My Trip To Wendover

Wendover reminds me of a small suburb of any typical US town. This one, however, has lots and lots of mountains and space surrounding it. Trucks driving on the interstate can even be seen at times from Wendover boulevard, the main drag. The whole place of interest to gamblers on this one road. A car is not needed to get around. You can get to the east or west ends by using the free shuttle that operates at least every 5 minutes between the Montego Bay (east end), the Peppermill (middle) and the Rainbow (west). 

The free Red Garter trolley also trolls the main drag looking for prey. If you get tired walking around and spot it going by, try and flag it down. You might be able to get their free $2 in nickels coupon. Once you’re done there, just walk to the Rainbow. From the Rainbow you can get to all the other casinos.

Don’t be confused by Wendover and East Wendover. It’s all once place, it’s just separated in the middle by a state line. The non-gaming Utah side has two decent budget hotels and a few lower quality ones with weekly rates and empty outdoor pools out of season. They also have 2 pawn shops, a nice friendly small grocery store with food and sundries, a subway store, gas stations, the airport and a movie theater. The Nevada side has 5 hotel casinos and one smoky low paying slot room at the Pilot gas station. Nevada also has a modest sized public library with two free internet stations, Arbys, Burger King, McDonalds, gas stations and a golf course.

At present, the airport facilities are small, to sat the least. But, as a former military airport the runway can and has handled extremely large planes. With all the space available, it's not likely to ever be crowed out by development.

When we landed, our Casino Express junket plane was the only one there. I assume that's a normal state of affairs, unless there's a special event like an air show. There were of course other planes parked there, with a couple of military helicopters. An unassuming old weather worn structure is very near the "gate" area. Also included is the Enola Gay hanger which was the plane that carried the nuclear bomb that was dropped on Japan to end World War II. The hanger was used even though half of the plane stuck out the back because it didn't fit all the way in. A local refurbishment effort on the hanger was stymied due to the high cost of removing asbestos. If you win really big, maybe you'll cough up the dough to have it redone. The Wendover airport is owned by the Utah county. With the advent of the Casino Express flights, it might no longer lose money.

Shortly after Sep 11, the airport hosted an unannounced stop by the worlds second largest airplane. Apparently the Mercedes car people rented the Russian owned plane to bring over a couple dozen cars and added equipment for an advertising shoot in the salt flats. Supposedly they neglected to secure the necessary permits and didn't give advance warning, necessitating a visit by the FBI to file out some rushed paperwork.
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The airport and City of Wendover is actually in Utah. After we boarded the bus and left the airport, it took us only about a minute to cross over into Nevada. It may have been quicker, but the bus had to go a little slower on the crummy bumpy Utah street. Once we crossed the border it was smooth sailing for the three additional minutes it took us to get to the Peppermill hotel and casino.

The Peppermill is actually in the middle of the casino action. I wouldn't say it's the center of the action, it's just strategically located right smack dab in between the other casinos. At the far west end, on the other side of the road, the old Red Garnet casino and Super 8 hotel is about 6 blocks west of the Peppermill. On the same side of the street and about 1 ½ blocks of parking lots later, is the Rainbow hotel casino.

At the east end of the main street on top of the hill is the Montego Bay Hotel Casino. Across the street from the Montego Bay is the Wendover Nugget. The nugget was the first casino in the area, but it not now the oldest. With good renovation it's now almost as nice looking as the Rainbow and Peppermill.

The Red Garnet doesn’t appear to have been updated for a while. It occupies the budget tier of the casinos and has coin and currency only slots. You don't see any paper tickets come out of their machines. It may remind you of the golden past of casinos and seem quaint or it may amuse you as being passé, all depending upon your personal viewpoints. They either have old owners or are just milking the place for every cent.

To get from the Montego Bay to the Nugget, you can either walk across the street or use the enclosed crosswalk connecting the two casinos. The crosswalk goes over the street and can be accessed in each casino by using the elevator or the stairs.

On my trip to Wendover I stayed at the Peppermill Hotel Casino. On the whole, it was actually a nice place to stay. It seems that every time anyone tells you about the place they stayed at, they tend to relate the negatives, no matter how small they may have been. They usually fail to mention the small courtesies that every decent hotel staff provide to guests at almost every turn. I guess I’m no different.

To my way of thinking the internal security of the Peppermill hotel guests personal belongings is odd. There is no safe in the rooms. To lock up valuables, i.e. cash, jewelry etc., one must go to the security office near the hotel desk lobby and secure a lock box to store your valuables. The box is free but I would think that it would be much easier and safer for the presumably large amounts of patrons cash to be stored in a room safe. It seems that people would be more likely to use safes in their rooms than go through the bother of running out to some office every time they want to put away extra cash. Good money management says that you should take only the cash with you that you are willing to lose that day. Either people are carrying around a lot of cash, leaving it in their rooms or simply don't have a lot of cash with them. It just seems odd to me!

The Peppermill has no indoor or outdoor pool. Guests can use the indoor pool at the Rainbow. Of course you have to take a shuttle bus to get there. To find the pool at the Rainbow, you need to go toward the back of the casino, near the blackjack tables, down a long mirrored hallway, up one floor and then down two floors to the lower level. The pools water is warm and the Jacuzzi is nice sized. There is a sundeck off the back that looks to the south toward the mountains. The bathroom changing room is located on the sundeck. It's a nice place if you can find it. It's very nice but not overly pretty. Given the size of the complex, it's not that larger either, but then most people probably don't use it anyway.

It's a good thing the water pressure in the rooms shower is sufficient. Otherwise, I'd be totally missing out on one the benefits of a hotel stay, the ability to take a long hot relaxing shower or a refreshing swim in a warm pool. And while the handicap rooms appear to be more spacious than regular rooms, they do not have a tub where one can take a bath.

There no operational pool at the Montego Bay at that time of my visit. The marketing department says they are in the process of adding spa facilities there. For that type of market, that would certainly be appreciated. Supposedly, there will be one.

The Montego Bay Hotel Resort, the Peppermill Hotel Casino and the Rainbow Hotel Casino are all operated by the same people. Because of this you’ll get great cooperation and interplay from those three. The gaming slot club points earned at each casino go into the same pot. This makes for a top incentive to keep your primary play within this group. You’ll want to venture into the Red Garnet just so you can say you were there. If you like the atmosphere and feel comfortable there, by all means stay and enjoy yourself.

The nugget is probably a little less crowded than the other casinos because of it’s lack of sister properties. It does however, have a good bus tour connection from Salt Lake city that props up its customer base.

The shuttle busses are a good place to pick up bits and pieces of local chatter. For example, the busses will now drop off people at the Wendover Nugget if asked. Previously the shuttles were not allowed go on the property. It was also said that Nevada might purchase part of Utah and extend it's reach into the City of Wendover - presumably with the intention of adding a host of other casinos. Additionally, once a year the people of West Wendover go over to the City of Wendover and clean it up by picking up trash. Local lore has it that the population is 79% Spanish speaking and accounts for the low minimum wage paid to casino workers.

Some of my favorite sayings include "The Red Gutter" instead of "The Red Garnet" due to it's less than perfect maintenance and much older slot machines. The weather has changed and gotten a lot more windy, so you may hear "Windover" a lot more. Also the place should be called "Bendover" instead of "Wendover" due to the inherent nature and propensity of casinos to keep more money than it pays out. The last saying is mine.

Water for Wendover comes from a local spring. Water for west Wendover is piped to them from 26 miles away. The water for the golf courses grass is supplied from the local treatment ponds, which can be seen if you look south of town towards the flats. The grass is apparently very green, probably due to good fertilizer.

One thing about all those mountains surrounding town is that you'll be missing out on colorful sunsets and sunrises. The mountains are great to look at though.

Coupons are a wonderful thing. You get free stuff and some not so free stuff. You also must read them carefully and sometimes even guess as to their effectiveness and value. Also don't trust an answer to any question about them until you attempt to use it. For example, I had a coupon for a free Lunch or Brunch at any buffet in the Rainbow, Peppermill or Montego Bay. However, it did not mention a time period for which it was valid. So I called the switchboard operator and asked how long it was good for. Since she told me 11 pm I was in no rush to get there and eat. But, I showed up at 8pm and was told that this coupon was no good any longer that day. Since I was leaving early the next day, my so called valuable free coupon turned into crud. I even mentioned to the cashier that I asked the operator until how long I could use it. Again, too bad for me. Rather than let them win that game too, I took my food and gaming business elsewhere for the evening. So nah nah to you too.

Incidentally, the $18.95 Friday night seafood buffet at the Nugget is delicious. You can find good breakfast, lunch and dinners buffets at the four better casino hotels everyday. The Red Garters Monday to Thursday special was eggs, bacon, toast and hash browns for 99 cent, coffee was extra.

Also of really small value but high in tacky points was a coupon was good for a "free" souvenir in the gift shop. What it really meant was that you had to pay 75 cents plus tax for a deck of cards, a lighter, a tiny cute but ineffectual scissors knife combo or a Lucite key chain. Talk about free not being free. Considering all the dough these casinos make on every game, you'd think that they could afford to actually give away a used deck of cards that they can't even use anymore. What a joke.

As with any hotel you also need to read the phone rate card very carefully. It's only a really wasteful person, or one on an expense account who uses the hotels long distance system. A nice touch is free local calls. You may not know anyone locally, and there may not be anyone to call, but it gives you a nice warm fuzzy feeling to actually be able to get something without added cost. As to why they charge for free 1-800 calls, will however, remain a mystery to me. Maybe it's an opportunity cost since they're obviously losing the opportunity to gouge you for a long distance call with their cohorts in the phone business. I used the goofy 50 cent piece I received as a part of a blackjack win to pay for my phone call home.

The black jack tables have single deck play and start with minimum bets at $5. Single deck play is rare at casinos as nice as these. I don't think you'll find that in Vegas.

You can also join a Poker room game whenever the mood strikes you. Double zero roulette with a $20 buyin is there as is Keno for the odds long shot. Play craps with a group or all by yourself in the slower periods. Pai gow poker tables are usually not jammed up although the minimum bet is higher.

The sports betting places vary from modest sized to large. None are excessively ornate or huge. I’m sure you’ll be able to find something that provides the ambiance you’re looking for. You can settle in for a while and watch some sports on the monitors.

Slot machines are everywhere you want them to be. With straight slots you’ll find all the ones you are familiar playing and of course some new ones you‘ve never seen before. For video poker players you can find some 9/6 machines and you don’t even have to slide down to the Red Garter to get them. There’s also 25 cent progressive video poker with crappy payouts at the Nugget. The jackpot was $5,525 when I was there.

Video blackjack games at the peppermill are generally located at the bars. That was a favorite place of mine. Even though I was playing at the nickel level and therefore theoretically not qualified for free drinks, I was offered more than I needed. I even won at them, so it was a particularly good deal.

The overall spacing of tables and games goes from a more closed in feeling at the Red Garnet, to a larger more open air concept at the Nugget. The other three are in the middle range with the Peppermill, Rainbow and Montego Bay getting progressively slightly more open.

Every night you’ll be able to find free live entertainment. On Friday, it was rocking a bit more than usual but it was still easy to get a ringside table or machine where you can listen, play and drink all at the same time.

I would say the beverage service was excellent. Free drinks for gamblers are easy to get. I’ve been in some places where I wondered if they still actually wanted to service their customers. That was not so at anyplace in this town. Of course the gas station doesn’t offer drinks of any kind. Invariably it was just a short time after I sat down to play that I was offered a cocktail. Even when I initially declined, they didn’t ignore me thereafter. Refills were offered as needed. I never felt as if I was asking for anything, it seemed that I was accepting their offer. That’s not just semantics or a word game, it projects an attitude of friendliness. Whether or not that attitude is genuine or not, the welcoming aura it generates is conducive to having a good time.

In general, all the staff I saw looked very friendly. Once in a while I saw a dealer that looked like they needed a vacation, but generally I would have felt comfortable to sit at any table. No where in town did I ever encounter a rude, curt, bored, aloof or condescending attitude - which I detest most of all.

Overall, I liked the place and you probably will too. It’s no Vegas, but it's great if you want to get away for a while to gamble, eat and relax. Go for it!

You can check out the photos I took on my trip or just go back to the Wendover information page.

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