Turning Stone Casino
Turning Stone Casino in Oneida, NY, is the number one casino in
New York state, sitting on the Oneida Indian Nation. It's the biggest, has the most games available to play, and has more hotel rooms attached to it than
any other casino. It boasts of three world class golf courses, of which one is now verified because they are now a host on the PGA golf tour. It also has
some of the top rated restaurants in the state. This is my review.
Turning Stone opened its door in 1993, the first casino in the state of New York. Even then, it was stylish, with this strangely shaped front, where
everyone came in through the same end, whether they wanted to gamble or stay overnight in its main hotel at the time, with some regular rooms and
some of the main suites with Jacuzzis. I have stayed in the Jacuzzi rooms a few times over the years, and it's always a wonderful experience. Over
the years, it has grown bigger and bigger, with more hotel rooms, including its relatively new 19 story hotel, the tallest structure in the state not within
a metropolitan area. It has 266 guest rooms and 21 suites. The casino also has a Lodge, not attached but right across one of its parking lots, with all
98 of its rooms suites.
Okay, let's get the negatives out of the way; there aren't many. For one, if you play slot machines, your odds aren't very good. Because the closest
casino is almost 180 miles away in Niagara Falls (although, as I write this, another Indian nation is trying to get approval for a casino that would be
just under 60 miles away), they don't have to pay, so to speak, to draw big crowds in. Also, though they have a couple of non-smoking areas, the only
area where cigarette smoke actually can't get into is the poker room; you never think about how much people smoke sitting at slot machines and game
tables until you've been away from cigarette smoke for awhile.
But the positives are greater. For instance, if you play a lot of slot machines, you build your points up at a very fast rate, which earns you comps for
hotel rooms and all sorts of goodies that can only be purchased via a diamond card, which everyone has to have in order to play the slots. What this
does is limit the number of slots any one person can play at a time to one, as opposed to Las Vegas and Atlantic City, where you'll have one elderly lady
tying up multiple machines. You will earn points for playing table games also, but at a much slower rate because you won't be losing your money as fast;
trust me on this one.
Another positive is the customer service. Turning Stone does it right; they have the nicest and most courteous people working there than I've seen in
any other casino I've ever been to. There is no complaint that they won't handle immediately, and every person who works there will go out of their
way to make sure your experience is wonderful.
Another positive, at least for me, is that they don't serve alcohol; no liquor license, though they've been trying to get one. In the past, they've allowed
those who have conventions or meetings there to bring in their own, but they've suspended that while trying to obtain a license. Mainly, they've been
trying to get a license so they can serve alcohol in their restaurants and in the new dance club they're presently building, which will be called Club
Lava. The reason they're not trying to get it across the board is their main draw; it's presently the only casino in the northeast that allows 18 to 21
year olds onto the floors, especially into the poker rooms, only because they don't serve alcohol. One wouldn't believe how much revenue can be
generated from this age group in the poker room; where are these kids getting the money these days?
In my opinion, Turning Stone Casino gets it right; strong customer service, always improving (I can't think of a time I've gone when they weren't
either building something new or changing something else up), top notch rooms, golf, spa (didn't mention that before), restaurants, and all less than 45
minutes from Syracuse, NY, by car; oh yeah, no airport yet, but I wouldn't put it past Ray Halbritter, the Nation Representative of the Oneida Indian
Nation, and the man who came up with the casino idea in the first place, to try to work that in at some point. And, gas is cheaper on the reservation;
then again, so are cigarettes (ugh). So, if you like games of chance, this is the place to go.
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