Page 50 - 2018 Travel Guide to California

CASINOS
AGUA CALIENTE CASINO RESORT SPA,
top; 5th hole at Journey, Pechanga Resort
Casino’s links-style golf course, above.
48 2018 T R AV E L G U I D E TO C A L I F O R N I A
Club (Bell Gardens). Both venues have
expansive poker rooms and host some of
the most popular tournaments in the area.
The Desert
Package deals abound for stay-and-play
vacations at casino resorts in and around
the Coachella Valley and Palm Springs. At
Morongo Casino Resort & Spa in Cabazon,
for instance, $219 per night gets guests a
room plus a $30 casino credit and a $100
credit at one of the on-site restaurants.
Similar deals are available at the Agua
Caliente Casino Resort Spa (Rancho
Mirage). Most area casinos have their own
golf courses, but locals rave about Eagle
Falls, the course at Fantasy Springs Resort
Casino in Indio. The 18-hole course was
designed by architect Clive Clark.
Resort Southern California in Valley Center;
Pala Casino Spa Resort in Pala; Barona
Resort & Casino in Lakeside; and Pechanga
Resort & Casino in Temecula. All of these
properties boast Vegas-style hotels with
eateries, shopping and spas. In early 2018,
Viejas Casino & Resort, just outside San
Diego, will add to its 234-room hotel a new
adults-only tower with 156-suites.
Closer to Los Angeles, the name of the
game is card rooms. Two facilities are worth
visiting for their grandeur alone: the Com-
merce Casino (Commerce) and the Bicycle
Lake Tahoe
Okay, okay, so the casinos that sidle up to
Lake Tahoe are on the Nevada side of the
state line. Still, they’re close enough to
most other destinations in California that
they deserve a mention here.
Excluding those in Reno, the most acces-
sible venues are located in South Lake
Tahoe. Here, the Montbleu Resort, Casino &
Spa (formerly a Caesars property) is by far
the swankiest, with ultra-modern lounges
and a four-diamond steakhouse that makes
Ruth’s Chris seem like McDonald’s. The Hard
Rock Hotel & Casino Lake Tahoe, with 500
hotel rooms and a 25,000-square-foot
casino, opened in 2015 in the old Horizon
Casino Resort space located down the street.
Of course the best thing about casinos at
Lake Tahoe is that because they’re in
Nevada, they play by Nevada rules (see
sidebar). Since sports books and dice games
are illegal in the state of California, this
means Tahoe is the spot to place those
kinds of bets.
Big spenders, consider yourselves warned.
And good luck.
STEVE CUKROV/SHUTTERSTOCK; AIDAN BRADLEY. OPOSITE: SOLAGE AUBERGE RESORTS