Hotel Reviews
Travel Tuesday: River Bend Casino Hotel Review (Wyandotte, OK)
A few weeks ago, my wife and I set off for what we dubbed an actual vacation. In short, this meant we’d be doing absolutely no work and, for the first time in a very long time, would be headed to a destination that didn’t have a Disney theme park! Originally, I thought that we’d take a trip to Vegas, since my wife hasn’t been there for a while. Unfortunately, though, that proved to be a bit out of our budget by the time we were set to book. So, while we decided to spend most of our vacation in Bentonville, Arkansas, I had the fun idea to pop over the Oklahoma border “on the way” and head to River Bend Casino & Hotel?
So, what all brought us to River Bend, and how was our experience? Let’s dive into the details.
River Bend Casino & Hotel Review: A Fun Gaming Destination Off the Beaten Path?
Booking River Bend Casino & Hotel (and How I Booked)
If you’re not familiar with the area, the OK-KA-MO border is populated by several casinos. In other words, I had plenty to choose from — including a couple that I regularly see ads for on TV. This begs the question, “Why River Bend?”
Well, the answer comes down to our credit card perks. To further help keep the budget down, I decided to cash in the $50 Chase Travel Hotel credit we get with our Chase Sapphire Preferred card. As it turns out, not all of the casino hotels in the area are offered on this portal. You know what was, though? That’s right — River Bend!
For the night, our total came to $89 and there was no resort fee to speak of. After the $50 Chase statement credit, that means we spent just $39 for the night. Meanwhile, you can also find River Bend on Expedia and other booking sites as well as on their own website. In fact, on said site, you’ll find different package options that bundle in “free play” and dining credits. This is something I’ll definitely explore if we were to make a return stay.
Getting There and Checking In
After exiting the freeway, you’ll take some back and farm roads over to River Bend — and may even pass some other casinos. But, like an oasis in the plains (if plains are allowed to have oasises), you’ll soon come across River Bend and its expansive parking lot. If you’re curious, it took us about 90 minutes to get to the property from Springfield, while it’s only about 35 minutes from Joplin. It was also an hour down to Bentonville the next day, so not too far out of the way.
Even though there was a porte-cochere for the hotel, we decided to park in the main lot, but in a space as far forward as possible. Heading into the lobby, the front desk was right there and we were promptly greeted. During check-in, we were informed that our room was not quite ready (it was around 1:30 p.m. and check-in wasn’t really until 3 p.m.), so they took our phone number and told us to come back to pick up our keys later. This is also when we were informed that the casino’s main restaurant wasn’t open on Mondays, but the “deli” quick service spot was.
Walking around while waiting for our room, we noticed that neither of us had any service. In fact, this was the first and only time I’ve ever seen my phone display an SOS, meaning satellite calling would be available in an emergency. I was able to connect to the casino WiFi, but we still didn’t see a text from the hotel, and didn’t want to be annoying by asking again.
Luckily, while we were standing outside trying to get a signal and wondering what to do next, a staff member popped out to tell us that our room was indeed ready. When we told her we hadn’t seen a text, she asked, “Oh, you have Verizon?” Apparently, this is a known issue with that carrier, so be aware!
After grabbing our keys, we walked over to our car to get our bags and headed up the elevator to our room.
The Room
When we arrived on our floor, the first thing that caught my attention was the light strips that displayed each room number. Already, this was a more upscale feel than I had anticipated. Well, that theme continued as we stepped inside to find tasteful decor (including beautiful teal-ish accents), a desk, a large TV, and a nice shower. Amenities-wise, there were two complimentary bottles of water in the room, along with a coffee maker and a mini fridge.
Overall, the room was quite comfortable and proved to be relatively quiet. And while the view out to the parking lot wasn’t much, it was still nice in its own way. I will also say that the room didn’t feel very worn, making me wonder when they were last remodeled/refurbished.
The only downsides of the room start with the A/C, which was a wall unit and not central. That said, it was still controlled via a regular thermostat and, thankfully, wasn’t one of those that ran consistently. It also wasn’t too loud when it kicked on, which is another plus. Meanwhile, for as nice as the shower looked, I really could have used some additional pressure. It sure did get nice and hot, though!
All things considered, I think it was a great value. Moreover, looking at their site, it seems as though pricing is pretty standardized, with weekend bookings coming in at $127 (plus taxes and fees). Again, I think that’s a pretty good deal for the quality of the room.
The Casino and Joining the Players Club
I knew ahead of time that River Bend Casino probably wasn’t going to be very big, and that proved true. Having been to a few other casinos in the area, I say it falls somewhere in the middle in terms of size (which might also explain why it’s not one I see advertised here often). Still, I felt it had a decent selection of slots.
As for table games, there’s a small pit in the back with the likes of Blackjack, Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em (which, for the record, is not the regular Texas hold ’em and is a table game played against a dealer), and more. I specifically looked at the Blackjack table, which displayed a $10 minimum bet and was a 3:2 Blackjack payout. On the downside, it was a hit soft 17 game and I wasn’t able to confirm the other rules.
The reason I wasn’t able to get more info on the Blackjack game was because, as I learned, table games are also closed on Mondays! I held out hope that perhaps it would be open Tuesday morning before we left, but that didn’t pan out either. Considering that a big reason why I wanted to visit the casino was to play Blackjack with my wife, I was pretty disappointed by this… but it probably did save me money. In any case, this is something you’ll want to keep in mind if you plan to visit. There are other casinos relatively nearby you can try if you really do want to play, but we didn’t bother lest we only find more disappointment.
Anyway, knowing that slots were our only option, we decided to open players cards. In doing so, we were awarded $5 free play. FYI, this is the type of free play that’s automatically issued after you complete a spin, so you’ll need to keep track of how much you’ve spent (you can’t just cash out the free play but once you’ve bet at least $5, you can cash out whatever balance you have).
We both gambled a bit beyond our $5 free play — but, before dipping below $20, we both managed to hit bonuses! Between the two of us, we pocketed over $150 in winnings. Of course, as great as that is, we were then too shy to play any more since we didn’t want to forfeit our profit. Instead, we decided to start off our vacation by resting back in the room.
Dining
As I noted earlier, the table service restaurant was closed on Mondays. But, before setting off to find some other dining option, we decided to see what the quick service location had to offer — and, boy, am I glad we did.
Looking at the menu, I was initially shocked to see that a double smashburger was only $6. I was even more impressed when I saw that this price included fries or tots. Oh, but it gets even better. While ordering, I asked to add a soft drink to my meal. It was then that I learned that soda, coffee, and tea were all complimentary! To recap, that means I got a full double cheeseburger combo for just $6! Meanwhile, my wife got a chicken wrap that also came with fries and was $7.
Although it wasn’t exactly fancy, I will say that my double cheeseburger was delicious. Similarly, my wife really enjoyed her chicken wrap (which she got with sweet chili sauce). All in all, this was an absolute steal of a meal.
Looking at the menu for the main restaurant, it also seems to have fairly respectable pricing. However, if we return, I’m definitely heading to the deli.
Final Thoughts on the River Bend Casino & Hotel
Despite my disappointment of not being able to play Blackjack and not having much to do outside of gaming (although that is the point, right?), we ended up having a great time at River Bend Hotel. For my money, the room was surprisingly nice, the food was both good and incredibly cheap, and the staff we interacted with were exceedingly friendly. Plus, we came out ahead, even after the room fee and food were accounted for!
So would I visit River Bend Casino again? Absolutely! But would I make a point to stay there again? That depends — but I certainly wouldn’t be opposed. To me, it feels like a great gem, just a bit off the beaten path, and is worth the excursion.
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