Ok, so I got my ass handed to me tonight. We played an 8 person tourny first. I got knocked out in 5th place. Then, we played a $20 ring and I got knocked out first. I made some pretty big mistakes and it showed.
On a positive note… I met some new people and they all seemed very nice. I hope to play with them again soon… and often.
By Spadebeats
There’s an off-season in every major sport. Football takes the spring off, baseball takes winter, basketball takes summer, you get the idea. The question is, should there be an “off-season” in cards? Many people might argue there is an off-season, considering the WSOP is the coup de gras of the poker season, but when you really think about it, you can play cards all year. The question then becomes, should a player take some time off from the game or should you play year round?
I suppose I pose the question (and answer it as well) because I’m considering a little time off myself. I’ve been playing online almost every day for the last year. That is a lot of cards. The problem I’m having is I’m not winning as much as I used to. That’s caused a serious lack of confidence. Nine months ago, I averaged one-out-of-three wins in 10 person sit-n-goes; the two I wasn’t winning were usually top three finishes. Now, as time has passed, I find myself getting bored with the games. I will play hands out of boredom to stir something up, not to win, but just to play. That is a BAD thing! To put the cherry on top, I’ve had an awful string of bad beats on some online poker sites. I’m talking trip aces beat by Q 5 off. Ridiculous!
If you are a new player, you must play as often as possible, but what if you’ve been in the game a while? Should you play every day or as often as possible? I suggest the answer is no. There’s nothing wrong with taking a little time off. Take the time to study the game, maybe read a book or some articles. Everyone is going to go on losing streaks, it just happens. I suggest, and I know others will argue against it, you should take a moment to gather yourself before you continue the game. Think about why you’re losing and fix it. When you feel you’ve spent enough time away (as in, you can’t wait to find a game) go back to the table and plug away. If you come back on fire, you know you’ve done the right thing.
By Bobostonepony
Cause they come from countries where this can happen….
This makes me want to vomit in terror. If you know me well enough, you know that I don’t like “creatures”. Dogs and cats are ok, but I’m terrified by things like bugs, and birds that fly too close, mice, critters, stuff like that. If for any reason, I was swimming in Lake Travis or Lake Austin and saw something like this I promise you I would drown anyone in my path to getting back on the boat. Then, after drowning someone and using their cold, blue, lifeless body as a latter, I would scream like a woman as loud as humanly possible until StarFlight flew down and picked me up. I would not stop screaming until I was safely on land.
In case you’re wondering, that is a 646 pound catfish. They caught it in Chiang Khong, a remote district in northern Thailand. The link is below.
It looks like I’m gonna get to play some poker tonight without a computer screen in front of me. However, I have a feeling that the people I’ll be playing with are going to hand my ass to me in a paper sack. I won’t know anyone there except my buddy Gay Rob who is brand new. Rob isn’t gay (not that there’s anything wrong with that), but I call him Gay Rob because there was a 2 year period that I seriously questioned which team he was playing on. But… I digress….I will take his money without hesitation and will then use it to buy fireworks or something really stupid like that.
Other things I might use Rob’s money on:
1. Baby wipes - I don’t have a baby, but a clean ass is priceless.
2. A car wash - I won’t actually wash my car I’ll just feed the thing quarters and squirt the water directly into the drain as Rob watches.
3. I might donate Rob’s money to the Scientologists.
4. I could use Rob’s money to buy a subscription to Watchtower and have it sent to Rob’s house. Can I get a witness!
etc etc etc… the possibilities are endless.
Apparently Austin has a small poker blog community goin on and I’m thinking a few of them will be there tonight. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Sincerely,
Fish
I wanted a little action tonight before I went to bed so I thought I’d enter a $4.50 10 person sit-n-go. It took me about a minute to figure out that I accidentally entered a Limit game. I hate limit. I don’t know how to play limit. I would rather have my left ball grazed then play limit. Anywho…. I ended up winning it. Imagine that!
I thought you guys might like this. This is not poker related at all… but this is a blog someone wrote a LONG time ago and I am mentioned in it. I will give you the background story so you don’t freak out. A year or two ago some girl from England auctioned her viriginity on ebay. I thought it was ridiculous that she could get away with that so I did something similar. I had an auction to TAKE someone’s virginity.
Apparently someone was VERY offended that I did this and posted the terms of my virginity auction. Keep in mind this was just a joke and I did end up getting banned from ebay for 1 week.
By Spadebeats
I wouldn’t consider myself a “world traveler,” but I would definitely say I’ve made a few trips in my day. Just to give you an idea, starting at age 10 my family would make annual trips to the west, usually California, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, staying in various hotels. In the last few years, I’ve been to Mexico (Cabo, Cozumel, Cancun), the Northeast, and of course Vegas (numerous times). So, while I haven’t traveled the world, I’ve definitely shared my time with a hotel comforter.
That being said, here’s my review of L’Auberge du Lac in Lake Charles, Louisiana:
If you are looking for a beautiful hotel within a couple hours of Texas, L’Auberge is the place. That being said, if you’re looking for a customer oriented, dream vacation, go somewhere else. Given that I’m a teacher, I’ll assign each aspect a grade. Here’s LdL’s report card:
Aesthetics (A) –
Exterior – Driving up to the resort was like driving up to one of the major hotels on the Las Vegas strip. As you approach the front of the resort, you pass the Fazio designed golf course and drive through a shady area of sky-scraping trees that makes the hotel that much more inviting. The exterior of the hotel was eye-catching with a vaulted valet area and several lanes to have the hotel staff assist you. The exterior of the resort was a welcomed site compared to the rather run down area just across the causeway where the hotel sits.
Interior – Walking through the front door was another page from the Las Vegas playbook. The exposed beams of the hotel and huge, double-sided fireplaces gave the foyer a rustic, lodge-like feel that was warm and inviting. The fixtures in the area were well chosen, so much so that they just blended in to add to the atmosphere. The halls were nicely decorated and absent of the nauseating carpet that you typically find in a large hotel. Even the door to the room was perfectly chosen.
Room (A-) –
Our room was very nice, although warm (our A/C went out when a transformer in the hotel blew and never returned to cooling mode, taking the grade from A to A-). The bed in the room was comfortable. It even lacked the ever-present, and often dreaded “hotel comforter.” In its place was a very comfy cotton blanket that certainly did the job. The 36” flat screen television was a huge plus as we watched the Texas Longhorns win the first game in the finals of the College World Series, and there’s actually a chair big enough for a 300-pound man to sleep in. The restroom could have doubled as a second room, and definitely was comfortable for three people to share for three days. The art in the room was not your typical hotel painting and became even better with the nifty lamps that hung above them. Perhaps my favorite part of the room was the very clever door tags. I should have stolen all of them, but didn’t want to be charged an extra $25. My favorite, “If this is a hangin’, don’t come a bangin. I’m doing a little bangin of my own.”
Customer Service (D) –
Customer service would be an F had I not had a few very pleasant staff members assist me at various times; more on them in a moment and in the Casino section. Where do I begin?…
First off, I called the concierge to ask about getting directions to Harrah’s for the poker room and was told “This is not Harrah’s” and to use the phone book in my room to look it up. Oh, and it wasn’t the concierge, because they NEVER answered the phone. I was also told by the hotel operator (because the concierge wouldn’t answer, again) she would call me back momentarily when I asked for cab rates; I’m still waiting for that call. I got past that and started to gamble where I was snubbed yet again, this time by a pit boss. After sitting at a $5 minimum table for about 3 hours I needed to use the facility. While I was gone the table rates went up. No big deal, it’s happened dozens of times. In Vegas the usual practice is to have the players already seated be grandfathered in, at least that’s what I’ve always experienced. When I asked that of the pit boss, John, he responded quite rudely that I could bet at least $15 or I could find another casino, the latter of which I did. I would like to add, had he not been such an ass about it, I would have gladly bet $15. Hell, most of my bets were $15 - $25 anyway. The next day, Bobo was harassed by a casino security guard and was not offered an apology for anything that had happened up to that point (see Bobo’s review). On the final day, I was shuffled from counter to counter to collect my meal comps, but the only person that could help me had a phone stuck to her ear. After standing in the casino host line for 15 minutes with only two people in front of me, I quit and just paid for my own breakfast.
I mentioned some good run-ins that altered the grade. I had some very pleasant experiences with a handful of the hotel’s staff, the problem is the bad experiences were the ones I remember the most. The first night, a very helpful woman tried for 15 minutes to find me a fishing guide. When she was unable to, she apologized and asked the bell desk if anyone knew of a good guide. One of the bellmen said he had a friend with a boat and they would take the entire party out for $100. I took his number, but we were way too hung over the next morning to go anyway. Both of them were very helpful. Our bellman on the first day was a cool kid, just working a summer job for some funds. He gave us all the inside info on hotspots and when to do what. That kid gets an A+. The woman that checked me out was also very nice. She took a charge off the room I disagreed with and was a genuine person. Thank you.
Casino (B) –
Our trip was very up and down. The one constant, except for John the pit boss, was the staff of the casino itself. The casino was very crowded at peak hours and almost impossible to find a seat. They only had a couple of $10 blackjack tables (my preference) at peak, while most were $15. I guess they knew what they were doing though, I couldn’t find a seat anywhere for a long time. Slots were tight, but that was expected. Craps and roulette were good, but again, $15 tables at peak made them less attractive. $10 would have been better for roulette, but who am I?
The casino was adequate, but it was the staff that really did it. The Dealers get an A+. They were all very fun. I’ve discovered in Vegas you’ll find some that won’t talk to you, or if you ask for a pointer they’ll say it’s up to you. That did not happen at L’Auberge. Perhaps the most fun I had was the bender I went on the last night that landed me at a blackjack table. Stacy, a sassy little dealer, was AWESOME! I’m very playful and she jumped right in like we’d been friends since the third grade. She’d razz me and I’d get her back. The entire table thought we were friends. Perhaps even more fun than Stacy was the pit boss at the time, Deborah. When she walked up I was being very obnoxious. I had been drinking with Bobo and the bachelor for several hours and was still quite drunk. After a couple of minutes of me yelling at her, she finally broke the stone-cold bitch attitude and smiled (it did take me about twenty minutes to break her). From that point on, it was great. I’d yell something to/about her from a couple of tables away and she’d ask “When are you leaving?” I’d respond with “When I have all the casino’s money.” She responded once with “If I give it to you, will you leave?” When I left, I told Stacy and Deborah they’d both improved my view of the place and I would definitely give it another shot. Deborah asked when, so of course I asked “Why? You want to make sure your working when I come in?” Her response, “No, I want to make sure I take that week off.” They were very, very fun.
Casino Bars (A-) –
My bartender of choice the first night in the casino was incredible (she reminded me of my wife which made me want to hang at her bar). She made me her specialty drinks for hours and didn’t complain when my buddy spilled one all over a video poker machine. When she left, the guy that took her place didn’t miss a beat.
Overall, all the bars in the casino were good. They could use a couple more, but they just don’t have the space. They all had good drinks and friendly bartenders. I definitely recommend going by there to hang out on a weekend night. There were tons of people in there just to hang at the bars and meet people.
Restaurants (B+) –
If you make the trip, you must eat at the Jack Daniel’s restaurant. The food was good, but the staff were a bunch of beautiful people. They totally made up for the average food. The atmosphere was awesome, a real party vibe. I would go back just to party in the restaurant after hours. Wait staff was great, my glass was always full.
The café had great food, but the service was a little slow. They were very cordial, but it took way too long to get our food. I had a western omelet that was damn tasty, and I stole a bite of Bobo’s chicken fried steak and went nuts. Definitely rivals the best CFS I’ve ever had. You must order it.
I didn’t get a chance to try the buffet, but most in our group of eight said it was bearable. I won’t comment any on that having not eaten there myself.
Overall (C+) –
I just can’t get over the crappy customer service. The hotel itself was great, but those staff members that weren’t into making sure I had a great stay brought down my overall impression. Maybe I was unlucky and got the only rude people in the place to help me, but I doubt it. You just can’t have a $139 a night hotel in Louisiana that doesn’t cater to its customers.
I WILL go back after a few months and see if things have changed. After all, I promised Stacy and Deborah I’d give it another chance. I would hate to go back on my word.
I know it’s not much but I needed to play tonight and I didn’t want to be up all night. This was a $2.50 20 person sit-n-go.
I’ve worked in a customer service or technical support capacity for most of my professional life. Throughout my career, I’ve easily been through a total of 20 weeks of training just centered on providing world-class customer service and support. I know what great customer service is. I know what it means to provide great customer service when I’m working, and I know what it feels like to receive great customer service when I’m not working. The reason I bring up my background is so that you may consider me a credible and reliable source. When it comes to customer service, I feel that I am an EXPERT and I hope that you will take that into consideration when reading my review of the L’Auberge du Lac Hotel and Casino.
The following quotation is taken directly from the L’Auberge du Lac’s website:
“THE PERFECT CASINO RESORT.”
“How do you describe L’Auberge du Lac? Take a hotel and casino that holds its own against Las Vegas’s best. Infuse it with the spirit and relaxed elegance of the Texas Hill Country. Then set it in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Now you’re starting to get the picture.”
Being a Vegas veteran, I think I’m a little spoiled. The following is a typical Vegas trip for me:
I’ll spend $250 to $300 and I get to fly to Vegas and stay in an excellent hotel/casino for a few days. When I’m there, I’ll eat great food, I’ll gamble, I’ll be entertained in numerous different and exciting ways. I’ll also be treated with respect, I’ll be catered to and all of my needs will be met. It’s an excellent value. Of course that $250 - $300 for airfare and hotel doesn’t cover the gambling and the entertainment, but I know this before I get there and I am prepared to lose a pre-determined amount of money.
I go to Vegas to get away from my everyday routine and to escape the stress and anxiety of work. I want to be catered to. I pay for it, I expect it, and I deserve it. In Vegas, it is the norm. You can pretty much bet on that.
It was NOT the norm however in Lake Charles, Louisiana this weekend.
A friend of the bobostonepony.com site is getting married soon, so we planned a quick trip to Lake Charles for the bachelor party. Bobostonepony.com’s very own Spadebeats took the reigns and made transportation and hotel arrangements. We chose Lake Charles because we heard of the brand new L’Auberge du Lac Hotel and Casino. We all like to gamble and Lake Charles is the closest town to Austin that has a casino/resort. We chose the L’Auberge du Lac over Harrah’s and the Isle of Capri because it was brand new and the TV commercials and website looked very impressive. After all, their website states “a hotel and casino that holds its own against Las Vegas’s best.”
To our disappointment, we found out the day before we were to arrive that the L’Auburge du Lac does not have a poker room. Imagine that! A brand new casino that does not have a poker room! We didn’t let that bother us too much because we knew that Harrah’s and The Isle of Capri (both just a few minutes away) had poker rooms.
Day 1.
Upon arriving at the LdL (L’Auberge dul Lac ) we noticed that the golf course and the pool were not open yet and are in fact still under construction. Ok, there are 2 more activities we can mark off the list. Apparently the pool will be ready in July and the golf course will be ready in September.
We first realized that things are a little bit different in Lake Charles as compared to Vegas when we attempted to call the front desk for some info. Since there wasn’t a poker room in this brand new casino, we decided to give Harrah’s a try since they were having a WSOP satellite tournament. Spadebeats tried to give the concierge a call for info on how to get to Harrah’s or how far it was (something of that nature). No answer. He tried again. No answer. He then called the front desk for the info. The conversation went something like this:
LDL – “L’Auberge dul Lac”
Spadebeats – “Hi, I was wondering if you could tell me how long it takes to get over to Harrah’s from here?”
LDL – “This isn’t Harrah’s.”Spadebeats – “Ya, I know, I’m in room 837. I’m a guest here and you don’t have a poker room. We’d like to go over to Harrah’s and play some poker. Can you tell us about how long it takes to get there and some directions?”
LDL – “There’s a phone book in your room. Call them yourself.”
Spadebeats and I have been to hotel/casinos in the past. We’ve both been to Vegas a lot actually. If L’Auberge wants to compare themselves to Vegas, then there’s a lot that still needs to be learned. Although we understand that they might be hesitant to have guests go over to other casinos, they have to realize that this is going to happen. Especially if they don’t have a poker room, and the other two casinos in town do. In Vegas, not only would the concierge happily answer our question, they would tell you how to get to ANY casino/hotel in town, and they actually have shuttles that will take you there!
I would like to point out that Spadebeats attempted to contact the concierge a total of 8 times during our 3 day stay. Out of 8 phone calls, that phone was answered approximately 0 times.
After this, we decided against going over to Harrah’s for the tourney because people were a little anxious to get into the casino to do some non-poker gaming. We headed down to the casino, which is very nice, but a little small. To our dismay, we found that the slots were tighter than our friend Dan’s sphincter! Seriously, the slots are REAL tight. I am not exaggerating when I say that I put a $20 bill into a 25 cent slot machine and did not get a single win on that 20 bucks. None. Not even 2 credits, not even a cherry. NADA! I quickly went through $100 just in slots. This is understandable because it’s a brand new casino and it has to get paid for. I would think they’d want them on the looser side as to get more people in the doors. We weren’t too concerned about this because none of us really went there to play slots. We moved on to black jack.
The blackjack was fun. I ended up losing another $100 but 2 of the other guys in our group won a little bit. During the day and early afternoon, they have $5 tables which is refreshing and real hard to find in Vegas (unless you’re at the Orleans). The only complaint we had during blackjack was that in the middle of Spadebeat’s session, they decided to up the table minimum from $5 to $15. Nothing unusual here as it was getting into the early evening and ALL casinos raise the table minimums later at night. However, when you’re in Vegas, if you are playing at a $5 minimum table and they decide to change the limit, you are “grand fathered” into that $5 minimum. Everyone else that sits down must play the new minimum, but you can continue to play the minimum at which you started. This was NOT the case at the LdL. Spadebeats was asked to raise his minimum bet, even after explaining that he had been playing for $5 for several hours. Didn’t matter. Spadebeats immediately cashed out and they lost his business for the night.
At around 8pm we decided to have dinner to celebrate our friend’s bachelor party. There at the LdL is a Jack Daniel’s bar and grill. It was great. The food was great, the atmosphere was excellent and they have probably the most attractive wait staff on the planet. There was more talent in that place than I’ve seen in a long time. Hooter’s girls have NOTHING on this place. Not only were the waitresses gorgeous, but apparently this place is a Lake Charles hot spot. Therefore, there were a lot of local women in the bar too. Very nice. We did have to wait an hour for our table, but we had a party of 9… and apparently Friday night is their busiest night. The next night, we went a bit earlier and we were seated immediately. I would definitely recommend this place.
DAY 2
Saturday morning I woke up to a hot room. I checked the A/C and saw that it was at its maximum but no cold air was blowing out. We sat there for awhile….. sweating. Dan called down to the front desk and found out that a transformer blew. He was told that there were couple floors without electricity and the elevators don’t work. We were pretty hungry at that point and wanted to have some breakfast. Spadebeats and I had been comped the night before while playing blackjack so we wanted to take advantage of our free breakfast buffet.
Because of the transformer problem, we had to take the stairs. It wasn’t that much of a big deal since we were on the way down, not up. So, we start making our way down 8 flights of stairs. Unfortunately, we were behind a group of elderly people and therefore weren’t able to fly down the stairs. We were stopped on the 6th floor by a hotel employee who advised us that we would have to be escorted down the stairs. We found out later that this was because not all of the floors were finished and they didn’t want us walking through construction without an escort. Because we had to be escorted we had to stop and wait at each flight of stairs for the elderly group to catch up. One of them mentioned that they had a heart problem and therefore it took them a great deal of time to walk down each flight. We weren’t annoyed that we had to wait for the elderly group, we were annoyed that we had to be escorted. They were worried about us getting hurt and suing them…. But what if one of the hundreds of elderly people that were staying at that hotel fell down the stairs and broke a bone, or had a heart attack?
Anyway, at one of the floors our escort asks us to follow him through to the other side. We walk through a floor that is nowhere near being finished. There are no doors, no paint, no carpets, exposed cables, exposed wires, and tools hanging out everywhere. Basically it’s just a cement hallway at this point. It actually looks like it would take them months, not just weeks, to finish. I’m not sure how many floors are actually completed, but they aren’t even finished building the thing yet and they’re already open?
We get to the bottom floor and there is a 400 pound hotel employee sitting at the bottom of the steps blocking our way. You gotta be kidding me! You are escorting hotel guests down 8 flights of stairs and through a construction zone and when we finally get to the bottom you have this 400 pound guy blocking our way? He didn’t move either. We had to squeeze by him and walk through the kitchen to get into the lobby.
Everyone is a little annoyed at this point. It took us 15 to 20 minutes to walk down 8 flights of stairs. Our room has no A/C and we have no idea how long it’ll be before the elevators are working again. We surely don’t want to walk back up 8 flights of stairs.
What happens next is my whole motivation for writing this review.
After waking up with no A/C in a hotel room in the middle of the Louisiana swamp (it’s hot folks), and having to walk down 8 flights of stairs (stopping for 3 minutes at each floor), walking through construction and the hotel’s kitchen, we finally get to the lobby. We are met by a manager who tells us that the quickest way to get to the buffet is to cut through the casino. We walk to the casino and the groom-to-be and myself are randomly stopped by the security guard. He says:
“I need to see your id” (pointing at me) “and your id.” (pointing at the groom to be)
Now, I understand that they have to randomly check people to make sure everyone is of age, and that they don’t have some escaped convicts or something wandering around the casino. But… in the service industry it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it. Keep in mind, we’re pretty pissed at this point. He didn’t say:
“Excuse me gentleman, I need to check your id’s. It will just take a second.”
Basically, he just looked at the 2 scruffiest looking guys in our group and told us to show him ID. I was pissed. I tell him:
“I’m the guy who is staying in room 837. The room where the A/C doesn’t work. We just walked down 8 flights of stairs because the elevators also don’t work.. AND, your concierge hasn’t answered the phone in 2 days.”
At this point, someone who is familiar with customer service would console me and apologize for all of the inconvenience. He doesn’t. He smirks at me and instead of handing our ID’s back to us and treating us as if we have just paid $139 a night to stay there, he pulls our ID’s back and hands them to another security guard who begins entering our info into a computer.
Me - “Thanks.”
LdL security guy - “For what?”
Me - “For being a dick.”
He says nothing after that but gives me a look as if I am just a no good out-of-towner and I am inconveniencing him by making him work. This was the feel of many of the employees I encountered. I probably over-reacted by saying that. But, after I just told him that I was a guest in the hotel and had numerous problems, he had absolutely nothing to say. Not a “sorry” or a “we’re new and will get the kinks worked out”, NOTHING. Just a smirk.
LdL, you’ve got a lot of work to do. Customer service MUST be the most important factor when considering your business. Your business will thrive or fall based around how you treat the people who choose to stay there. Many people will drive for hours to get to your hotel/casino. They deserve respect. They deserve a little compassion and understanding. If they have a problem, your employees should make it a first priority to fix those problems.
It takes a certain type of individual to thrive in the customer service business. The LdL obviously did not do a whole lot of reference checking when hiring certain individuals. To quote from another review of the LDL on About.com entitled Rough Start at L’Auberge du Lac?:
“Do not expect an upscale atmosphere. If you want gambling, it will do the trick. Looking for the ’spa’ type atmosphere? Go elsewhere. The Staff doesn’t know how to handle casino resort guests. Wal-Mart does a better job at customer satisfaction.”
Words cannot describe how right on the money this person is. Wal-Mart does a better job at customer service than some of the employees at the L’Auberge du Lac. Wal-Mart.
In all fairness to the L’Auberge du Lac, there were some good things. Because I am so familiar with customer service I believe you must always praise someone when they do a great job at it. So here goes…
Our bellhop was fantastic. He took our bags and escorted us to our rooms and was very friendly. He noticed my shirt (it had a name of a high school football team on it) and quickly made conversation with us. He told us he was a football player at a local university and was working there for the summer. That was a great way to make conversation, which undoubtedly helps tips. He also advised us of EVERYTHING we needed to know about the restaurants in the hotel and all of the shops. He personalized his schpeal by noticing that we were young and that we were there for a bachelor party. So, he told us that there’d be a lot of women at the Jack Daniel’s bar that night starting around 9pm. Kudos. He did a great job.
The staff in the gift/drugstore onsite was also fantastic. There was a woman working there with dark rimmed glasses and blonde hair who happened to be super cute… but that’s besides the point… Back to the customer service. I bought a deck of souvenir playing cards there the night before. While buying some antacids, I mentioned to them that the cards were torn because the holes they punched into them caught an edge of the card box. They asked no questions and simply gave me a new box for free. They were extremely friendly and they too deserve kudos.
Our waitress at the buffet breakfast on Saturday provided excellent customer service. She was friendly, our drinks were always filled and she didn’t rush us out of there. Great job. If I owned a buffet style restaurant, I’d want her working for me.
The rooms are excellent. I don’t think the place is worth $139 a night when comparing it to Vegas… but the rooms are nice. Keep in mind, I’ve paid $49 a night at the Monte Carlo, $17 a night at the Orleans, $50 a night at Excalibur. So…although they aren’t up to par with Vegas pricing, the room at L’Auberge du Lac rivals all of them.
The casino is very nice. It is relatively small, but it probably doesn’t need to be as big as the casino in the Excalibur because the hotel isn’t as huge. I liked the fact that there were still $5 blackjack tables at 6pm. Like I said before, that’s hard to find.
The breakfast in the diner was outstanding. We had a bit of a wait, but it was outstanding. I highly recommend the chicken fried steak and eggs or the ham steak and eggs.
Summary
Do I recommend the L’Auberge du Lac? No. There is a lot of work to be done. They need to send their managers, pit bosses, security, and some lower level employees to Vegas. Let them see what it means to provide world-class service. If you currently have any customer service training… re-design it. ALL of your employees must be on the same page. Not just some of them. A vital fundamental idea of providing great service is to fix your mistakes. A free buffet doesn’t sooth someone who hasn’t had A/C for 2 full days. Comping a night or two is probably a more accurate restitution.
That allows you to make it better. Earn our business.
As I said before, I would not recommend L’Auberge du Lac at this time. Maybe in 4 months when they’ve ironed some kinks out. So, I will review the hotel again at that time and see if they’ve made the necessary changes in staff and their philosophy on customer service. If at that time they have the same problems, I will see no need to drive to Lake Charles again in the future. It would make more sense just to fly to Vegas.
At this time, I would however recommend the poker room in the Isle of Capri. I did not get a chance to go to Harrah’s but I will do that on my next trip as well.
To be completely fair…. If the Director of Hotel Operations of L’Auberge du Lac would like to respond to any of my comments, please feel free to email me at bobostonepony@gmail.com. I would be happy post your comments un-edited.
I’m at the L’auberge du Lac casino in Lake Charles, LA. I’ll check in later. No poker room here but there is a WSOP qualifier at Harrah’s down the street.
