New Las Vegas Casino Off To Hot Start, But Concerning Overcharge Trend Emerges

The newest casino to open in Las Vegas, the Durango Casino and Resort, has earned excellent reviews so far since opening its doors on December 5, 2023.

The hotel, owned by Station Casinos, is situated some 10 miles off the strip and boasts numerous outdoor patios, water and fire features, and 209 rooms with suites that house 85-inch TVs. It has all the hallmarks of a casino on the Las Vegas strip, with more of a desert feel.

And while initial reviews since opening bode well, with a 4.1/5 on Google and 3.5 on Tripadvisor, one glaring issue of customers being overcharged at an alarming rate is of concern. Out of 12 initial reviews on Tripadvisor, three have signaled issues with billing being overcharged or charged incorrectly.

Customers Out Of Pocket

It should be noted that not all visitors who visit the land-based casino establishment will leave reviews, but a 25% rate of overcharging issues from real visitors is cause for concern.

Casinos.com contacted Station Casinos, who refused to comment directly, but did offer explanations for each alleged discretion. 

One visitor, named Walter, described his issue. "I did have a problem when I checked out. I checked my folio in the room and saw a charge for $113 for 'Room Revenue' (I had a comped room). I called the front desk and was told I had selected early check-in, which I did not. I checked in around 2 PM, and the person who checked me in never told me about this charge. In fact, she made clear there would be no charge. The front desk said they would take care of it, but she was unable to do it at that moment. I am hoping it will be rectified before my credit card statement cuts."

Station Casinos have stated that this customer had selected the early-check in fee online and it was an automatic charge. This feature has now been turned off. 

A separate visitor had a similar issue after a defective mini-bar incident. "We had one issue with the mini bar fridge. Had to be replaced. Left a note, but no one came to replace bottles strewn about. Since we didn't use anything, we had to get $352 charges removed from the bill."

Station Casino has confirmed a defective mini-bar was in place, which engineers replaced but the front desk was never notified. A refund was processed immediately. 

Another visitor commented, "We weren't able to do checkout in person and to our surprise, when we got the invoice, there were fraudulent charges on bill. Called, got transferred around several times, talked to someone who was going to look into it, never heard back and charges still on credit card. Poor customer service. "

Less Concerns Elsewhere

An analysis of Facebook reviews saw no cause for concern, albeit they had been targeted by scammers who have been infiltrating the review section on this particular social media site across the globe in recent months, a Casinos.com study found.

An analysis of Google reviews, of which there are over 900, also found some instances of overcharging at a far lower rate, less than 1% when searching for "overcharge", "wrong charge" and "billed". Overall the majority of reviews of the new resort are positive, with Google standing at 4.1/5 and Tripadvisor slightly below at 3.5/5.