My first experience was at the Isle of Capri casino hotel in Bettendorf, Iowa and I have to say that I wasn’t sure exactly what I was expecting but I know I wasn’t expecting it to be this nice. The hotel has a tropical theme – more subtle than say The Tropicana, but still there and still sometimes a little “much” like the Caribbean tinged Muzak versions of songs piped into the public area.

The public areas of the newer Paradise Tower are gorgeous, with the sleek dark woods, stone accents, and jazzy sculptures that are all the rage in Sin City these days. Although not nearly as over the top or expansive, it reminded me on some levels of the Red Rock Resort, which is high praise indeed. The older sections of the hotel are a little more pedestrian in terms of décor (think chains like Holiday Inn Express) but still nice.

There are two room towers with over 250 rooms total. I stayed in the ParadiseTower, which featured rooms that could compete on just about every level with the mid-level hotels on The Strip. The décor was tastefully stylish with very comfortable beds and big-enough bathrooms. High-speed Internet was available for free (although I couldn’t get it to work) and the rooms came with all of the typical amenities you have gotten used to in Vegas (hair dryers, irons and boards, pay-per-view movies, room service, etc.).

Just as in Las Vegas there are enough facilities to ensure that you don’t really need to leave the property if you don’t want to including a generously sized indoor pool, a well-equipped fitness center, three restaurants including a very popular buffet and an upscale steakhouse, a sundry shop, convention and meeting space, and much more. There are no roller coasters or multi-million square-feet shopping galleries but if you want those kinds of things you probably should go to Vegas and not Iowa anyway.

The casino is housed in a three-level riverboat adjacent to the hotel, accessible by enclosed elevated walkways that are a bit of a hike but would be welcomed in the dead of winter.

It used to be that the boats had to actually be cruising the river for you to be able to gamble and there were strict limits on how much you could wager during a cruise, but now they are permanently anchored and offer full Las Vegas style gambling.

There are over 1,100 slot machines total spread out mostly on the first and second levels of the boat, all totally recognizable to anyone who has been in a Vegas casino (Wheel of Fortune, Double Diamond, etc.) and all featuring the latest ticket-in, ticket-out technology. Most of the machines are of the lower denominations (pennies, nickels, and quarters) but there were enough $1 machines (and a few higher) that I was able to find enough to waste my money on.

The center of the second level features the gaming tables and includes craps, blackjack, roulette, and others including my favorite Three-Card Poker. It is worth noting that rules may vary, either imposed by the state or by the casino, and so the experience of playing these games may not be exactly the same as they are in Vegas. For instance one of my favorite parts of Three-Card is the communal aspect, where players often show each other what they are holding and the dealers getting involved as well. At the Isle of Capri that is strictly forbidden so it becomes a more solitary (and slightly less entertaining in my opinion) pursuit.

I didn’t actually win anything at the Isle of Capri casino but I saw lots of other people who were so I’ll blame my luck at that moment and not the casino itself.

Prices are a veritable bargain compared to Vegas (what isn’t these days?) but competitive for the region as well, with rooms here going for about the same costs as you’d pay for the boring chain hotels in the area.

Service is Midwest friendly and a refreshing change of pace from the sometimes too brusque “professionalism” that mars some of the casino experiences I’ve had in Nevada.

No one will ever mistake the Isle of Capri for a Vegas experience and certainly will never mistake State Street in Bettendorf for The Strip, but if you are in the area for whatever reason, this is definitely a place you should put on your visit list.

Isle of Capri Casino and Hotel
1777 Isle Parkway
Bettendorf, Iowa 52722
800-THE-ISLE
website

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Question: I have read your reviews of hotels on the Strip and you seem to think that one hundred dollars per night is a lot to spend on a room. Hotel rooms in other major cities cost almost twice as much for half the room. Were rates really that inexpensive at the major resorts in the past?

Answer: Yes - rooms in Vegas used to be that cheap. As recently as the mid to late '90s, the majority of the hotels on The Strip rarely charged more than $100 a night for rooms, even on weekends.

Of course, I still remember the days when you could find a nice room facing the Strip on a high floor for $20 but those days are long gone.

Things have changed a lot - now $200 a night on a weekend is common even for what used to be considered mid-range hotels. With hotels like Bellagio, The Venetian, Caesars, and Wynn Las Vegas often charging $300-400 a night on weekends you can see how things seem to be getting out of control.

Perhaps I need to change my base line for consideration of what constitutes an affordable hotel, however I still say for MOST people who visit Vegas there is absolutely no reason to pay that much money to stay there.

If you're going to have a relaxing vacation, you want to sleep late, watch movies in your room, order room service, take a jacuzzi bath, etc. then sure - be prepared to pay for it.

But if you're like most people you're going to go dump your bags in your room and then stay out until 3 or 4 in the morning, come back to sleep for a few hours, and then jump up to beat the line for the breakfast buffet. Why anyone would want to pay $200 a night or more for that room is beyond me, especially when you can find clean, comfortable, basic lodging on or near the Strip for half that if you know where to look.

So yes, things are more expensive now than they used to be but they don’t have to be if you don’t want them to be.

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