WE ABSOLUTELY WILL RETURN TO THE ISLE CASINO HOTEL AGAIN!
We can NOT understand why the Isle Casino Hotel ranks lower on TripAdvisor than many of the other casino hotels in Biloxi! During the same trip to Biloxi we stayed at 2 other casino hotels and the Isle, by far, had the BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE and the BEST ACCOMMODATIONS of our trip! Unfortunately, this was our first visit to the Isle Casino Hotel as we were initially discouraged from booking a room here by some of the other TripAdvisor reviews! Moreover, this hotel is an EXCELLENT VALUE! I love that the cost of many of the optional items, such as buffet costs, and specials are listed on their website. This allows one to price the true cost of a vacation.
VALUE-ADDED TIP FOR BOOKING: We booked the All-American Breakfast Package advertised on the Isle's website. The cost of the package was cheaper than the cost of booking simply a standard room, yet consisted of 2 free beverages at the Lava Bar, 20% off all spa services, and 2 free All-American breakfasts at the Cafe Restaurant.
VALUE-ADDED TIP FOR FOOD: On Friday and Saturday nights from 11 pm - 2 am, the Cafe restaurant offers their All-American Breakfast for $1.99. We took advantage of this and for nighttime prepared breakfast food, the meal was cooked surprisingly well and exactly as well requested.
FRONT DESK: Check-in was efficient and fast. Check-out was even faster and there were about 7 front desk employees staffed during 4 pm check-in and 11 am check-out.
ROOM: We paid for a KING STANDARD ROOM but was upgraded to a KING JUNIOR SUITE without our asking! The room was huge with the adjacent living area containing a fully accessorized work area, two lounge seating chairs with mini table connecting the chairs side by side, a television, mini-dining area, and excellent sky high view of the bay. The bedroom area contained a very comfortable large KING bed. I could not believe that the very first pillow I selected was premium in quality and extremely comfortable to sleep on. The bedroom also contained a television, jacuzzi, and large armoire. The bathroom of the junior suite was precisely detailed for beauty and indulgence. There was of course a shower and sink area with mirror, but there was also a vanity desk, with vanity mirror, bench, television, and telephone. The lighting was exquisite. We were delighted. (I WISH I HAD TAKEN PHOTOS OF THE BATHROOM!!!)
We could not believe that on a Saturday night we could not only NOT hear doors closing in the hallway, people walking down or talking in the hallways, or ANY activity going on in the hallways THE ENTIRE NIGHT! Yet, we knew the casino hotel was packed from the sold-out room availability online and from the HUGE crowds in the lobby and casino areas of the 1st two floors.
Additionally, the morning housekeeping staff was super quiet and never allowed the room doors to slam shut! On the morning that we checked out we were awake from 8:30 am and walked out of our room at 10:55 am, never realizing that housekeeping was outside of the room next to ours and another maid was outside of a room across from ours cleaning. We didn't hear them at all!
THE CAFE RESTAURANT: We used our All-American Breakfast coupons included with our hotel stay at the Cafe. The breakfast tasted just as great as it did Saturday night during their $1.99 special - like a standard southern breakfast - high quality and full of flavor. The service we received both Saturday night and Sunday morning were great, but our waitress Saturday night outshined all of the other waitresses we encountered.
THE BUFFET RESTAURANT: We had the Sunday Brunch which included crab legs, peel and eat shrimp, mussels, crawfish corn chowder, creole gumbo, fried shrimp, fried fish, BBQ ribs, carving station, salad bar, dessert bar, and extended breakfast. The breakfast items included eggs benedict, country fried steak, various sausages, bacon, eggs, grits, biscuits, etc. For $14.99 per person plus tax, the Saturday/Sunday brunch was a great value. A few buffets outside of casinos may charge $10 for the buffet but if you want crab legs they add an additional fee that amounts to $15.99+. In addition, numerous non-casino hotels typically charge around $20 for breakfast/brunch buffets with no seafood added. Our beverage server was extremely friendly, smiled, and I noticed many of the other waitresses having conversations with the buffet patrons. The serving staff seemed very out-going and friendly.
LAVA BAR: Of course on a Saturday night the bar was busy. My only complaint was that they only had 2 bartenders! Honestly, we thought only one employee was the bartender and the second employee was a bar back as the second employee had no one idea what liquors went into the drink special. However, the bar had a $3 mixed drink special that was actually full of alcohol - unlike most mixed drinks! The wait to place our order was about 5 minutes. However, we were acknowledged less than 30 seconds after we sat down and told that they would be with us. Both employees were friendly to all.
LOBBY AREA: The Saturday night lobby was full of excitement, dancing patrons, and music! There was a live band playing in the lobby Saturday night. The atmosphere was similar to a small live concert with guests of all ages having fun!
CASINO: There are 2 main casino areas (one on the 1st floor and another on the 2nd floor) and a poker room across from the buffet restaurant. There's numerous slots machines in both - and one was always available for use.
ADDITIONAL HOTEL POINTS: The Isle Casino Hotel should really consider adding more photos of their rooms online because the rooms are FAR BETTER LOOKING in person than the photos depict! The Junior Suite photos online do not look as great as the Junior Suite actually does in person. In fact, ALL of the online photos of the hotel need to be updated - especially the photos of the hotel exterior! The hotel exterior was surprisingly inviting and upscale compared with the photos online. The hotel exterior looked as good as, if not better, than some of the other hotel casinos in person. I noticed that some of the other casino hotels had exteriors that appeared better online than in person, but not Isle. The online photos for the Isle Casino Hotel actually must be years old.
There are both smoking and non-smoking floors. We stayed on a non-smoking floor and did not smell residues of cigarette/cigar smoke ANYWHERE on the floor.
The cost of self and valet parking is included in the resort fee so feel free to valet park. We utilized the valet parking 3 times and each time the valet employees returned our vehicle quickly (in 3 minutes or less). The $5.60 nightly resort fee includes unlimited internet and local calling as well as parking (self and valet).
The Isle will become the Golden Nugget in 2013. It wasn't until we were in our room (actually at another casino hotel) that we saw construction of another building immediately next to The Isle. It's so close to the Isle that it looks as if it will be a part of the new Golden Nugget in 2013.
We will return to the Isle Casino & Hotel. Not only are the rooms great, the service excellent, and atmosphere lively, but the rates make this location an even better value! I can not wait to return!!!
Room Tip: The 10th floor was PERFECT! (It is a non-smoking floor.)
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.