Hollywood, FL
We arrived to the Seminole Hard Rock Casino and Resort in Hollywood, FL with high hopes. We were ready to win big! It’s a beautiful resort, but the moment we entered, I detected the horrible smell of cigarette smoke. Immediately, my hopes were dashed. We checked in and went to our room which was on the 9th floor and had a nice view of the pool area. This lightened my mood a bit, because I love swimming, and the pool wrapped around a faux-mountain with a water slide, and waterfalls were dishing out water all around. Loved it!
We ate at three of the dining rooms: The Bol, Kuro and The Blue Plate. The Bol offered exceptional Chinese food and had a nice tofu dish for me. I would have kept the left-overs, but the hotel room refrigerator is weight-sensitive, and it would possibly charge us for taking something from it in error. This is a negative in my book. Kuro was a bustling Japanese restaurant where you can watch the kitchen create their masterpieces. It was very high quality food and the prices were reasonable. The Blue Plate is best suited for breakfast, but watch the portions. They are absurdly huge. All in all, the restaurants were high quality, but a bit on the pricey side, especially when you’re not winning at the casino. In retrospect, we could have eaten at the food court a few times instead and saved some money.
The actual casino was a disappointment. As already mentioned, the smoke was a deal breaker for me, and their pitiful excuse of a non-smoking area was pathetic. It was three rows of machines nestled between smoker’s heaven. To top that off, no live craps table. We came to find out that live dice games and roulette are illegal in Florida. And then the pinnacle of sadness, Florida gaming regulations do not allow casinos to provide free alcoholic beverages. No free drinks! This didn’t sit well with Russ.
So, normally, three strikes, but this had four strikes, so we won’t go back.