From playing card games aboard 19th-century steamboats to the recent legalization of betting on fantasy sports, Missouri has a long history with gambling. Missouri is home to 13 casino destinations, with most of them located in the north and east of the state. With a gross gaming revenue of $1.92 billion in 2023 and over 24,000 jobs supported by the industry, the casinos are a major economic contributor.
Riverboat casinos were made legal in 1990, and while this might not sound like the most luxurious way to gamble, a few of them definitely offer the five-star experience. The question is, which ones?
Finding out which Missouri casino is the most luxurious is actually easier said than done. Good thing we had the help of Tripadvisor! We scoured through thousands of reviews, looking for mentions of certain keywords like "luxurious," "indulge," and "fancy," and based on how many were mentioned in the reviews for each casino, we rated them on our scale.
These are the casinos we looked at:
Casino Name | No. 4/5 Star Reviews | No. Reviews | Total KW | Luxury % |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ameristar Casino St. Charles | 188/194 | 558 | 47 | 8.42% |
River City Casino | 36/70 | 173 | 14 | 8.09% |
Isle of Capri Casino Hotel Boonville | 32/26 | 123 | 9 | 7.32% |
Horseshoe St. Louis (old Lumiere Place Casino) | 144/174 | 655 | 39 | 5.95% |
Ameristar Casino Kansas City | 89/74 | 262 | 11 | 4.20% |
Harrah's North Kansas City Casino | 176/249 | 696 | 28 | 4.02% |
Bally’s Kansas City | 16/26 | 102 | 4 | 3.92% |
Argosy Casino | 46/42 | 144 | 5 | 3.47% |
Hollywood Casino St. Louis | 59/57 | 211 | 6 | 2.84% |
Century Casino Cape Girardeau | 65/61 | 219 | 6 | 2.74% |
Century Casino | 21/12 | 92 | 2 | 2.17% |
St. Jo Frontier Casino | 16/9 | 66 | 0 | 0.00% |
You’ve all been waiting patiently for the results of this totally scientific Casinos.com study, so here they are! Coming in at number one with 8.42% is Ameristar Casino St. Charles. It was called "magnificent," "delightful," and "impressive," which certainly sounds promising.
According to one review, “The room was VERY nice. The bathroom was huge, with a separate shower from the oversized tub. The view from the window at night was more impressive than the daytime."
And from the photos, it looks like a mini-Vegas inside, so we can see why it tops the list of most luxurious casinos in Missouri.
In a pretty close second place, River City Casino received a rating of 8.09%. Three reviews actually said it was “luxurious,” while another eight called it out as being “comfortable”. Located in Saint Louis, the casino features an opulent exterior complete with a fountain, as well as dining and entertainment options inside. “The experience has been fantastic. Rooms are so luxurious. Want to stay longer!” said one satisfied guest.
The third most luxurious casino in Missouri is Isle of Capri Boonville Casino, which got 7.32% on our scale. The most common keyword here was "comfortable," but two people also referred to it as "fancy."
According to one simple review, “Our room was clean, updated, and very comfortable. More importantly, all the staff we encountered were friendly, professional, and seemed to enjoy their jobs. That just made our stay a little nicer!”
Right at the other end of the scale, we were absolutely appalled to see that St. Jo Frontier Casino scored a big fat zero on our scale! That’s right, there were 66 reviews, and not one person even called it "comfortable." Yikes.
Despite the fact that the casino supposedly boasts “over 400 loose slots” and “delicious food at great prices," one person put it into very stark terms, saying, “Everyone walks around like they’re dead and complains about how unhappy they are about their job. The atmosphere is very sad and depressing. Don’t go too often or you may start feeling that same way.” Say it with me again, YIKES.
Luckily, that was the only Missouri casino that scored zero. Coming in second from the bottom, Century Casino received 2.17% on our scale. While there were no mentions of "luxurious," "delightful," or "magnificent," one person did say it was comfortable, which has to count for something, right?
“They say they have dining; all they have is a snack bar and not a very good one at that. The staff are not very friendly, almost rude some of the time; the boat and slots are all old and falling apart." Not what I'd call luxurious at all.
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 Missouri. 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 data in this article is intended for entertainment purposes only. Casinos.com does not claim any one casino to be “more luxurious” than another. Please don’t use the information presented in this article as gambling or betting advice, and as always, please bet responsibly.
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