Where Big Business Meets Big Wins: The Best Casino Conference Venues

Conferences don’t tend to be the most exciting events. You’re usually stuck in an overly warm room all day, snacking on “finger foods” and mainlining coffee while you pretend to listen to what the keynote speaker is saying about how business and professional sport are the exact same thing. Go ahead, ask us how we know. 

Anyway, if you’re going to be cooped up at a boring conference all day, followed by a “networking dinner”, you may as well be at a fun venue, right? And what better place than a casino? You might even get to sneak off for a few spins on Huff ‘n Puff while your co-workers think you’re answering some very important emails from key stakeholders. 

It’s not unusual for major conferences to take place at big Las Vegas casino resorts like the Wynn or the Venetian, but you don’t have to go all the way to Sin City for a great conference venue. There are plenty of casinos all over the US which offer modern conference facilities, ideal for both small team get-togethers and major industry events. 

So, how did we find out which US casinos are the best for conferences? Well, we floated the idea of holding our annual work event at the Venetian, just to test it for ourselves, but we didn’t quite get the go-ahead. Instead, we headed to Tripadvisor, to look for mentions of certain keywords like “workshop”, “event centre” and “industry event”. 

Based on the reviews, we were able to rank the casinos on a scale of best to work. Here is our final ranking: 

According to Tripadvisor, the best US casino for a conference is Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa in Las Vegas. With 758 keyword mentions out of about 4,900 reviews, the casino got a total rating of 15.35% on our scale. 

_{Red Rock is built for business travelers. (Image: Courtesy of Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa in Las Vegas)}

So, what makes Red Rock so special for conferences? The event spaces can hold up to 1,500 people for meetings and conferences and they’re fully equipped with AV capabilities for high-tech events. Plus, Red Rock Casino isn’t on the Strip, so it’s a little quieter for business travelers. 

One happy conference attendee said, “Was here for a meeting/convention and this place was awesome. Beautiful, comfortable rooms that made you feel in luxury, even with the pretty basic rooms”.

You might be lucky enough to attend a conference held at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, also in Las Vegas. This one is down the south end of the Strip, so it’s a little closer to the action than Red Rocks, which is good news if you have some downtime. 

_{Mandalay Bay brings Vegas energy and professional perfection. (Image: SV/Alamy)}

The casino hosts everything from small leadership workshops to large conferences in the state-of-the-art meeting facilities. Our keywords were called out an impressive 2,000+ times, giving Mandalay Bay a rating of 9.06%. There were over 1,000 reviews that called out “convention”, while more than 900 mentioned “conference”. 

“My first time in Las Vegas and was truly a remarkable trip. We came in for a conference and stayed all week. The rooms were comfortable and the conference center was extremely helpful during our time there”, said one person. Sounds pretty good to us!

It’s not just the big Las Vegas casinos that ranked high on our list though. If you’re closer to Minnesota, Mystic Lake Casino Hotel is a good option for your corporate events. 

With 44 keyword mentions out of just over 600 reviews, this casino got a solid rating of 7.26%. “Conference” was the most popular term here, called out 26 times. Minnesota’s largest casino isn’t just for gambling and conferences though - there’s also regular live entertainment, plenty of dining options and even a golf course. 

According to one review, “I had the opportunity to attend a work conference at the Mystic Lake Casino, and my husband and two year old daughter came along to have a little getaway after the conference. Upon entering the casino, it was very large and pretty. Throughout our stay, the majority of the staff were very nice”, although the same person went on to call out a lack of cleanliness in the room.

Turning Stone Resort Casino placed fourth on our list, with a decent score of 6.56% based on 86 keyword mentions. “Banquet”, "conference" and “convention” came up the most, but disappointingly you might have to attend a wedding rather than a work conference if you want the full banquet experience. 

One review started really positively, saying “I stayed for a night while attending a conference held in the resort event center. The accommodations are up-to-date, the place is immaculately clean, and the staff are impeccably courteous and helpful. If this were a hotel I would give it a solid 5 stars”, then went on to complain that there were people playing slot machines. In a literal casino. 

So, where’s the worst place for a conference? Besides your corporate headquarters, of course.

Right at the bottom of the list we have the Horseshoe Casino Baltimore. This one got only 26 keyword mentions out of 24,000 reviews, resulting in an absolutely abysmal score of 0.11% on our scale. 

And why was this one so bad? Well, we think we’ve found the answer. According to one reviewer, “We were there for a business function, at the catered lunch a person at our table was served a dead fly in her salad. We had to ask for water or tea with our lunch. Would not recommend them for a business conference”. We’ve all heard the “Waiter, there’s a fly in my soup” jokes, but this takes it to the next level.

Second from the bottom, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa didn’t do much better than the Horseshoe, receiving only five keyword mentions and a total score of 0.27%. Ouch. Not one review called out anything to do with a “corporate event”, “expo”, or “conference”, which certainly isn’t a good sign. The casino’s website does advertise meeting rooms and a convention area, so we can’t even try to explain this away with “maybe there are no conferences here”. 

_{We'd still have a conference here. (Video: Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa)}

While reviews of anything conference-related were sparse, we found one that said “This is NOT a place to stay for business - there is only one computer in the "business center". In order to download a document, they had to send in their IT guy to help (which he did). An in-coming fax went un-announced for two hours”. We had to just double check that we hadn’t gone back in time there for a second - a fax? Fair enough this particular review was from 2008, but not 1988. 

Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino in California also did pretty badly, with just two keyword mentions, resulting in 0.32% on the scale. There was only one mention of “business meeting” and one of “conference”, but can it really be that bad? 

_{Business and California charm don't seem to come together at Chukchansi Gold, at least not according to Tripadvisor reviews. (Image: Chukchansi Gold)}

There’s a full conference centre with 6,000 square feet of meeting space and as the casino is located just 25 minutes from Yosemite National Park, you’d think it would be quite a nice place for a meeting, right? Well, one person who was there for a conference had just one good thing to say about Chukchansi: “there was a bakery near the conference centre”. But to be fair, what more could you ask for?

We’ll close out with the casino that came fourth from the bottom of our list: Silverton Casino Lodge in Las Vegas. This casino is located south of the Strip and it doesn’t actually advertise any conference facilities, which might explain why so few reviewers mentioned any of our keywords. The rating here was 0.42%, with just six total mentions of words like “trade show”, “expo” and “seminar”. There was nothing disparaging for us to report in terms of conferencing, but a few people who stayed for trade shows on the Strip praised how quiet the Silverton is in comparison. 

Methodology 

Casinos.com utilized Tripadvisor reviews to do an in-depth analysis of phrases associated with conferences to determine the casino with the best conference facilities in the USA. We calculated the percentage of mentions in the total Tripadvisor reviews.

Keywords tracked: conference, convention, expo, trade show, corporate event, company retreat, business meeting, seminar, workshop, banquet, annual meeting, industry event, event center, exhibit space, breakout rooms, group booking;

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