DECEPTIVE PRACTICES, DISCRIMINATION, AND STOLEN DEPOSITS - AVOID AT ALL COSTS!…read moreOh, If I could give this place zero stars, I would over and over and over. Our two-night stay cost nearly $1,000, and this hotel still decided to run a bait-and-switch scam to steal over $400 of my hard-earned money. Between the deceptive financial practices, the horrific customer service, and the blatant microaggressions, this was definitely the worst hospitality experience I've ever had. We usually stay at the Lady Luck, but we found a deal and thought we'd try this out. What a massive mistake. The games are nothing to rave about, either.
The nightmare started the second we walked in. It was around 11 AM, and before we could even ask a single question about our reservation, a front desk agent named Kari snapped that we couldn't check in early, pointing to a "sold out" sign. Her attitude was snarky, dismissive, cold, and full of bare-minimum effort. We frequent Blackhawk at least twice or 3 times a month at minimum. However, with it being my brothers birthday weekend and he has never been to a casino - I thought a couple days on the mountain would be fun. My brother and I are Black, and my boyfriend is white, and the stark difference in how we were treated felt blatantly discriminatory. We all know what the predominant race is in this area. We should have known to turn around right then and there and stuck with what we knew.
I booked through a third party site - which I have done countless times before. And you better believe we were treated like third class citizens. Prior to arriving, I called to find out the deposit. If you look on their website it shows no deposit. On the call, we were explicitly told there would be a total $150 hold total for both rooms. That was a lie. When we finally checked in, another desk representative, Mary Kay, swiped my card without ever telling me the final total. I only found out after the fact that she secretly authorized a hidden $205 deposit per room. Hiding a $411 pending charge until literally after a card is swiped is incredibly shady.
Being from Texas, my brother unfortunately got altitude sickness during the trip. However, he completely cleaned up after himself. We specifically brought our own trash bags and Clorox wipes, making sure all trash was bagged and any trash was in the can. We had two double beds in our room and didn't even use the second one. I work in property management--I know exactly what "clean" means. The rooms were used for a couple of days like any normal hotel stay, but they were absolutely NOT trashed. We even took before-and-after photos and videos of the rooms because of the ridiculously high holding fee, figuring a little thing here and there wouldn't hurt, but knowing we needed to protect ourselves. We are going to enjoy our rooms if you are holding my money that we couldn't even use. Completely unexpected deposit and I only wish now that I had turned away. When we checked out no one was at the desk. It was rather early as I had to work, but still just before 9 nobody at the desk to checkout is pretty bad. No one emailed me a receipt. I had to call. Super sneaky. Turns out they had one r missing from my name when the clearly had my information with the correct spelling.. yet another thing that felt "off". I should have stuck with my gut. I could've received my credit for Hotwire and would've booked the two rooms at Lady Luck.
When the pending charges posted today, I saw they kept the entire $411.88. I spoke with a representative named Holly, and then dealt with a supervisor named Tony "once he finished his lunch" I was on hold for nearly an hour total the three times I called to reach someone. Tony was incredibly rude, dismissive, lackluster, aggressively lying to me by claiming the rooms were "trashed" and took "longer to clean." Yes, we were in there for a few days, so of course it takes normal cleaning - that is literally what hospitality is. But using that as a fabricated excuse to steal a deposit is actual fraud.
I will get my money back one way or another, and I will never recommend or stay at this horrible, swindling hotel. We will stick with Lady luck. We get our deposit back instantly. Grand Z and Maverick is a disgrace of a hotel/casino. With the Z Casino closing, they must be struggling financially, but you won't use unfair business practices with me. I am a licensed bettor, I know the ropes, and I am reporting this scam to the gaming board, my bank, and several other regulatory entities with my video and photo evidence attached.