Sandia Resort & Casino

Sandia Resort and Casino.
Every event I have attended at Sandia has been pleasant. The services at private functions are great and the presentation of the buffet is perfect. The banquet rooms are always tastefully decorated and have great accoustics.
The food at the private functions is also really good. I supposed it depends on who is footing the bill for it all, but in my experience– BRAVO. I have yet to dine at the facilities other establishments.
The casino-​bleh. I really hate the smell of cigarette smoke. I occasionally think I smoke. I usually have one puff of a cigarette and am convinced otherwise. Coughing ensues, it is pathetic. I am not a smoker, despite what bourbon may lead me to believe. Walking around the game floor with the cloud of noxious fumes, I guess some people are really into it. Seeing elderly with oxygen lines up their noses while puffing on a smoke on the penny slots is not my thing.
Alas, I love the décor. I have danced the night away at one of the open clubs. It is fun. Not my usual thing, but still fun. I really just dislike the smoke. If the smoke were gone, FIVE stars. I hate the smoke that much.

Awesome hotel, and especially the housekeeping staff.
Left something in room last week, and Leona in housekeeping took wonderful care of us. Picked it up today on way back through town. Just wish they hadn’t been fully booked for tonight or we’d be staying here again tonight!

Once a beacon of decent cuisine and gambling fun in the dire lackluster dim light of the southwest, this place needs professional consultation from Vegas casinos. Sure, it’s got cheap eats, watered-​down drinks, player’s club treats, resort golf course, decent rooms, and sometimes friendly atmosphere. But the food is getting worse, except the Council Room. The nightclub atop the hotel plays the worst music but a fantastic view. At the main bar downstairs, they’re usually short on wait staff. Sometimes there is only one waitress for 50 customers sitting at the tables. The karaōke is ok. The DJ thinks he’s funny but takes away too much time away from the singers. The food and drink manager are slacking, no specials or signature cocktails. Twin Arrows casino near Flagstaff has much better food and drink management. I think the council needs to intervene in this situation and create a review board for the casino. There are better eateries, entertainment, drinks, service, hotels, and resorts in the area.
The golf course is great. Front desk service at the hotel is not always the best. The casino slots selection is good. The table games are understaffed much of the week except Friday and Saturday nights. The blackjack tables have 8 deck shoes and no auto shufflers, so you’ll just have to wait while they use a signature shuffle. There is only one craps table goof at a time usually. They need to open all 5 of them. There is no Freebet blackjack and only the oldest table games. The casino attracts many excellent concerts throughout the year.
With consistent inconsistency, we are just going to have to take what we can get. This place makes over a hundred million a year so the council and executives are happy the way it is. Give Santa Ana Star Casino a chance if u don’t mind the extra 15 minute drive.

Stopped in to get a players card and relax after a 6 hour road trip. The line was so incredibly long that it would have taken 45 minutes to get a players card. I did gamble on several machines, played $ 2.50 max bet. Hit two bonus and won less than 20.00 total. However, the two people next to me were playing 50 cents and won 100 and 175. I probably won’t stop in again.
Almost everyone in the casino smoked, it was a non-​smokers nightmare!

Horrible customer service. We stayed at the Sandia Resort & Casino this past weekend. We were there for a wedding which was being held on their premises. From the moment we arrived, the experience was negative.
1. David Meeks, the manager-​on-​duty at the time, was absolutely horrible. Despite booking our rooms as part of the wedding block and confirming our check-​in time as midnight on multiple occasions, we arrived to find out that they gave our rooms away. They did not contact us ahead of time, they just waited until we checked in to turn us away. At first, they lied and claimed that they were having maintenance issues. Upon further questioning, they admitted that they overbooked and gave away our rooms. Why would you EVER give away a room that was part of a confirmed wedding block? Don’t you think that wedding guests would actually show up, especially after they called to confirm the reservation and check-​in time on multiple separate occasions? They did offer to put us up in a different hotel for the night, but they DID NOT apologize and acted as if we were a nuisance. Not only did he not apologize, but he defended the hotel’s decision to give our rooms away and explained that this happens all the time. He said that hotels act like airlines and consistently overbook. The hotel that they sent us to also confirmed that the Sandia Resort often overbooks and has to turn away guests with reservations. It might be worthy to note that the wedding officiant was my father and was turned away with me. Way to piss off the bride and groom before their wedding.
2. Room Service — We called within the room service hours (called at 10:50, ends at 11pm). The woman who answered the phone sounded incredibly annoyed and wanted to know how many meals they would have to prepare before even taking my order. When the room service was delivered, the hotel employee made a snarky comment about how we were the last order of the night. This was not a «this is the last order so now I can go home» comment, but more like a «how dare you inconvenience us by ordering room service this late» type of comment. If the kitchen was closed, you could have said that on the phone and we would have understood, but don’t make a paying guest feel guilty for taking advantage of an amenity that you offer! You could have even not answered the Room Service phone line and that would have been better than your treatment of us.
3. Housekeeping began knocking on doors at 9am on Sunday morning. Although we had our «do not disturb» sign hanging on the door, we still heard them knocking on every single door around us. You cannot knock on guests’ doors at 9am on a Sunday morning, especially when they are in the hotel block for a wedding that you put on the night before! You should really know better. For a resort, they certainly did not allow any sort of rest and relaxation.
To end on a positive note, I will say this: every bellhop we encountered was incredibly friendly and helpful.

It’s a cool place to stop by while on a road trip! We just went to the casino and gambled!
Unlike Vegas– THE DO NOT SERVE Alcohol ON THE FLOOR WHILE Gambling. But the do serve water, soda and coffee!
If your a new member get $ 25 credit to gamble and a gift

Smoke, smoke, smoke! Smokers only need to breathe instead of smoking as there is enough smoke in the air to serve everyone alike! We travel the country and play in casinos everywhere. Canada casinos are 100% smoke free, as are Maine, Colorado, Illinois, Atlantic City, Ohio, Australia and I am sure more. With such a beautiful building and surroundings, why can’t Sandia be the leader for promoting better health by becoming a smoke free casino? Smoke free casinos have huge support from the public. If Sandia management reads the reviews submitted about their casino, smoke is the big issue, by far. The non smoking room is a joke because smoke enters the room through the cashier windows and with the patrons holding their lit cigarettes as they walk through the non smoking area. Get with it Sandia! It is no longer socially responsible to smoke or promote smoking. Be the leader.
Susan P

I’m just not a lucky person. I don’t just put 5 dollars in the machine and get 100, but the older lady next to me most certainly will. She was wearing a cool hat… does this mean you «wear» luck? Note to self: please try again (with a cool hat) and play more lines. This remains to be seen. So do a lot of the amenities at Sandia Resort, but I’ll tell you this — the grounds are beautiful.
Pay attention to the details, the landscape, and the location. The backdrop offers stunning views of the mountains and it seems like a fun place for a getaway or for a show. Seems like they’res a lot going on at Sandia, but for this brief, passive visit to the penny slots combined with some laughs and cultural lore, I’ll wait to try again and feel a little luckier.

My friend was asked by upper management to leave for «acting too gay» at the bar. There is no place whatsoever for this type of barbaric, savage behavior in modern civilized society. This man has yet to be repremanded which shows this is what ownership and the tribe stand for. A behavior that remains completely illegal for hundreds of miles on the outside of their shallow borders, there are some savages in here who are afraid to come out of the closet. Well they have their own laws and legislation, everybody else can still vote with their dollar.

This place is homophobic. My friends were ejected from the bar there strictly for «being gay» and were told so by management. In addition, the cigarette smoke is unbearable and you can only drink in the designated bar area. What fun is a casino if you can’t drink at the tables and machines? Please give your business to other casinos in the area!

Extremely smokey and sad on the inside of the casino. The grounds are very pretty from the outside, didn’t see the inside of the hotel.

Just one thing to note. This place is for SMOKERS!!! You can feel the heavy air, & smell the tremendous smoke when you get out of the car in the parking garage. I wanted to hold my breath and run all the way from the parking garage to the room, to avoid this. Of course, the distance is too far to do so. Standing in the lobby, you just can’t breathe. Your clothes will absolutely reek, in minutes. It doesn’t matter where you’re at in the hotel — except your non-​smoking room, if available.
It’s such a beautiful place. I’m sad that they haven’t spent a little more $ to ventilate this, as so many upscale casino resorts have done. The place is packed, so folks have obviously just accepted the smoke problem. Doubtful this will ever change, since it’s not affecting their business. For me, I can’t stay here or enjoy anything. I just can’t breathe.

Revisited Sandia Hotel/​Casino after ten years. Didn’t fare too well in-​contrast to my mother, whose not unsteady companion Good Luck stood alongside most of the afternoon. Nestled at the foot of the Sandia Mountains amidst surrounding sagebrush for miles, exterior/​interior geyser-​like rising waterfalls that mark elegant hotel appointments and grand gaming rooms.

This place makes its own rules and treats you like youve done something wrong if you win. they made me wait in the same seat I won at for two hours, then they spelled my name wrong and used that as an excuse to not pay me $ 3300’00 in «taxes»…over two weeks of repeated attempts to collect have gotten me no further than an accountant who just wouldn’t correct their mistake… dont waste your hard earned dollars here… if you win they wont pay… they refused to pay $ 1.3 million a few years back and called it a machine malfunction then hid behind their sovern immunity… you have no way to collect when they welch… boycott this place they are greedy.

The grounds and building are very pretty. I’m not much of a gambler, but it seemed like a nice place and a typical casino. It is larger than the Route 66 casino.
It’s located right off I-​25 and Tramway with gorgeous views of the Sandia Mountains. I recommend it.

My experience at this casino started on a bad note. I was wheeling my father (a decorated Vietnam vet in a wheelchair) into the casino thru the revolving doors at the casino entrance when I noticed a «security» guard on the inside of the door. When he looked at us I thought he was going to help us.
Instead the“security” guard (named Shane) stopped me and asked if he could inspect a small backpack that was on my back «for bombs». What a crock. Had I been alone I would have told him to kiss my ass since I did not see any signs saying that the casino had a policy of searching their customers.
He did a very uninspired search to satisfy his POWER TRIP. I suspect this rent a cop was having a TSA moment and delusions of grandeur.
Anyway, I allowed him to violate my constitutional rights in the name of expediency but I will never return to this lame casino.

I only get to casinos a couple times a year and when I do, I prefer to go to Sandia. It’s nicely laid out and decorated, great slot choices and table games. Non-​smoking slot room is a plus. Bingo, keno, high rollers, bars, dancing, fine dining, casual dining, and buffet. They have it all. I used to like to stay in the hotel too, but the prices have gone up tremendously.

There’s a lot to like about Sandia — but much of that gets choked out by smoke.
PROS:
It’s a beautiful location off of I-​25, and the resort itself is very inviting. Compared to Indian gaming casinos I’ve visited in California, Sandia is superior as far as the building and design go.
The valet service was quick and convenient.
And though it might sound silly, the restrooms are very clean, which I appreciate.
Free casino play with a Player’s Club card (though I did not get one. See cons.)
If you’re into Bingo, the bingo buy-​in was reasonable, and the game had some fun twists and extras. I enjoyed it.
CONS:
Smoke. And then more smoke. Followed by smoke. With a side of smoke. Seriously — I am not usually bothered by cigarette smoke, but at Sandia there is a ton of it… everywhere. It’s as if there are people hidden in the walls and ceiling who have been hired to blow smoke through the ducts. I joked with my friend that Sandia should be renamed Black Lung Casino. You can smell smoke from outside as you approach the entrance. In the bingo room, a non-​smoking table will sit right next to a smoking table. I don’t understand the logic there. To me, there was just too much of it, and it affected my enjoyment of my evening.
Crowds. I visited during Thanksgiving weekend, so perhaps it was more crowded than normal. During my visit, the crowd was thick, and getting from point A to point B required the moves of a boxer, weaving from side to side.
Because of the crowd, the line to receive a Player’s Club card was ridiculously long. I skipped this perk since I didn’t want to waste my evening in line.
NUTSHELL:
It’s a nice casino marred by a nearly-​constant reminder that you might get cancer.

«NIGHTMARE COME TRUE»
Well our nightmare begins on our recent stay on Oct. 24, 2014, my wife and I checked into our hotel room for our 1 night stay that was comped by the casino. We were assigned to room 312 on the 3^rd floor. The wife and I dropped off our belongings in the room and went down to the casino to gamble. We returned to our room at around 11pm and prepared to go to sleep. We feel asleep and were rudely awoken at 12:30am to the sound of a cannon going off in our bathroom. My pregnant wife who is in her 8^th month walked over to find the toilet shooting out water and soap suds from the toilet and all over the bathroom floor. Well of course as every pregnant woman knows the minute my wife saw the toilet she needed to use it so I called the front desk right away to find what was going on and to see if they can get the issue repaired and to find us the nearest bathroom for my pregnant wife. The desk clerk Kelly stated he would send engineering to our room to see what’s going on and hung up. We waited 35 min. Before we finally heard a knock on our door. I opened the door to a little old housekeeper that came to the rescue holding a bag of cleaning cloths??? I showed her the huge mess with water everywhere, all over our 1 suitcase that was in the bathroom and the entire floor. The housekeeper began to throw down the rags and actually thought that the rags would do the trick. She grabbed all of the bath towels and used those as well. After another 40 min. She came out and said everything was alright and that my wife might want to wear her shoes to walk in the bathroom. Now remember she never brought cleaning supplies, mop, nothing so the housekeeper expected us to use a dirty bathroom that just threw up sewer water all over the floor and the toilet and she used rags and our towels. By this time my wife was furious because she needed to go really bad. I called back down to the front desk and told Kelly that the bathroom was not clean and that my 8 month pregnant wife needed the bathroom bad so he needed to come open up another room so she could use the bathroom! Kelly said he would send a cleaning crew with the proper tools and that the hotel was completely booked so my wife would need to go all the way down to the casino floor to use the public bathroom. I was so angry and demanded to speak with the manager on duty and Kelly said he was the manager on duty. I told him that maintenance NEVER showed up and that the toilet was still making gurgling sounds? Kelly said he would take care of it and hung up. Another 30 min. Goes by and someone knocks on our door and I look out and see the same old housekeeper with a mop bucket and a can of lysol. I let hey in and let her go to work. By now the time is almost 2:30 in the morning, my poor wife still needs the bathroom and I’m pissed! We finally got back to bed at 3:45 am my wife used the bathroom after the housekeeper finished and we were exhausted! The nightmare continues, at 4:15 am. We were awaken once again to the water canon going off! The toilet did in fact explode again with sewer water everywhere and soap suds everywhere! !!! What the hell is going on with this so called 5 star hotel? ?? I called the front desk and told Kelly the same crap was going on and that we were not happy at all! ! I reminded him that maintenance NEVER came to our room and that it needs to be fixed ASAP! The same routine, little grandma with mop and bucket came back up, no maintenance, and NO SLEEP!!! The housekeeper told me and I recorded her saying that maintenance was flushing the clogged sewer pipes from the restaurant that is on the top floor of the hotel and that our live was connected to the same sewer line as the one they were trying to unclog. I asked her if any other rooms were also affected she said nope just ours! Just our luck! This was our worst experience of any hotel stay anywhere! My wife and I had about 3 hours of sleep the entire night when we checked out we looked like the characters from the Walking Dead and the new assistant manager, David Meeks, could have cared less. We told him of our nightmare and all he cared about was patting his perspiring face with his handkerchief so that his make up wouldn’t run. My wife called the Sandia Hotel front desk manager, Ashley Johnson every single day of this past week and left numerous messages for her to call us back and NEVER received a single call back. My wife also called Tim Nicholas who is the general manager of the hotel and left him and his assistant several messages and could not believe that not a SINGLE RETURN PHONE CALL FROM ANYONE IN MANAGEMENT! !!!

A truly beautiful resort, but the best part is the Player’s Club which gives you $ 25 free play.
We actually won a couple bucks each on the casino’s money and did not put it back in. That’s always a plus!

Un casino qui né cesse de croître. Lors de notre premier passage, il n’y avait que le casino. Lors de notre dernière visite, c’est un hôtel, des services à n’en plus finir, le casino et une salle de spectacle. Géré par une première nation de l’état, ce casino est ce qu’il y a de plus chic et plus raffiné dans les alentours d’Albuquerque.