Our stay was for 5 nights from July 20th to 25th. With rave reviews, a casino and a general manager (OK, maybe his assistant, but still) that takes time to respond to every review, whether it is a compliment, a complaint or comment, I didn't see how I could choose another hotel. But unfortunately it didn't turn out the perfect stay that I have envisioned.

The biggest problem we had was their lighting and air condition/thermostat system. I applauded the hotel for doing their part for conserving energy and resources but it was a huge inconvenience for us.

Once we walked in the room, there was a slot to put the key in and the lights and the air would come on. So one card controls all. Once you pull the card, the lights and air will be out. The problem on our first night was that air conditioning was so loud that my wife and son couldn't sleep. My wife had to get up at 1:00am to pull the card so it would be off and they could go to sleep. So now it was no air and no light. That was fine until the next morning.

When we are staying at a casino resort (the reason I chose River Rock), I always wake up at 5 and go down to the casino to play slot while my wife and son are still sleeping. Because everything was off, I had to rely on the small light from my cell phone to use the toilet, wash up and get dressed. As you can imagine it was a big hassle. We are in Vancouver, not in a remote village on a mountain top in northwestern China.

Then we found out that the front desk can call the maintenance to turn off the air only at night while leaving the electricity on. That sounded good to me. So I called around 10:30pm and the air was off. The next morning I called to have the air turned back on. Here came another problem. The temperature stayed at 27C (81F) the whole morning. It was so stuffy that my wife had problem breathing. After many many phone calls it was still not fixed. My wife gave both the manager on duty and me (mine much longer) an earful. After the maintenance guy was summoned to the room it was finally fixed.

To make matter worse, the ice machine on our floor was not working the whole time we were there. So each time we needed ice, I had to go down to the next floor to get ice. One day, mabye two. But 5 days? that was totally inexcusable.

We tried the theme dinner buffet on Tuesday night. But with limited choice of food and the food not that great, it was definitely not worth the $24.99 they charged. The breakfast buffet (complementary of the hotel after the thermostat mess) was much better.

The whole stay was saved from being a complete disaster by the great staff of River Rock. From valet, front desk, housekeeping to casino and restaurants worker, they were all friendly, felpful and pleasant. We were always greeted warmly everywhere in the hotel.

For the time that we were not in the room sweating or finding our way, we thoroughly enjoyed the spectacular city of Vancouver. No wonder Vancouver is always on the top 10 best city to live list. Both my wife and I fell in love with it. Vancouver has to be the healthiest,. cleanest, greenest, slimest, safest, the most polite and courteous city that we have ever been to. We are from San Francisco and we were amazed to see how clean the streets of Vancouver are. I heard car honking about 5 times all together. We did not see a single policeman in the six days that we were there. When I wanted to change lane, the other drivers always let me. Motorists always yield to pedestrians. Pedestrians rarely jaywalk. My wife weighs only 100 pounds but she felt fat seeing all those slim girls. The weather was so good she didn't need to use the skin cream she brought. There are bicyclists everywhere. There is a wild bike lane smacked right in a busy downtown intersection.

We did a bike ride going around Stanley Park. You can ride leisurely while taking in the sceneries.The bikes can be rented from Spokes Bike Rentals at the corner of W Georgia and Denman. It was inexpensive and conveniently located near the entrance to Stanley Park. We also did the Sea to Sky Train tour to Whistler and the Indian Arm Luncheon Cruise. We also visited the Richmond Night Market which happens to be a 5 minute walk from River Rock ( I will review those attractions separately).

We will definite go back to Vancouver. But we will find a hotel downtown and then just walk over to Edgewater Casino.

This was my first time at this property, and I was impressed.

We visited this location to attend a wedding. The location was convenient to the airport, Richmond Mall, and the train was easily accessible.

The staff were very friendly and helpful. The rooms were clean and comfortable. I usually have a difficult time sleeping in hotels as most beds are uncomfortable. Not the case with this hotel! The beds were extremely comfortable and the pillows were amazing (I would liked to have purchased a couple..hindsight is 20/20).

We spent an evening in the back patio area... lower flying aircraft caused quite a bit of noise, but it was short lived and not that much of an issue since we were outside and expected it. We were surprised that you couldn't hear it from your room.

The buffet was good and had a good selection. A little pricey for a lunch buffet ($52.00 for 2 ppl) we thought. The burgers in the food fair located in the casino were delicious

Overall a very pleasant stay. We will definitely stay there again.

pros
No complaints with the casino, They had a craps table so I was happy. Room was clean. Planes fly right over top of the hotel, no joke maybe 300m above the hotel and yet they were not loud in the rooms at all. Kind of equivellent to a loud furnace fan kicking in, and it only lasts a couple of seconds. So the sleep was fine. comfy bed. Good location, jump right on to the train. Breakfast buffet was $15 and good.

cons
A mug of draft was $9 with tip (I think $8.65 without tip) Plus it wasn't even a pint. And crappy mass produced beer. No micro brew on tap. Asked why its so expensive. The person working there said its a liability issue, don't want their customers getting drunk and losing all their money. So we did't drink any booze other than the one beer we bought. No happy hour, no drink specials, nothing. We could have flown and stayed in vegas for the same price and had free booze and cheaper meals. But I guess this is a good place for the day or maybe just one night. Freindly staff.

minor stuff
The welcome information package in the room really lacks. For instance there was no complete map showing where everything was in the hotel. Never did find the swimming pool. had to keep asking where this and that was located. Ice machine broken the whole time we were there. Things like that, just minor stuff.