An S&G reader suggested that, given the sudden dropoff in traffic to Hollywood Casino Jamul, we have a look at customer reviews on Yelp. We did and, boy, has Penn National Gaming laid an egg — the more so for the protracted lead time it had to get the casino (originally slotted for a late-summer opening) into fighting trim. It has an overall rating of one and a half stars, out of a possible five. Some player comments …
“This place is too far to come just hand over your money. The other casinos at least let you play for some time. This casino is a closed chapter for me and many others. It’s empty on a Thursday……all of the smart people are at Barona!”
“Worst grand opening ever!!! Disorganized to the fullest!!! Lines and lines every where [sic] for ticket redemption, players card, etc. why the hell does the redemption not cash out coins?? Instead it prints out a separate voucher for coins that you have to take to a cashier to cash out.”
“Of the 4 elevators, only one was working. I have an arthritic hip and they wanted me to walk down the stairs. Ok, I understand, but the employee elevator is working and they won’t let you use them even in an emergency like this. Did I mention that the parking is subterranean. 8 floors under the earth.”
“At first I thought Sycuan and Barona and Viejas were doomed, but I think they will be just fine! We stopped in to Tony Gywnn’s restaurant and it was cool, but the food sucked, and on top of that, they TRIED to up-charge me $3 to put ice in my Jameson.”
” … hours later when we actually got in a very overcrowded elevator we realized things were going to get worse. The restaurants didn’t open on time, the players club couldn’t get cards issued for hours and the valet lost our keys,!!!”
And those are some of the nicer comments. Other complaints included tight slots, the absence of a buffet, no bingo room, overpriced drinks, sweating of the comps, amateurish dealers and surly staff. The property did get compliments, mainly for its aesthetics and self-service drink station. However, the near-term verdict would appear to be that Penn went into a highly competitive market and didn’t bring its “A” game. Considering how successful Penn’s Plainridge Park business has been and how remunerative its Ohio racinos continue to be, it’s a mystery how management could drop the ball in this fashion. It’s an inauspicious debut in tribal gaming and might make it harder to find somebody to take the $436 million construction cost off Penn’s hands.
“Build it and they will come”………..not necessarily. Lots of competition in San Diego and this limited “Casino” is in for a rough ride …
I am a born and raised resident of this small town of Jamul and a business man. We all knew this place was going to be a disaster and that they didn’t know what they were getting into. All our predictions are coming true and I love it, haha.
I will always hope this casino fails. This group has put their greed above everything else including their own tribal members who they kicked off the property so they can build their Casino. But I don’t want to get too cocky I don’t like eating my words and I don’t like sticking my foot in my mouth neither one tastes right
Happy Penn did not have a great opening! Jamul has fought any casino project at this site for many reasons! Highway 94 was one of the biggest issues. Traffic on 94 on opening day delayed residents and casino goers 3-5 hours! Penn was so busy strong arming everyone in the state and every agency to push this casino thru that they failed to realize that it would just not work at this location! They will always have problems with this two lane road that serves several rural communities and is the only road in and out! God forbids there is a major emergency like a fire the likes of 2003 and 2007. People will die!