Quaint vs. Luxury
January 2015
Chris and I have visited many casinos in our 8 years of marriage but we met our favorite this past December as we enjoyed 3 glorious days at The Golden Nugget Casino and Resort in Lake Charles, LA. We had been to Lake Charles' other Casino and Resort, L'auberge back in March 2013 and were blown away by it at the time; however, The Golden Nugget seems to have passed L'auberge in nearly ever category.
L'auberge du lac Casino and Resort- Lake Charles (March 2013)
The Golden Nugget- Lake Charles (December 2014)
HOTEL
There really is no comparison
between the two. While the L’auberge is
nice, The Golden Nugget is extravagant to say the least! The Golden Nugget offers a modern, luxurious
room with a nice sectional living room set, a small breakfast table and chairs
and an upscale bathroom featuring an extended garden tub, and a shower built
for two. The L’auberge gives little more
than the standard hotel room fair which can be found at any Days Inn or La
Quinta. The Golden Nugget is the CLEAR winner in this category.
This is only the beginning of the luxurious room that The Golden Nugget offered.
This is L'aubrege's standard room... Oddly enough, because we used "comps" the time we went, we had double beds too! Haha!
SWIMMING POOL and BEACH
This
category is difficult to judge since the pool area for The Golden Nugget was
not finished when we stayed there. The
Golden Nugget’s pool looks like it will be amazing in both style and
leisure. It is large, multi-tiered and
accompanied by a large hot tub. It is
said to be heated and should have a lazy river.
The L’auberge had a decently large pool area complete with a large
family pool, several hot tubs, a lazy river with inner tubes and bridge
crossings, a fenced-in adults only heated pool and a swim-up bar. It delivers, as promised, and is a huge
benefit of the resort. Both casinos had
beaches and marinas, neither seemed to be advantageous over the other. The L’auberge is the winner here, thus far!
A view of the L'auberge Lazy River from my inner-tube!
A complete view of L'auberge's Pool/Beach/Lazy River scene! It is EPIC!
A view of The Golden Nugget's Pool area, expected to be complete in March 2015!
DÉCOR
Inside,
The L’auberge resembles a great lodge, complete with walls resembling a log
cabin and giant fire places welcoming guests.
The ceilings are nondescript and are of moderate height. The casino itself is dark for a casino,
symmetrical with the glow bar in the middle of the casino floor. The Golden Nugget has a much more Vegas style look and feel to it. With High Ceilings, exotic decorations,
bright lights, and opulence, it is the clear winner in this category. The marble floors and plush carpet compliment
the fine attention to detail found throughout the design of the décor. Keeping
in mind that we visited The Golden Nugget just 12 days after it’s “Soft” Grand
Opening, it still was the hands down winner in this category!
One of the main hallways inside The Golden Nugget.
The hotel Main Lobby desk inside The Golden Nugget.
The L'auberge nicely decorated for Christmas (December 2014)!
They participated in Christmas decorations whereas The Golden Nugget did NOT!
A dark main hallway inside L'auberge du lac Casino and Resort.
The feel was much more cramped and log-cabin feel!
RESTAURANTS AND SHOPPING
Both
casinos had similar shopping scenes with clothing and candy stores. Neither were anything to write home about,
especially for the middle class such as us!
The Golden Nugget, being owned by Landry’s, had a mix of familiar and
upscale restaurants. We did not eat at
Landry’s seafood, Grotto, or Saltgrass steakhouse as we have easy access to
them at home. We did eat at Lillies
(Asian cuisine) and The Buffet. Unfortunately,
we did not find time to eat at Vic and Anthony’s, Cadillac Bar and Cantina
Mexican Grill or the Claim Jumper. L’auberge has several restaurant options and
we enjoyed Jack Daniel’s Bar and Grill the last time we were there but it was
NOTHING in comparison to the many high-class cuisine options that were offered
at The Golden Nugget. The Golden Nugget wins this category easily!
The "Gourmet" burger from Jack Daniel's Bar and Grill at L'auberge.
"The Nugget" sushi from Lillie's Asian Cuisine Restaurant at The Golden Nugget.
CASINO FLOOR
Both casinos offered a great playing area full of both slot
machines and table games but once again The Golden Nugget had more of a Vegas
feel to it while L’auberge felt more like a Shreveport River Boat of some
sorts. The center of the casino floor at L’auberge was really neat with the “High
Rollers” room smack-dab in the middle while The Golden Nugget had more of a
Party Pit style in the middle of their floor with several table games, a large
two-sided bar and even an area for a live- band! Both casinos had excellent casino
floors so this will be labeled as a tie.
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The "Bar 46" area inside The Golden Nugget casino floor.
It had a much more open concept to it! It felt less-cramped!
L'auberge's casino floor with wall to wall slots!
The feel seems compact compared to The Golden Nugget.
COMPS
While playing at each casino you can aquire drinks as “comps”
from the casino itself but The Golden Nugget had real bars within the casino
floor which feature video poker games. This allowed the guest to play poker
while sitting at the bar and watching football. For a couple of people who were
far in the RED it allowed for a more enjoyable time than that of just walking
around resort. The “comping” aspect of the experience has to go The Golden Nugget
for the immediate effect; however, we have continuously received offers from L’auberge
for complimentary hotel stays because of our previous play at their casino and
resort. We have yet to be offered any of these comps from The Golden Nugget but
that could (doubtfully though) change. At this time I would call the comps
category a tie.
Chris's winnings from L'auberge in March 2013!
Unfortunately, we won more at L'auberge! BUT there is always next time!
OVERALL
Both casinos and resorts are a great vacation for anyone who
needs a 2-3 day getaway and has a few bucks to spare or burn. They each are much nicer than any Shreveport casino
and easily better than the “Western Most” I-10 casino such as Delta Downs. They
each are true resorts and live up to their name and expectations of being a resort.
However, I think The Golden Nugget can and will attract more people, even those
of the non-gambling mentality, strictly because of it’s amazing décor, shopping
and restaurants within it’s facilities! Chris and I had an AMAZING trip in
December 2014 and we look forward to planning another trip in the very near
future!
Chris and I at L'auberge celebrating our 7th anniversary in March 2013!
Chris and I at The Golden Nugget in December 2014
God is good.. ALL the time!
Wonderful reviews of both resorts! Thank you! We haven't stayed at The Golden Nugget yet but your review definitely made me want to. We will be at LDL casino this Saturday for one night. We're excited to take our nine year old son with us this time. He's going to really enjoy the Lazy river. We love The LDL seafood buffet because of their crab legs and tons of other options. How would you compare the two resorts buffet restaurants? We are definitely going for the crab legs so we don't care which one we go to as long as they have crab legs. I was hoping you could tell me a little about the Buffet at The Golden Nugget. Thank you so much and have a blessed day!
ReplyDeleteThank you so very much for you comparisons. You have helped me make up my mind. I have made our reservation at The Golden Nugget!
ReplyDeleteI can't tell you how much I enjoyed your observations. We have our 50th Anniversary coming up next year, and we want to do a resort. FYI, you might want to check out the Choctaw Casino and Hotel in Hochatown, OK. The surrounding countryside is beautiful.
ReplyDelete