How is Desert Diamond Casino, Tucson?

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Stayed at the Desert Diamond Casino on the Nogalas Hwy in Tucson from 7/26 thru 8/3. The hotel is 4 floors and designed to look like a pueblo. Driving up the hotel and grounds are aesthetically pleasing. The hotel has no Valet service. We arrived around 10pm and check in was quick and courteous. Our room was on the 3rd floor facing the backside of the hotel. The room was a standard king. In addition to the King bed we had two nightstands, 2 Wing-back chairs, Dresser, Small hutch which housed the refrigerator and safe, flat screen TV, desk and office chair with free WIFI. Closet had iron and ironing board. Bath room was standard tub/shower with Bath and Body Works soap, shampoo, conditioner and lotion. Bathroom w as decent size and separate enclosure w door for the toilet. First impression of the room is very nice and clean. This was one of the smaller rooms w/o a balcony so I have to imagine the larger rooms are as well appointed.
The hotel has a lot of stone and natural wood incorporated. In the hotel portion they have a bar. The bar has limited hours it seemed to be just evenings. The hotel bar is also used in the morning for the complementary breakfast. The breakfast was nothing great but very convenient. Bagels, English muffins, toaster waffles, yogurt, granola, pastries, etc. There was always an attendant to keep the breakfast area tidy which was nice. Apparently complementary breakfast to some people means stock up previsions for the next war.
The pool is off the lobby between the two hotel building. Pool is crescent shaped with the hot tub up a few steps in the center. Pool area has a good supply of loungers and most of the time ample towels. Used the pool every morning. Around noon the pool would fill with kids. One note is it would be nice if staff would open the shade umbrellas. They were very difficult to open and on many occasion saw people needless struggling wiht them. Compound that with a few broken umbrellas it made for some frustration. The pool area also has a fire pit feature however in the week we were there it was only on one night.
Food is rather limited. In the hotel portion they have a small coffee shop. Coffee, Lattes and the like. The coffee shop also has a deli case with pre made sandwiches and salads. Sandwich was around $6 and came wiht a bag of chips. At the Coffee shop from 8am - 10am and 8pm - 10pm everything is 1/2 price.
In the Casino they have a steak house. We did not dine there so I can't give a review. It never seemed very busy. The "Food Court" is basically a counter at the far end of the casino. One side is a Chinese station the other had burgers, chicken fingers, sandwiches and breakfast in the morning. The food is OK. However the portions are huge and it is very inexpensive. A order of Chicken Fingers consisted of 4 rather large cutlets and fries for $3.95. The chicken was ok and the fries were pretty good. The Chinese section was equally as inexpensive and large portions. An order of egg rolls consisted of 3 good size egg rolls for $2.50. They food is OK. It is not bad but far from gourmet.
Did most eating in Tucson. Great town for eating and reasonable prices (At least to me, NYC has skewed my idea of a meal deal). Tried to get my wife to have a few tacos from a truck but her high school Spanish tipped her off on what la lingua was. Also had to go to Whaddaburger. None of those in the Northeast. A King of the Hill homage.

They have a night club Monsoon. Only was open Friday and Saturday Night. Saturday was a local radio station party and the line at midnight was still 100 deep waiting to get into a bar that closes at 2. Saturday looked like a VIP event. Never got in or really tried so all I can say is they have a club.

The BJ rules are rather player friendly. That being noted just about every spot at the tables were filled every evening with people hovering for free spots. I don't gamble during the day as a rule so BJ was not going to be in the cards for me. I knew from the VPFree site that the VP was going to be bad and they were right. After looking at the pay tables I found a JOB .02 credit machine that from my notes looks like it was paying back about 93%. Truthfully since the VP was so bad I didn't play a lot. The reason for the trip was my wife needed to be on campus at UofA for 10 days as part of her grad program so I mainly played VP to kill time at night while she was sleeping or studying. As I could tell the players club was 1 point per dollar on the bad VP and 500 points = $1 store credit. However you had to cash it in with a minimum of 2500 points. Got to 2500 points and figured to use it on the last day to grab a few waters from the gift shop. Store wasn't linked to comp booth so I would have had to go into the casino to get a voucher. Since I already checked out and didn't want to stink like smoke for my flight home I declined walking through the casino again.
On that note I must say that Desert Diamond was the smokiest casino I have ever been too. I mean like the Nevada Palace smokey. It was almost shocking the first night. As you walk from the hotel to the casino you go past the convention center and enter a rotunda which serves as a history center and mini museum for the Tohono O'odem. As soon as you enter the rotunda you are bowled over by smoke. Then once you enter the casino you understand what smoky really means. Being a new construction I was shocked at the lack of ventilation. I realize that in mid summer they would not mix as much fresh air due to the AC but it was oppressive. Interestingly enough on Saturday night when they had a huge crowd and a significant crowd that was there from a Radio station event the air was clean and clear. I think that was the only time it wasn't really bad in there.

Drink service was fair. Drinks are not comped aside from soft drinks. Although the CWs were pleasant calling them CWs is kind. Most of them seemed like the type who would ask 'do you want it in one glass' if you ordered a gin and tonic. While playing and ordering drinks you paid the CW when you ordered then they wandered off to get it. Most of the time I went to the bar to get a beer. Playing some very bad VP at the bar the first night I realized that tips were not good and service equaled that. The bars use an inventory control system so no way a bartender could pour a stronger drink or toss a good tipper a free beer. I would usually buy a pint and return to my room for a refill or two. If they had better VP payback I would have never left my seat and bought a ton of beer.

Overall I give high marks to the hotel and rather poor for the casino. Casino Del Sol on the other side of town had not opened its hotel yet but I believe it has by now. They will be real competition for Desert Diamond. Much larger and more along the lines of a Vegas casino in amenities. Took a trip to Casino Del Sol. New hotel tower looks like it will have a lot of rooms. They have an arena and a bunch of restaurants. I did not stay long I was killing time before I had to pick up my wife. Registered for a players card and received $10 in free play. Played a few minutes and cashed out $8. Score! One question I have about CDS is the theme. At a Native American casino in Arizona who came up with the idea to make it look like Tuscany? Did the architect use old drawings for the Venetian?

Being that my wife was in classes all day even on the weekends I did a lot of sightseeing on my own. Saguaro Forest National Park is amazing. A great drive. Must do again when it is not 110. Being a fan of westerns I had to go to Tombstone AZ. As with most tourist "traps" nothing is free. OK corral is walled in. Bird Cage theatre is few bucks to get in. To do a full tour of the town and all the sights I imagine would run into a pretty penny. Great drive from Tucson to Tombstone. Stopped by Boot Hill on the way back. I wanted to do the Pima Air museum but being the dead of summer I didn't feature myself walking the tarmac for a few hours in the heat. I did see a section of it from the road and it looks very cool. On the Tohono O'odem reservation s the Mission of San San Xavier del Bac. The mission dates to 1692 but the current building was constructed in 1783. This is still an active church and serves the Tohono O'odham nation. The church is rather small but very beautiful. Truthfully I can not say enough. I had to visit it twice.

Quote: bbvk05

Forgot to add one more thing: you can play up to 3 hands at the minimum bet. That is a different experience.

Quote: Wavy70

Tried to get my wife to have a few tacos from a truck but her high school Spanish tipped her off on what la lingua was.

Quote: Nareed

I think you mean "Lengua." But this isn't the SWD thread. In any case, many taco stands in Mexico do sell beef tongue tacos. I think it's also a common ingredient in "Chef's Salad."

Quote: bbvk05

Hotel- 2.5-3 stars. Nice enough. They have Pai Gow and Texas Holdem, usually 5 dollar tables available. Match the dealer is the side bet on most blackjack tables, which sucks. Real poker available but locals are rigging it more than you usually find.

Their blackjack rules are very good, like strip liberal. 6 deck shoe with 80% pen, stand soft 17, DAS, double on any two cards, re-split up to 4 hands (including aces), late surrender. I think it comes out to a pretty fair 0.27% house edge. $5 and $10 tables available virtually any time.