River City Casino & Hotel

This review will touch on 3 aspects of this casino/​hotel: 1) The casino 2) The Buffet 3) The room
1) I really like this casino! It looks like it was modeled after the Wynn/​Encore/​Bellagio in Las Vegas. Very upscale and classy, with rich red chandeliers and lots of ivory and off white décor. The gambling floor is fairly large, I think maybe larger than Ameristar in St. Charles. I could be crazy. Take that with a grain of salt. At any rate, there are plenty of slots to pull, however very few of the interactive games a la Family Guy, Sex and the City, Michael Jackson, etc. There were some Jurassic Park machines, Game of Thrones machines, Walking Dead, and a couple others that I didn’t get to play because those machines were nearly always taken already! Bummer.
In the center of the casino are the tables. Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, all the usual suspects. The minimums were no less that $ 15 while we there on a Friday and Saturday, which is a bit steep for my blood. So I stuck to putting my money in the slot machines instead… which is a better option? Probably not. Disregard.
Of course, the BEST things about casinos in this neck of the woods are the drink stations! You don’t find those in Vegas and are often left dawdling as you wait, drooling, for a waitress to walk by, which seems to happen less and less these days… Regardless, you can get your own coffee or soft drink as you see fit. free!!!
I got my I.D. checked EVERY time I entered the casino, which is another variation from Vegas style procedures. I don’t mind, just took a few moments.
2) So. The buffet. The «Great Food Exposition.» Hmmmmmm… not so great, after all. I was quite disappointed with the quality and variety of the food. Maybe it’s simply a much smaller buffet than what I’m used to, but nothing really struck my fancy, which is rare, because I LOVE buffets and I usually find at least one thing that I LOVE at each one. Not here, no such number, no such zone. The offerings seemed very pre-​manufactured and oily/​fake/​bland. You know, when a food tastes and feels like it has 82 ingredients as opposed to the 5 it should have if someone were to make it from scratch at home. If I’m wrong, and the food is, in fact, ‘real,’ then it must have been old and sitting out too long. Either way. Meh.
I’d go to the Hollywood Casino buffet instead, given the option.
3) My husband and I stayed in an Executive room, which is one step up from the basic room. I really liked the room and the décor of the hotel. It is elegant and swanky, with a coffee maker in the room! That is so valuable, I hope they never decide to take those out. The bathroom was roomy and clean, with shiny gold and ivory finishes. The shower had both an overhead and a traditional shower head. The bed was super comfortable for me, and I slept better in the few nights there than I have in years at home. There is a large safe in the room, and an empty refrigerator to store items = another thing you don’t see too often these days. I would recommend the hotel to my friends and family.
I’m not certain that the hotel includes a pool, though. I didn’t see any signs for one.
In the lobby, there is a Pete’s Coffee (I think.) stand that serves coffee, beverages, and sweets throughout the day. If you miss it during open hours, there are several restaurants in the hotel and casino that can quench your hunger. Food availability is very important, we’ve found. So that’s a nice perk of this particular hotel.
I’d say eat at a restaurant instead of the buffet. Just my opinion. Also, the casino is in a weird location. It’s out in the middle of the boonies on its own, with some industrial plants nearby. Odd location, but once you reach the grounds, you’re welcomed in with a brand new roadway.
Quite nice. Oh, and one more thing — Calories don’t count at River City Casino. So have fun!

This is one of the best casinos in the area! The restaurants in the casino are very good! The casino is one level, so getting around the casino is very easy. The parking garage is located on the south end of the casino. Very easy to access the garage and if the weather is bad, this is the best place to park! Judy’s Lounge is a good place to catch any of the live music on Friday or Saturday nights!

This is just a review for the buffet. You get a discount if you get the free casino card, you just have to walk through the smoke death casino floor to get to the service desk and sign up. The heavy smoke does occasionally waft into the buffet food area, but its not too bad. It was around $ 20/​person, and they have everything — ice cream/​cake/​dessert, ham cutting station, breakfast food, dinner food, asian, seafood, and more. The quality was what you expect for a buffet with such a wide selection for only $ 20, you could tell it wasn’t grade A cuts, but it was still tasty. Comes with a beverage too and the servers were really personable too.

This review is for the Hotel:
It’s a delight to stay here! The hotel is well maintained and always clean. There is no detail left behind — from the soft clean linens to the amenities. You will feel cared for at the River City Casino HOTEL!

Maybe 3.5 would be more appropriate but overall I couldn’t complain too much.
If you call ahead with a large party like we had (14 adults and 10 children), they’ll accommodate you in one of the auxiliary rooms that are adjacent to the main dining area. There you’ll have your own hardworking server, who will take your drink order and make sure it never goes dry. The price you can’t quote me on because we had complimentary buffet coupons so I don’t know how much, but I’d guess somewhere around $ 20-​$ 25.
In this instance, the brunch menu is eerily similar to the regular lunch and dinner menu sans the crab legs and seafood. Yes, they did have smoked salmon, muscles, eggs Benedict, scrambled eggs, waffle and pancake station, along with prime rib; but it didn’t really differ from the normal menu. I wasn’t disappointed in a sense that I ate as much as I could and still craved for more once I was full. Generally speaking, the hallmark of a good buffet is that they offer more than you can eat, River City fit the mold.
One issue: the sushi preparers are mean and nasty and it’s not unheard of, today was no different. Apparently you can order special made rolls much to the chagrin of the sushi preparer, the rumor is that they only seem to accommodate the guests that are familiar to them. In this instance one of my family members exchanged barbs with the sushi preparer to the point where had to be sent home. All he wanted was a roll, Jesus dude. The River City staff handled it well and apologized; but still…

I’m writing my review based on the casino and buffet. I’ve been here a few times before and was never a fan. First off, I absolutely hate buffets so coming here was a bad idea. But when friends have comp and want to eat here I can’t complain. When I’m here, I would just eat the sushi. I will ask the chef to make me some and I would just tip him. At least I know no one on the «outside» has touched the food lol
Pros:
Tons of pastries!
Able to order «fresh» sushi from the chef.
Free food for me lol
Cons:
Old and dry food.
Food is bland.
It’s a buffet!!! I’ve seen people coughing, wiping their nose, picking the food up with their bare hands! Omg disgusting!
Dining area is also disgusting.
Overall, I would never pay to eat here. I never paid before and never will. I don’t know how much buffet is here but I’m sure it’s over 20 $ per person. If you love buffets then this place might be for you.
As for the casino… it’s a casino. I’ve been to Vegas and let’s just say I’ve seen it all! I’m not a gambler so that’s that. But it’s disgusting in here. They need better ventilation! It smells like smoke hardcore! I’m not a smoker and I’m very sensitive. This is a deal breaker for me! But it doesn’t matter since I don’t frequent here. So if you like kissing ashtray… this is the place for you!

Didn’t stay in the hotel, this is just a casino review. Casino was clean and bright. I read on some other reviews that this casino is stingy on payouts. We didn’t seem to have a problem winning on several slots so I’m going to call that bs. The casino did have the smell of stale cigarettes, they could possibly do better on the air filtering. The buffet was decent, nothing extraordinary.

I will start by saying this was my first stay a River City and I enjoyed it thoroughly!
I arrived in Saint Louis on Saturday awaiting Sunday’s football game against the Detroit Lions. My friend and I were looking for a nice hotel and for the rate, it was better to stay here than some motels. Upon arrival we were greeted by Ms. or Mrs. Pam! She was a Boss! Extremely kind, extremely helpful! Excellent Customer Service is a dying breed so seeing Pam excel in this area was great. No matter what questions we had she never once got annoyed or treated us rudely. She gave us a map of the entire place and showed us the best routes to take, if we need to call and make reservations, (which if you want to go to the Steakhouse you will need to) etc. After showing us how to get to our rooms we were on our way!
We enter the elevator to take us to the 3^rd floor and arrive to our room. Upon entry the room didn’t stand out as amazing but was very clean and comfortable. However the bathroom was a better view than the room! Covered by a sliding wood door once opened you can’t miss the tall glass standing shower door, brick/​tile floor, two shower heads, (one in front on the wall and one above your head). The big glass mirror with a built in tv screen, marble countertop set with amenities! The toilet is off to the side behind its own stained glass door. Nothing like a hot shower to relax at the end of a long day!
Early Sunday morning we tried the café in the hotel for breakfast. The menu selection wasn’t very large. The price was a bit much for the quantity you receive but I enjoyed my breakfast! I purchased the biscuits and gravy with a side order of hash browns. That evening we headed over to try the buffet and again we were greeted by a friendly staff. Pretty good size buffet, not the best food I’ve ever tasted but still really good and nice variety. We had the cooking staff run a little prank on us that I found very funny! Glad the staff has a sense of humor and not uptight! Our waitress was friendly and made sure our drinks were refilled immediately.
As far as the Casino goes I’m not a gambler. We went inside and passed through and it reeked of Gerito, icy hot, beer and cigarette smoke. Immediate headache from all the smoke!
Over all a great stay, great service and a great time!

I have only been here once but I would love to go back again after my experience. We were at River City Casino for my husband’s company holiday party where they rented out one of the ballrooms for the evening. Upon arriving to the casino, there were several signs showing us where we were going with the company logo which was a nice touch. The staff was all very friendly and helpful.
The party consisted of light appetizers to start and then a buffet dinner. Unfortunately we were talking to so many people we did not get to sample the appetizers but the dinner was fabulous. They had a salad, hot, and dessert bar and each one had very tasty food and again all the staff was helpful and attentive. I learned that they have a restaurant that is delicious as well so I really want to go back and try it. Overall I would recommend going to River City for a good time. Happy gambling!

Absolutely wonderful buffet for Thanksgiving! This place is so pretty and has such professional staff members and I have so much fun here! Love it!

Stayed here for work in Oct 2015. The check in staff was very friendly. The rooms are decent size, but the bathroom is to die for! There is a TV within the bathroom mirror. The showers have a top and side shower head and a bench.
The non casino area was very clean.

Limited tables for specialty poker games like…4 card, Ultimate TX holdem, Pai gow, Mississippi stud… only 1 table open for each game on a weekend. So waiting to play is a bore! Tried their new game called Lunar Poker… what a joke! The table has plenty of sucker bets and the dealer must qualify for you to win big! Way too much money to play… so don’t expect that to last long. The restaurants are all pretty upscale so if your looking for a cheap eat it’s the burger place. We tried the buffet which was decent but couldn’t find a spoon and also asked our waitress who only came by once to drop off drinks and napkins and disappeared LOL!

Stopped by with my boyfriend back in July. We had so much fun!!! slots were so loose! Roulette was fun. Tons of variety for slots. Lovely décor. This place seems new. We will come back for sure!

I regularly stay at the hotel ! The gift shop has become a second home! The employees treat me like family and are nothing but kind and helpful ! I can always look forward to my experience and this hotel and their costumer service is excellent ! Kat at the gift shop is always so helpful to me and my family! Also Michael the food and beverage manager is very kind and helpful !

Was greeted nicely by valet service upon arrival. Valet service is complimentary and free self parking is available in parking lot and covered parking garage.
Upon entering the lobby, I was greeted by the stale aroma of cigarette smoke but no one was smoking. The smell of cigarette smoke was only present in the lobby and casino.
The hotel room was very clean, with comfortable bedding. The bathroom has a water closet, steam shower, built-​in TV in bathroom mirror.
There is not a pool, but there’s a fitness center with new treadmills, ellipticals, and dumbbells. Towel service and bottled water is complimentary.
I didn’t eat in any other the hotel’s restaurants, but the menu items were not overpriced.
The casino floor is huge and there is a non-​smoking section in the casino. Adult beverages are not complimentary but soft drinks and coffee are complimentary.
The hotel location is about a 15 minute drive to downtown STL. There are no retail businesses within walking distance.
I found the hotel on Kayak for about $ 155 a night including taxes. I was not able to find a comparable hotel downtown for the same price.

Here we have another situation where I wish Unilocal would allow me half stars as I would honestly give this Hotel/​Casino a 3.5 on my most recent trip into the area on business. I am originally from Kansas City, now living in Chicago, so I am no stranger to Missouri’s riverboat casinos and their idiosyncrasies. I have generally learned to never expect greatness from them, especially when compared to their more iconic cousins out West, but this place was a cut above the norm. Most of the casino operators in Missouri are just subsidiaries of the larger gaming conglomerates from Vegas and Atlantic City like MGM, Harrah’s, etc. This particular one is owned by Pinnacle (formerly Ameristar Casinos, Las Vegas).
Guest services here was exceedingly helpful over on the hotel side. From the Valet from when I drove up, to checkout and all parts in between. Since customer service seems to be taking a dive across the board in just about every business on the planet these days, when I am treated especially well it tends to stick out in my mind.
The room I stayed in was well equipped and semi-​opulent, but again, if you have stayed in just about any mid-​range casino-​hotel before, it is not going to blow you away. If you are familiar with Las Vegas, River City rooms are not like those at the Aria, the Cosmopolitan, The Wynn, etc. Think more along the lines of the Mirage and you have about hit the center of the bullseye. The shower in the suite was extremely awesome, however. Very relaxing after a long day of playing conference room sharp shooter. Bedding is one area that casinos normally shine in, but these mattresses and pillows were semi-​firm and only moderately comfy. This is not heavenly experience you get at some casinos with lavish down comforters and mattresses that are like sleeping on a cloud. However, at the price point offered, it is a pretty decent value. Bear in mind my expectations and needs for places like this are dramatically different when I am traveling on business. If you are just here to party and only need a place to crash after an all night bender, they will certainly do the trick.
The gaming floor is fairly large for a Casino of it’s size, and you should have no problems at all finding your table game of choice: poker, blackjack, roulette, keno, etc. Most of the casinos in KC comp drinks so long as you are playing at the tables, but that was not the case here. Not a huge deal, but that is still a nice perk that was noticeably absent. Like most casinos, you also have the endless stream of retirees over at the slots, mindlessly feeding their pension, 401K, social security, rent money, etc into the one armed bandits. Do they still have 1−800-BETS-OFF in Missouri? If so, you had better send a crisis team to this place.
Overall, this is not a bad option if you are in the area, but it is not a particular standout among it’s peers.

Ate the buffet here last night and the food was not good at all. For $ 25 I felt ripped off when I left. Potatoes were hard, shrimp was rubbery and meat choices were either dry or chewy.
Ended up eating corn on the cob and bread mostly. Won’t be going back, learned a lesson on another buffet.

High Rollers beware, the most stingy casino I have ever been to. After a long day of driving, I saw this place and decided to give it a try. After playing two hours of video poker at $ 25 per hand; I was down several hundreds and ready to call it a night and keep going the next day. So I talked to the players club people to see if I can get a room and some food comp. (I am a high roller in San Diego/​Vegas and casinos routinely offer me room/​food comp) the nice players club lady spent a good 15 minutes hunting down host and reviewing account… and guess what I got? $ 13 at the fast food place and a twenty dollar discount for a $ 100 room. They wouldn’t even comp me a drink at the brewhouse because my account is «too new»…what a nice way to welcome potential VIPs. I will avoid any AmeriStar property like the plague from now on. With my rate of play, I never had any issue obtaining free room on a weekday and $ 30+ food credit… I guess River City is looking for a different kind of high rollers.
It also irritates me a lot when the rep kept on mention that they are giving me a free buffet; dude, it was 10:30pm at night and the buffet shut its door two hours ago… can you exchange that stupid buffet for some dinner credit at the brewhouse to get me some booze to stay happy?

This is one of the nicest casino in the St. Louis area. They can do better on their buffet tho! Not many choices! People here are nice! Very clean!

I was in the St Louis are about a week age and decided on my last day to visit River City Cacino for dinner .
First the bad points, If you plan to come here for dinner esp on a Sunday, get there early !! And be prepared to wait a long time in line .
I was on my own and it would never had been happening if I had to wait in the long long long line.
I had only 90 minutes before I had to be at the airport.
So I saw someone I knew sitting down so I told the manager that I wanted to join them before they finished dinner.
She was nice enough to allow me to join them.
I had a very nice dinner there. It was Seafood night, so I did get a bucket of Crab legs, Cold Shrimp and a few other seafoods like clam strips.
It was very good, I would come back again but maybe a little earlier !!

This was my first time at the Casino and I wanted to see Don Williams. The venue is on the hotel side of the casino, which I wish I would have know before I had to walk through the cloud of smoke. This event was sold out and Don was worth every penny. They had seats on the floor, but I got a seat on the risers and I actually think they were better than the «expensive» seats. Great fun place to see a show.

My favorite casino in town! A huge one star taken away because of all the smoke but +4 stars because the place is beautiful, they have decent slots, table games are good (wish they had one more craps table though) and parking is easy. It’s a big place but I don’t feel overwhelmed walking around and I don’t feel crowded when at any of the bars or beverage stations. I look forward to returning!

I have stayed here 5 times in the last 6 months. It has been an overall good experience. I have learned to stay on the 6^th floor, since a couple of times when we were assigned rooms on other floors-​the rooms smelled. The service is acceptable for this level of a hotel. I have had issues on several occasions that had to be dealt with from room service to room changes to a closed gift shop; however, all issues got dealt with to acceptable level of service.
I really like the casino with one main exception (smoking). I had great luck the first 3 times and walked out a winner. On the 4^th visit, I didn’t do well; however, I played so much that my 3 day stay right before New Year’s Eve (5^th stay) was comp’d completely. Sad to say that this last visit, I lost a record amount and didn’t have any luck at all. They were setting up for NY Eve the day we were checking out and everyone including the staff was very excited. Apparently they do a great job ringing in the new year at the casino. Their theme was «hang with us» and they had two acrobatic swings hanging from the ceiling of the common area along with a disco ball and DJ floor side.
I like this place but I am still feeling the sting of my latest loss. Side note, I play table games-​not slots. Also, the casino dealers are some of the best casino staff I have dealt with in all the places that we have gambled. They are the best of all the staff in the casino and hotel and restaurants combined.

New, fresh, clean hotel with impeccable service.
There is just nothing like a new hotel. From the moment we entered our floor, we all noticed that «new hotel smell». Our room is spacious and modern. The bathroom is also spacious. We really loved that large shower with double shower heads. And yes, that TV in the mirror kept us entertained for no reason. After a couple of hours, the hotel staff even called us and ask if everything met our expectations.
The area around the casino does smell very smoky. All of the restaurants are close to the casino entrance. The Buffet’s entrance is inside of the casino. I just wonder if the insides will smell smoky. So one less star for that reason.
But all in all. If you just use this casino hotel as a hotel. It is very nice. We especially loved the free valet service. The location seemed out of the way, but it really was not that big a deal. We would return to this hotel again.