Trip Review - Valley Forge Casino and Parx in PA

Hey guys, I'm back. Finally came back from a nice a vacation to Valley Forge Casino and Parx in PA. Got in late on Day 1 due to a brutal commute. Checked into the Radisson hotel which is the renovated tower of the Valley Forge Casino. While the hotel room was clean and we had a view of the pool, there were some slight issues in my humble opinion. The bathroom was very small and felt cramped. The beds are nice and you can adjust the firmness or softness. They sealed the balcony for security purposes and the view of the pool showed the poor paint job of the roof. There is a flat screen television with about ~30 or so channels and a safe in the room. So where did the renovation money go? I would say mostly the bathroom, bed, tv, and the sink. The hallway to get to the rooms definitely looks a little dull. The pool does not have a lifeguard and the overhanging tree leaves tend to fall into the pool. I was tempted to fish it out myself. They do rope off the deep end which is good if you don't know how to swim. Deepest end is 8ft and the shallow is about 4ft.

First night we went to Creed's Seafood and Steakhouse. This is located about 10 minutes away from the hotel and its an easy drive. This is one the highly rated restaurants in the area, and for good reason. The seafood is very fresh. The appetizers are a bit on the lighter side, but the entrees are foodie worthy. I ordered a seafood dimare with a mix of shrimp, clams, mussels, fish in a lobster cream sauce. My colleague went for the Copia fish with chimichurri. Both were very good. Live music and reservations are recommended.

Back to the Valley Forge casino. So the Radisson Tower is connected to the Valley Forge Casino. However, it is a long walk to get to that side of the casino through a ridiculously long hallway that twists and turns. Along the hallway, you pass by a 24hr fitness room and a spa area. The spa I believe is contracted externally, which explains why I was unable to book a treatment. Once you're on the casino side, there is a seafood steakhouse, italian restaurant, and food court. The food court is a bit pricey. Good thing they have a promo. If you stay at the hotel, you get $20 in food comps and $20 in slot play for new guests. If you don't stay at the hotel, you will have to pay an entrance fee to get into the casino. WEIRD!

By most standards, the casino itself is pretty small, but the floor plan is really well laid out. There are only about 6 craps tables ($10 mins), 2 roulette tables, and a dozen or so mix blackjack (15-25 mins), tri-card poker, and baccarrat tables. The center of the floor is a bar area with flat screen TVs, and a small dance area. Bathrooms are located on each side. I counted 4 separate bathroom areas strategically placed. Plenty of security, so you definitely feel safe. There is a small high rollers area where the min bets for baccarat are $50 and I saw blackjack at $50-100. Despite the small size, I really liked the convenient layout and the modern look. You had a good mix of people gambling at the casino from what appeared to be middle class socio-demographics. Because the casino look and feel is modern, I would say you have a young crowd plus a middle aged crowd.

Since this was a new casino for me, I gambled cautiously. $100 buy in at the craps table and left each session with a $12-$18 net profit. First back to back win sessions, albeit small wins. I went up as high as $40 per session, but was down as low as $50 per session before bouncing. I kept myself to strict timed sessions and cool off periods. As far as slots, it was rough. My favorite machines were Cashman, Lightning Pennies, and video poker. The worst slot machines were Playboy Centerfold, Monopoly, Wheel of Fortune, and Rolling Hot 7s (everyone I saw including myself lost our buy-ins on these machines).

Day 2. Corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast using the food credits. Time to do some shopping. King of Prussia Mall is huge, but I feel like I've seen all the stores before. We spent about 2 hours doing the entire mall, followed by lunch at the portion controlled restaurant of Seasons 52. All plates are under 350 calories. Buffalo burger was really good and mini shot glass deserts are a plus.

Had some time to check out Parx Casino and Racetrack. Now this is a mega-casino that rivals Vegas style casinos. Size-wise, I'd have to say its close to maybe the Monte Carlo in size give or take? The plus side I see is that it's huge and plenty of tables/slots. It was so packed, I skipped the craps. Mins were about the same as Valley Forge. The downside I see is that the poker room and main racebook is not physically connected to the rest of the casino. You either take a shuttle or walk a block over to get to that section. Beware of the electronic blackjack table games. When the machine says bet 1 or bet 10, it means the number of bets. It does not mean the actual dollar amount. I made a mistake betting 10X what I had wanted instead of just betting 2X the min. Sadness. Oops. Did not even notice until it was too late. No mulligans. Thank goodness I won it all back later and then some. Left Parx being up $25. All in all, I like this casino, but its a shame there really isn't a hotel in the casino.

Back to Valley Forge Casino. There is a great Tavern for bar food on the Radisson Tower side. We had a friendly knowledgeable waitress. There was a wide selection of beers. Wings in a spicy buffalo sauce, mussels in a white wine sauce, and prime rib were the best (and in that order). Everyone I saw eating there was quite happy. Solid food and good beer. You can't go wrong with that and watching the basketball game. One more gambling session at the craps table. This was the odd thing. I was at a table where everyone was betting the Don'ts. And you guys all know my style. I bet the Don'ts only when I am not shooting. It felt very uncomfortable betting the pass line with odds when everyone was loading up on the Don'ts. The croupier even made a sly mark to the effect of "wow look at this shooter going for it". But hey, my roll got me back to break even and ahead, so I can't complain.

Final day in King of Prussia, we had lunch at Maggiano's Italian Restaurant. Now anyone that know's Maggiano's, knows this place is an awesome chain. Pasta, sauces, and deserts are all made in-house. There are 2 sets of menu's, ala carte and family style. There are pre-fix options as well as a classic buy one get one to go for free pasta selection. Also, mini-deserts are not in shot glasses but rather in plates with excellent presentation. Who doesn't like Tiramisu and Apple Crumble with vanilla bean ice cream =D

All in all, I had a good time at both casinos. I wanted a change of pace from the standard large mega-casinos. Sometimes you get spoiled buy going to a really large casino. It's always nice change things up once in awhile.

Quote: Asswhoopermcdaddy

The beds are nice and you can adjust the firmness or softness.

Thanks for the detailed report and effort to produce same.

This caught my eye, I don't know why, perhaps I've been in the 2nd and 3rd world too long. Is this feature available at most nicer hotels in the USA? I've never seen/felt it here in Asia.

Hi NokTang,

Some hotels offer it. Most that I've seen do not. I've only seen it at a limited number of 2 to 3 star hotels.

Excellent trip report, and yes, Maggiano's is fantastic.

If you're ever at Rivers, let me recommend Nicky's Thai kitchen. Simply leave through the front doors, (you can stay parked in the garage, in my opinion, it's a safe area in which to walk...right near PNC Park) follow that walkway until you can make a left, make said left, (you'll know it's the one because you'll see an underpass) walk up the road until you see a 7/11 on the corner, make a right, go about two blocks and Nicky's is on the left side of the road.

It's a small place with both dining inside and outside, when I was there, there was no more room outside, so I ate inside. Nice ambiance, they keep the music at a reasonable level, friendly and gorgeous wait staff, great food, and reasonable prices. The flower tea is absolutely unbelievable, you have to try that, if nothing else!

The best part is, same side of the road, about four or five doors down, there's a bar with one of the best beer selections I've ever seen in Pittsburgh. Most micro-breweries, the draught selections aren't anything special, but if it comes in a bottle, and you've never heard of it...they've got it!