vegas. If you are looking to do a little gambling while on a very relaxing, affordable getaway with good food and very nice folks, then you should seriously consider Elko. Approximately 90% of the people on our flight had been there before, some of them twenty times or more. I know we plan to go back as well.