Foxwoods On The Classy Side - Foxwoods Grand Pequot Tower
Written: Apr 14 '04 (Updated May 25 '04)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: well appointed rooms, easy access to Foxwoods many casinos, restaurants and entertainment
Cons: rooms tend to be booked up fast, can be expensive
The Bottom Line: Well worth it for people who enjoy gambling with their hotel stays, the Grand Pequot Tower Hotel at Foxwoods Resort/Casino is well worth cost of a room
|
|
|
| jps246's Full Review: Foxwoods Grand Pequot Tower |
Do you live in New England or New York and want to escape from it all for a day or two?
Are you looking for a place that offers different restaurant choices, a spa, a pool, luxurious hotels rooms, and the largest casino in the world? Foxwoods’ Grand Pequot Tower offers all of this in a first class hotel that is part of the greater Foxwoods Casino complex.
Living in Massachusetts, about an hour and a half north of Foxwoods, I’ve been known to visit fairly frequently and one perk of this is that I’ve had several nights’ worth of hotel rooms in the Grand Pequot comp’d for me, so I have managed to stay here several times.
Basics
The Foxwoods Resort/Casino and the Grand Pequot Tower is located in Uncasville, Connecticut, which is located in the very southeastern corner of Connecticut off of Interstate 95. It is about 2 hours from Boston, 3 hours from New York City and probably about an hour or so from Hartford. Getting there is fairly easy, Foxwoods is about 8 miles off of Interstate 95 and the exit and the route are signed well and shouldn’t prove to be a problem for drivers to find.
The Grand Pequot Hotel is located above the Grand Pequot Casino portion of Foxwoods and is the newest and most “grand” of the three hotels on the property.
I was very surprise with the experience of stay in the Grand Pequot Tower, after having been in Vegas several times and coming across “basic” rooms in even the nicer hotel/resorts out there. The check-in is located in the main lobby on the ground floor of the hotel underneath the Grand Pequot Casino, where drop off lanes are provided, as is valet parking service. Check-in itself was a very straightforward process. You have the option of putting a credit card down with the room (other than paying for it) so that you can have room service, etc., charged directly to the room and to your credit card, otherwise you will have to pay the bill when you check out and cannot utilize the express checkout service. Luggage service is available to bring your bags to your room if you need it. The elevators for the rooms are located to the rear of the hotel lobby. Check-out service is located in the same place. For those who selected the express check-out option, all that is required is that you drop off your magnetic keys in the drop box. If you need to take care of charges on your room bill, you will need to check-out at the same desks where you checked in.
All the rooms have the standard magnetic key cards and the elevators and hallways all appear to be well kept, neat and clean. There are seating areas near the elevators on each floor that are a nice place to relax before going down to the casino floors.
I stayed on the 11th floor of the tower and our room had two queen size beds along with a 27” tv, a coffee maker, a hair dryer, an iron, an ironing board and the usual hotel desk and chairs, along with a more comfortable padded chair. The room was very well kept and even though it was a smoking room, did not smell of smoke when we got there. The beds were quite comfortable and not worn out at all. We did need extra pillows and with a call down to the main desk, they were delivered within a few minutes. The TV offered basic cable, any movie channel was extra and pay-per-view was also available for a fee.
The best part of the room was the bathroom, which was huge and had a giant counter area to spread out with and a big shower/tub. The bathroom is stocked with the expected mini-shampoos, conditioners and soaps for guests. If you need more, you can contact the main desk and they will send some up for you.
The Grand Pequot Tower also has an indoor pool that is free for hotel guests to use, along with a workout/fitness room with a fair selection of equipment. For extra money, there is also a spa available which provides all the services that you would expect at a spa (massages, facials, rubs, etc…). Room service is available for each room, though I have never ordered from it. When in the shops and restaurants, you can charge purchases to your room.
Each of the times that I have stayed at the Grand Pequot Tower, the rooms have been much the same (though they offer different rooms with two queens or a single king). When it’s just been me and my partner staying, we’ve gotten the single king room, which is slightly smaller than the rooms with the two queens, but equally well appointed, clean and enjoyable to stay in.
Reservations for the hotel can be made online at www.foxwoods.com or over the telephone. Rooms can book up fast and prices can vary from about $150 to $200 a night. Prices are generally highest on Friday and Saturday nights and cheapest on Sunday and Monday nights.
Foxwoods’ Basics
Foxwoods can be very busy, especially on Friday and Saturday nights, though there is always parking available. There are two parking garages, one separated from the resort by a bridged breezeway, and another located directly beneath part of the resort. There are also several large surface lots surrounding the resort. Valet parking is also available and there are pick-up and drop-off lanes in front of the Grand Pequot’s lobby.
Foxwoods is really, really big. There are seven casinos to play in. They have combinations of slot machines (the old fashioned kind and the newer “video” slot machines) and table games. Some of the casinos only have tables and others only have slots and still others are combinations of the two. There are also high roller sections in some of the casinos along with a special casino located on the 25th floor of the Pequot Tower that is specifically for the high rollers and you’ll never see unless they invite you to it.
There are quite a few restaurants at Foxwoods. The Veranda is a 24-hour restaurant that offers meals throughout the day at a decent price with a decent selection (and probably the restaurant that most people eat at because it is open 24 hours a day and is quick and easy). There’s also a steakhouse, two Chinese restaurants, a bistro, a buffet, a food court, snack bars in several of the casinos, a coffee shop, and a more exclusive restaurant that is also located in the Grand Pequot Tower. Other than the Paragon (which is the one in the tower) the restaurants are casual affairs with a standard dress code and offer a variety of meals at different prices. Prices are a bit higher than the average restaurant and the quality is quite good.
Thoughts
In general, if you enjoy gambling and want a quick getaway (if you are living in the northeast), then a trip to Foxwoods and a stay at the Grand Pequot Tower is well worth your time. It really is a destination resort with everything that you could want, all within a single complex. It’s a perfect place to take a mini-vacation, or just to go and let loose without all of the hassle of having to get to Vegas.
Final Thoughts
Well worth it for people who enjoy gambling with their hotel stays, the Grand Pequot Tower Hotel at Foxwoods Resort/Casino is well worth cost of a room. Between the first-class accommodations of the Tower and the record setting size of the entire complex, everyone is certain to find something to enjoy.
Resort-Casino Reviews
Excalibur (Las Vegas) / Foxwoods (Connecticut) / Mohegan Sun (Connecticut) / Circus Circus (Las Vegas) / Mandalay Bay (Las Vegas)
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.