I hate casinos and I hate gambling....anywhere! That being said, because I love people who love to gamble, I tried to make the best of it, but I wanted to make certain that the casino had a nice hotel and great restaurants. Pala does!!!! Conveniently located just under an hour away from downtown San Diego, this is ideal for a quick get away.

TIP: SIGN UP FOR THE FREE, PRIVILEGES CARD EVEN IF YOU DON'T GAMBLE. THERE ARE DISCOUNTS FOR RESTAURANTS AVAILABLE THROUGH USE OF THE CARD.

The rooms are spacious and modern, clean and full of goodies like a full mini-bar, room service and pay--per-views movies with first run movies.

The sushi bar has an amazing variety of incredibly fresh and top shelf sushi and a wonderful selection of sake. The service was fabulous.

The Oak Room is a serene and luxurious oasis in the midst of a noisy casino. Great selection of steaks and fish, we enjoyed a wonderful meal. Service also excellent.

The lower end restaurants are just that. The service at the Pala Cafe was terrible, and the food was average. The coffee at the coffee shop was mediocre at best and bitter.

My gambling relatives enjoyed the casino but as non-smokers, they found the condition only "tolerable". They wished there were more non-smoking sections. That being said, they thought the conditions were better than Vegas and not so bad that they needed to cut their time at the tables short!

My husband and I dislike casinos very much so when we won a night at Pala Casino R&S we were not too excited. We decided to make the best of it, and at least enjoy the night off and dinner at Mama Cucina's which was included in the package. When we pulled up, it was a huge high rise, which is not something we generally go for, but it was out in the country with mountain views which were pretty. When we got into our room, it was awesome! Because it was my birthday, they had a little happy birthday sign on the wall. Huge everything, huge desk, tv, bathroom, lots of space. Everything seemed new and clean. Even the soap dish was marble. Dinner was delicious at Mama Cucina's Italian restaurant and the waiter was excellent. We were given a birthday dessert which was yummy! I was bound and determined to gamble at least for 5 minutes, just for fun. Ok, nothing surprising here, the casino was a little stuffy and it appeared that there was no smoking section (although not sure), as we smelled smoke as we walked through the gambling area. There was also a slight sweet smell, like vanilla, that was kind of mixing with the slight smoke smell. So I gambled for about 10 minutes on the slots, and ended up losing a dollar, but I really don't know much about how to do it. The next morning we ordered coffees at the coffee bar , which were delicious, and had poolside breakfast outside. Because it was chilly, we had a heater. The food also very good. So all in all, we were pleasantly surprised, and had a great time at Pala, other than the casino part. We would go there again! (we never thought we'd say that!)

My Wife and I stayed at this property for our anniversary on January 1st. We usually stay at Harrahs and have our rooms comped there but due to it being close to the holiday there were no rooms availiable ( I am sure that there were they were just blocked out). Anyway we reserved a regualr , king, non-smoking room. We arrived early and of course had to wait, which wasnt a problem ( we anticipated that), the front desk associates were very nice and professional and even mentioned that we had been upgraded to a petite suite. The associate at the front desk stated that they would page us when the room was ready. Nice touch.
I have read a few reviews of this property and we have stayed there before and quite a bit in the past. Some of the negatives that we have read especially about it not being children friendly...well...it is a casino resort, I think that says it all, a place for adults. Plus the casino has laws that it has to follow regarding minors in the casino ( which may or may not just include the gaming area). Also, there were issues in the past with people just showing up for the day and dropping their kids with family menbers at the pool, coolers and all. I know that they have stopped this activity. I agree that people with families enjoy this type of resort and gaming etc. But honestly if you are looking for somthing like that here you better stick with Vegas, regardless fo how much money you are willing to spend, there is really nothing for children to do here except stay in the room or the pool, thats it. So...decide if this is a choice for you and your family.
We enjoyed the service at the bar and felt that the drinks were resonably priced and that service was prompt. again, not vegas and the drinks are not complimentary. If this is somthing htat is an issue for you and detracts from you having a good time, maybe Vegas is the best choice for you.
We had lunch at Noodles and it was very good but they were really busy but I think handled it well. The curry noodles are great. If you want to sit down adn eat there make sure that you scope out a table first or let them know that you will be in the courtyard area out front. The prices are resonable for what you get, the spices or saltyness of some dishes might be a suprise for some but just request what you want or ask questions before you order.
We got paged fro our room and waited in line and then recieved our keys in a timely manner. the room was on the tenth floor and the last one in the hallway. I shoud have asked for a closer room but forgot adn I know from experence that they like to fill those rooms first when they can ( any hotel does). So... request preferences before you get the key, non-adjoining, close to the elevator, close to ice or vending etc... the room was nice and appeared very clean. the bed was comfortable and it came with a jacizzi tub ( bathsalts etc included), nice eucalyptus bath ammenities, wet bar area, kurig coffee maker with complimentary teas and coffees, although only packet of creamer and sugar. It also had a nice sitting area, big flat screen TV, large window overlooking the pool area and mountains adn a smaller window overlooking the sitting area. Overall We were pleased.
They had a variety of slots and table games and also a non-smoking area, that wasnt as smokey as the other areas of the casino. Again..its a casino..if you dont like the smoke dont go, or stay as far away from it as possible. In the past they had a non-smoking area that was sealed off form the rest fo the casino by glass and glass doors, no longer the case. I think that area just became too small. Anyway we had a good time enjoying the games that they offered, didnt become millionares but didnt expect to either. Take the winning and losing with a grain of salt, its a casino afterall.
weahd dinner at the italian restaurant, one of our favorites.Oue meal was great, a nice bottle of wine some appetisers, fresh bread and a shared meal of filet and lobster tails. it wasn not busy at the time that we went adn the service was promt and professional. they gave us plenty of time to enjoy our wine and aps adn then brought out the dinner. The prices vary from inexpensive to market price and the dress is casual. A nice intimate place to get away from the casino etc, we will deffinately be back. It hasnt changed since we were there in past.
By the evening time the casino area got reall busy, busy to the point that it was over crowded and very, very loud. The amount of smoke in the air increased accordingly, but I htink they did a fine job of filtering out wht they could.It was also so busy that you could not pick and choose what if anythig you mught want to play. That senario to us is no fun, shuffling around the casino floor with a mass of other people looking for a table game or a slot machine that is open. Good for their bottom line though. maybe a bunch of busses came in, not sure. anyway just know that it can get like that and since we have not been in a while, we cant say what the other weekends/weekdays might be like. In that respect for some casinos it is just like vegas.
So we had a nice stay and at the end I contacted the casino host to see if our room could be comped, it was only 119.00 and she stated that she could take half off. I know that they cannot give the house away but I am sure our rated play at least equaled a comped room. I was disspointed in that and they should think about the small things that they could do to make sure a customer comes back. We enjoy spending what we do and have fun doing it and that is what they want from us as customers. A comped room goes a long way toward that, we didnt ask for free drinks, meal credits or any other specail treatment. I am sure that if the host truely reviewed our gaming history, it wouldnt have been a problem. Maybe next time.
Overall a good place to get away from it all and blow off some steam and relax. We have utilized the spa in the past and its ammenities are great even if you do not get a treatment. We did not go to the steak house sonce it was closed that night, but if it is anything like the other restaraunts I wouldnt hesitate to try it next time.
We had breakfast at the cafe in the morning before we left and it was great, basic, cafe food. The service was prompt and friendly eventhough they were extremly busy.
Just like vegas in some ways and not like it in others. Decide for yourselves if the differences make giving Pala a shot for your getaway.

We stayed in Escondio recently and had a nice time visiting this Indian Casino. We dined one night in their Mexican restaurant and the other in the cafe. Food, service and value were good. I would have given it a 5 rating except for their policy on cocktails while gaming at the slots.. A cocktail waitress came by like they do in Vegas, we thought the drinks were complimentary. They were not and that kind of suprised me, we had no way of knowing. Having said that everything else was wonderfull and we enjoyed going there.