If you want to experience Colorado’s land-based casinos, you only need to venture about 34 miles out of Denver to Central City or Black Hawk.
Almost all of the state’s 35 casinos are located in these throwback towns, which feel a lot like stepping back in time to the glory days of cowboys, traditional saloons, and gunfights. Okay, we can take or leave the gunfights. But the other things sound fun.
Gambling was popular in Colorado for decades (centuries ago, legendary Wild West figures were known to place wagers amongst the Rocky Mountains), until it was outlawed in 1949.
It took several decades for casino gambling to come back, and only in 1994 did the first of the new gambling halls open. But the industry began to flourish again, and nowadays the lucky casinos in Colorado support a total of just under 20,000 jobs at last count, and the economic impact is estimated at around $41.16 billion.
We didn’t visit all 35 of the state’s casinos (virtually, of course, we didn’t actually leave our desks at all during this process), but we took a pick of some of the best so that we could assess them for luxury. And while different people might use different words to describe that feeling of opulence, we looked at the most common keywords, like "luxurious," "comfortable," and "fancy," to rank each casino.
These are the ones we looked at.
And now, it’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for - let’s reveal the results of our most luxurious casinos research!
At the very top of the scale, you’ll find Ameristar Casino Black Hawk, which got a Luxury Rating of 10.31%. Four people even called out the word "luxury," and two said it was impressive.
A quick glance at the pictures on Tripadvisor showed that this casino and hotel has a spa, a pool, a gym (On vacation? No thanks), and a picturesque view of the snow-capped mountains if you visit at the right time of year.
According to one review, "The 26th floor view is amazing. The elevator ride up was a shake & rattle event. The roof pool was great and the hot tub plus the support for pool entry for mobility challenged folks was good to see.”
Maybe we’ll take the stairs when we visit.
Next up, with 9.68%, we have Century Casino Cripple Creek. An impressive 45 out of 62 reviews rated this one four or five stars, and the rooms have recently been updated. The casino is located within the town center, so there are plenty of dining and entertainment options nearby too.
One review says, “Loved the remodeled suite. recommend highly....staff was great upgraded us when we walked in. Suite was very clean and impressively remodeled.....Great”.
Rounding out the top three is the Casino at the Double Eagle Hotel, with 8.62%. Four people referred to this one as “comfortable” (a decent percentage as there were only 58 reviews) and one even called it "fancy.”
According to one guest, it was “Clean and fancy for Cripple Creek. Looks like a small Vegas casino.”
Look, we’ve never been to Cripple Creek, so we’ll have to take their word for it.
At the bottom of the list, we have Bronco Billy's Casino. No one called this one "luxurious," "magnificent," or even impressive, and indeed, there were only five keyword mentions out of 260 reviews.
In 2020, one unhappy patron said, “After the reopening, this is one of the dreariest places I’ve been - it sits quietly still - the music is dreary and there is a complete absence of energy.” Sorry, Bronco Billy, you tried your best.
Wildwood Casino did slightly better with 3.05%, but it still ranks second from the bottom of our list.
Although one person did use the word "satisfied," so that has to mean something, right? Nope, the reviewer was just talking about how pizza and garlic knots satisfied their hunger.
Casinos.com utilized Tripadvisor reviews to do an in-depth analysis of phrases associated with luxury to determine the most luxurious casinos in the state of Colorado. We calculated the percentage of luxury-rated mentions in the total Tripadvisor reviews.
Keywords tracked: luxury, luxurious, magnificent, delightful, comfort, comfortable, impressive, pleasure, indulge, extravagant, fancy, exclusive, satisfied
The information in this article is for entertainment purposes only and is not intended to be perceived as a factual representation of any of the establishments listed.
The data and graphics on this page are free to use as long as proper credit is given by linking to the original article.
Colm Phelan has spent several years working in the iGaming industry and has plenty of experience when it comes to writing, researching and rigorously testing online casinos and sportsbooks. While Colm has invested a lot of his time into the digital marketing world but his other passions include poker and a variety of sports including golf, NFL and football.
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