Banned from Swinomish Casino and RV Park WA

[omega]

I left this review on Tripadvisor about Swinomish Casino, RV Park, Bingo Hall and Lodge 12885 Casino Drive Anacortes WA 98221, which has resulted in me receiving a threading phone call to my home from Dallas Widmark (Lodge Manager) and being banned from Swinomish. Swinomish will go to any lengths to manipulate their ratings and travel reviews. To a point where they will ban people who post a review they do not like, you have to wonder what they do to get so many positive reviews? You will see in his response on Tripadvisor he confirms the review as correct. After I reported the threats to Tripadvisor and the banning from Swinomish I found out my account with TripAdvisor had been disabled.
This review is my first hand experience and is meant for my fellow travelers and RV’ers. I do not expect any action by Swinomish as their responses to my reviews has been inappropriate in the past
They charge RVs to park, $10+ in their parking lot, they do not charge cars. I do not understand why they want to send customers to other RV friendly Casinos, which are close by. Their RV Park is substandard.
They have become RV unfriendly and have redesigned their parking lots making it difficult to park RVs or any over sized vehicles.
They have no washrooms (or services) in their RV Park, I have witnessed some disgusting activity by RV’ers that did not have adequate self contained RVs. It is a long walk to the lodge to use the washroom and at night the sprinklers may be on, you can hear them but cannot see them.
The RV Park has low power, which can damage the electronics and electrical systems in your RV.
Most food is spicy, I think due to their customer base of Mexican/Spanish customers.
They supply coffee whiter not milk in the Casino and Bingo Hall for coffee. They do have free soft drinks in the Casino located by the Sports Bar.
There is a busy train track that runs beside the RV Park, behind the Lodge, that sounds its horn, night and day when it crosses the Rail Bridge.
There is a large A/C about the size of a city bus at the rear of the Lodge that can be quite noisy, making it difficult to sleep in the RV Park.
There is a sewer treatment building just west of the RV Park. The smell can be quite strong around the Bingo Hall and RV Park when the wind is blowing in their direction.
From time to time they have live entertainment on the stage in the Casino that can be extremely loud I carry earplugs to protect my hearing.
They have some very nice people working in the Bingo Hall.
· Stayed January 2015, traveled as a couple
o Location
o Cleanliness
o Service
Was this review helpful? Yes 36

Ask Bill W about Swinomish Casino & Lodge
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Dallas W, General Manager at Swinomish Casino & Lodge, responded to this review, 3 weeks ago
Thank you for reposting your review.

Unfortunately there will be no immediate action on the construction of an rv building, the increase of individual site power capacity, the relocation of HVAC equipment at the back of the property, or a new sports bar menu, nor is there a plan to turn our RV Park into a free park. Should you decide to return, please be aware that upon your return you will discover these aspects of our property unchanged. Hopefully this is helpful in your decision to return or not.

We here at Swinomish Casino & Lodge aim to provide memorable hospitality & gaming experiences to each and every guest with our guest service & array of amenities. We take great pride in our successes, and enjoy reading positive reviews from our guest on this site and others.

Best Regards,

Dallas Widmark
Lodge General Manager
Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC
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[dons2346]

Sounds like you have two choices: Take it or move on down the road. There wasn't a single person that held you there. A lot of your complaints were based on things the casino has no control over such as the train blowing the whistle as that is required by law when crossing intersections or bridges (bridges are because of some idiot might be walking across it). The way you wrote your complaint, it sounds like you have stayed there before.

It doesn't sound like you were banned to me but I think the casino really doesn't care of you comeback or not. Frankly, if it was my casino, I wouldn't want you there

[dieharder]

rjxj wrote:
It sounds like a casino parking lot not an RV park. I have been to similar stops but they were free and I wouldn't expect much for $10.00. It's just a port in the storm type place. I wouldn't worry about it and save the real reviews for the places that charge me $30.00 or so

Their RV park is in the neighbourhood of $30. Sounds like he was expecting the casino to allow him to get a freebie in the parking lot instead and is upset about not being able to. I certainly wouldn't expect a freebie in the parking lot of a casino that operates an RV park on site.

[2gypsies1]

As others said, according to what you posted above, you are not banned from the casino. All they said was that things will not change but you can go back there or not. Personally, I would not return but your choice.

[toedtoes]

Trackrig wrote:
A lot of RV parks are within hearing distance of RRs - that's where the cheaper land is and where zoning often lets them be built. I like RRs. Sometimes we've been close enough to the tracks for them to shake the MH.

I lived across the street from an active RR switching yard for about 8 years. The entire house would shake some times. I still miss the sounds of the train at night, it was surprisingly very soothing.

[Naio]

I found the review informative, and I don't see why people here are so down on you. And if the casino banned you, they should be ashamed of themselves.

If people only write positive reviews, then reviews become useless.

[toedtoes]

To clarify, the parking lot charges $10 per day for RVs. The actual RV Park charges around $25-30 per night. I looked it up because I thought the same thing. 🙂

[Trackrig]

For $10 a day it hardly pays them to go out and empty the trash cans.

How much money did you spend there?

A lot of RV parks are within hearing distance of RRs - that's where the cheaper land is and where zoning often lets them be built. I like RRs. Sometimes we've been close enough to the tracks for them to shake the MH.

Oh yeah, the A/C was their "white noise generator" to help cover the train noise........

Bill

[toedtoes]

According to the response, you had reposted the review. Maybe TA banned your account because reposting violates their rules? (I don't know, I don't use TA.)

And maybe their response is "we're not changing anything" because there isn't much they can do about the legitimate complaints. They can't close the sewer treatment plant, they can't stop the trains from coming through at night, etc. As for the little things (no milk for the coffee), what's the point? The clients will still be complaining about the smell from the plant. As for the noise from the concerts, that's part of a casino's makeup - they aren't going to stop having concerts so the RVers can sleep at night (they make more money on those concert goers than they do on RVers going to bed at 10 p.m.).

I do find your review helpful, but perhaps a bit too complain-y. Did it really ruin your stay because they didn't have milk? If so, then maybe you need to keep some milk in a small container so you always have it for your coffee (as a vegetarian, I have found that not every place caters to my personal preferences - I adapt). RVers without facilities in their rigs should NOT be doing "disgusting activity" - they should be staying at parks with facilities OR utilizing long-time methods to handle those affairs appropriately (cassette toilets, coffee can and disposing of contents in a nearby toilet, etc.).

[mogman]

From what I read, you were not banned, just made aware that if you decide to return, nothing will be any different.
Yes, trains make noise, so do large air conditioning units. No one forced you to stay there...you have wheels, move on down the road if you're not happy.

[azrving]

It sounds like a casino parking lot not an RV park. I have been to similar stops but they were free and I wouldn't expect much for $10.00. It's just a port in the storm type place. I wouldn't worry about it and save the real reviews for the places that charge me $30.00 or so

[RoyB]

I hardly ever get excited how things are being run at any of the camping locations we go to... It it isn't too my liking I just don't ever go back there... I don't think I would make a good campground host having to put up with all the different folks there. Thats got to be a pretty difficult job.

Roy Ken

[2oldman]

omega wrote:
There is a busy train track that runs beside the RV Park, behind the Lodge, that sounds its horn, night and day when it crosses the Rail Bridge.
There is a large A/C about the size of a city bus at the rear of the Lodge that can be quite noisy, making it difficult to sleep in the RV Park.
There is a sewer treatment building just west of the RV Park. The smell can be quite strong around the Bingo Hall and RV Park when the wind is blowing in their direction.

Now those things are legitimate complaints. I'd complain too.

[paula_b]

I didn't see where you were banned from the park....I just saw complaint after complaint about where you stayed.

You either need a resort type of experience or a WalMart experience.

Ever heard the saying your on wheels.....move to a place that meets your expectations?

Sorry dude, no sympathy from me!