Montego Bay Resort
Opened in 2002 and located at 100 Wendover Boulevard, Montego Bay Resort is located in West Wendover, Nevada, just south of Interstate 80 (as is the whole town, basically).
Previously, this operated as the Silver Smith Casino and it is owned and operated by Peppermill Casinos.
The public areas and rooms at Montego Bay Resort are very modern and stylish, they could rival the guest rooms of many Las Vegas Strip hotels, but of course, the casino’s offerings in other areas aren’t quite to the same level. The property is home to a total of 552 guest rooms and suites, which is more than some properties (especially compared to Downtown casinos) in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Rates tend to be just under $100 in slower demand seasons, on weekdays, if no special events are going on. On weekends, rates will usually be between $100-$200, but they may occasionally go over that if there is a special event in the area or in the event of a holiday.
Guests of Montego Bay Resort will enjoy wireless internet, refrigerators in every room, coffee makers in every room and access to the property’s seasonal outdoor pool. There is also an indoor pool, though at Rainbow, that Montego Bay Resort guests are also welcome to use. Montego Bay is home to the fitness center which guests of it, Rainbow or Peppermill can access.
In of gambling offerings, the property is home to more than 800 total slot, video poker and video keno machines ranging in denomination from pennies to $25/credit. VPFree2 cites two decent Video Poker paytables at the property, but honestly, the offerings in that regard aren’t great by Nevada standards.
The three Wendover Resorts owned by Peppermill Casinos combine for 76 Table Games, but just under forty of these are located at Montego Bay. Games include Pai Gow Poker. We would recommend calling in advance for the specific days and times of operation if you are seeking out a particular game.
Montego Bay Resort is also home to a Poker Room, which is open seven days per week and features regular promotions and tournaments.
Finally, as with Rainbow, Montego Bay is home to a sportsbook.
With that, we will turn our attention to Montego Bay’s restaurant offerings. Montego Bay is home to four eateries, with Coffee Corner being the property’s spot for coffee drinks, pastries and some quick eats, such as ready-made sandwiches and salads. It’s open in the morning and remains open until the late evening hours, seven days per week.
Open on Friday-Monday evenings for dinner service, Romanza features traditional Italian dishes in a spacious and attractive dining area with floral prints on the walls and an otherwise fairly modern aesthetic.
Oceano Buffet has been scaled back a bit to a dinner buffet on Fridays and Saturdays as well as a brunch buffet on Saturdays and Sundays, so you’re going to want to plan your visit for a weekend if the casino having a buffet is important to you. Probably the most impressive part of the buffet is their verified dessert selection.
Finally, Paradise Grill is the 24/7 stop for Casual American food and dishes out breakfast, lunch and dinner. While most of the cuisine is American, this dining establishment also features some Asian and Mexican dishes.
This property is not home to any major concerts, which are held at the Peppermill Concert Hall.
Overall, if you’re heading to the Wendover area, Montego Bay Resort has plenty to offer when it comes to gambling activities as well as dining. It seems that the Video Poker could be better, but anyone else won’t have trouble finding something that they like. This casino is mostly going to appeal to weekenders who are driving in from nearby states such as Utah and Idaho.
Peppermill Wendover
Not to be confused with the Peppermill in Reno, Peppermill Wendover is on the lower end of mid-sized with a total of 35,880 square feet of gambling real estate and is owned and operated (along with Montego Bay Resort and Rainbow) by Peppermill Casinos.
There were two other casinos located in this spot of Wendover, Nevada, 680 Wendover Boulevard (Hideaway Casino and Gold Rush Casino), but both of those were only around for a few years. Peppermill Casinos Inc. would later purchase the property and, after doing significant renovations, would reopen it under the current name.
Peppermill Wendover is home to 382 guest rooms, of which, 64 are suites. While the design of these rooms is perhaps a little more dated than that of Montego Bay, they are still well-kept, clean, and overall, quite nice. They’d probably compare well to a mid-tier limited service hotel.
There is no pool or fitness room at this property, however, guests of the property are permitted to use the outdoor pool at Montego Bay (when in season), the fitness center at Montego Bay or the indoor pool at Rainbow. Guests of the property will enjoy wireless internet access as well as refrigerators in all rooms.
It’s hard to say what happens during special events or holiday weekends, but generally speaking, room rates are about $30 less nightly than those at Montego Bay.
Peppermill is also home to the Peppermill Concert Hall, which is where the major concert events for all three properties take place.
The property is home to between 800-850 combined slot, video poker and video keno machines at any given time. VPFree2 credits them for having three Video Poker paytables returning 98.91%, or better, which is probably slightly below average compared to the rest of the state and assumes optimal strategy. Denominations range from pennies to $25/credit.
Reportedly, the property is home to a couple dozen Table Games plus or minus a few. Games include Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Three Card Poker, Let it Ride and Pai Gow Poker, so the table game selection is not much different than Montego Bay Resort.
This property is not home to a sportsbook, but both sister properties (Rainbow and Montego Bay) are.
Peppermill is home to three dining establishments, with Pancho and Willie’s being their upscale dining establishment that is open Friday-Tuesday evenings for dinner service. The property has this to say about the eatery:
Pancho & Willie’s offers upscale Mexican cuisine and drink specialties in our Cantina. Try classic menu items like sizzling fajitas and classic enchiladas. The beautiful bar is stocked with dozens of imported tequilas, beers, and other libations. Our signature $3 house blend margaritas anytime!
We haven’t been to this one, but we imagine it’s pretty good. Let us know if you think it’s worth the price if you happen to stop in there!
Cafe Espresso is the place to go for quick eats and coffee drinks and is open seven days per week. It coles in the early afternoon hours Monday-Thursday and stays open until the late evening on weekends.
Finally, Cafe Milano is the property’s Casual American restaurant that is open 24 hours and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.
That does it for the Peppermill Wendover, which is an option for more budget-conscious guests who are visiting the Wendover area, but don’t want to sacrifice any casino offerings…except having a sportsbook on site, of course. Guests concerned with price will also have to put up with the fact that they will need to venture to one of the other properties if they want to use the fitness center or either of the pools.
Overall, we would recommend this property who are mainly just looking to visit Wendover and save a few bucks on rooms. It doesn’t have quite as much to offer as the two other Peppermill-owned locations, but it’s pretty good. Besides, the other locations aren’t exactly far away.
Rainbow Casino
That brings us to the third of the Peppermill Casino owned West Wendover, Nevada, casinos…which is the Rainbow Casino. Located at 1045 Wendover Boulevard, this property features more than 45,000 square feet of gambling space and opened in 1996.
The casino originally occupying the physical property was Nevada Crossing Casino, which was purchased by Peppermill Casinos and expanded.
Rainbow Casino is home to 429 total guest rooms and suites, many of which are situated with a nice view of the surrounding hills. Guests of the property will enjoy access to its indoor pool, but if they would prefer to swim outside, they are free to go to Montego Bay Resort (when in season) to do that. Also, while this property is not home to a fitness room, guests may go to Montego Bay and use the one there.
Guests of the hotel will enjoy wireless internet access and the rooms are modern enough. Rates are basically similar to those you would expect at Peppermill Wendover, which is to say that they are a bit less than the Montego Bay property (non special events are about $30 less, per night, as of the time of this writing), so this is another option for those who are more budget conscious. In of quality of the hotel, again, it’s pretty similar to your run of the mill limited service hotel.
The property is home to several hundred slot machines ranging in denomination from pennies to $25 as well as video poker and video keno. They have a few Video Poker games that return more than 99% with optimal strategy, according to VPFree2, but you’d better be fine with playing at least $1 denominations.
The property is home to a sports and racebook and has about a dozen gaming tables consisting mostly of Blackjack. They have the fewest Table Games of the three Peppermill owned Wendover casinos.
In of dining, Rainbow is home to Bimini Buffet, which similarly to Montego Bay’s Buffet, offers dinner service on Fridays and Saturdays as well as brunch on Saturday and Sunday.
As of the time of this writing, 2nd Street Deli is open Fridays-Sundays at Rainbow from 11:00a.-9:00p.m. and serves a variety of quick sandwiches and pizzas.
The Coffee Bar is located at Rainbow and basically is the same thing (with the same hours) as the coffee place at Peppermill.
Rainbow is home to a fine dining steakhouse that is open for dinner service from Wednesday-Saturday evenings.
Finally, Primo is Rainbow’s 24/7 American Casual food location for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Honestly, there really aren’t many differences between these three properties other than one has a poker room and the others don’t while two have sportsbooks and the other doesn’t. The aesthetics are obviously a bit different, but the casino-related offerings are pretty much the same regardless of which of the three Peppermill Casinos’ Wendover locations you choose to visit.
Red Garter Hotel and Casino
The Red Garter Hotel and Casino is the first casino to appear on this list that is not owned by Peppermill Casinos.
Red Garter is a small hotel-casino that originally opened in 1983 and house sonly 12,500 square feet of total gaming space.
The original owners of the property were a company called Full House Inc., who would later sell this property to Holder Hospitality Group. The property would struggle during the Great Recession leading to a bankruptcy, at which point, it was bought by Maverick Gaming—owners of the Wendover Nugget.
Room rates at the Red Garter seem to be about the same as Peppermill Casinos’ Rainbow and Peppermill Wendover on weekdays and are generally a little less on weekends. Guests of the property will have wireless internet access. The rooms are clean and a little more basic and slightly more dated than the other Wendover properties—it compares the most to a middle tier economy hotel.
The property is home to roughly 500 combined slot, video poker and video keno machines ranging in denominations from pennies to $25. The Video Poker here is light years better than the Peppermill Wendover Casinos, with VPFree2 reporting more than a half dozen paytables that return more than 99% with optimal strategy.
Their websites don’t differentiate which casinos have what Table Games, but between the two, there is Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Three Card Poker and Let it Ride to be found. The Wendover Nugget (next listing) is also home to the only Baccarat that you will find in, according to them, Northern Nevada…but definitely the only Baccarat in Wendover. In total, there are a dozen Table Games at Red Garter.
Morning After is an eatery located at Red Garter that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner with breakfast being served around the clock. It’s open 24/7. The Prospector Cafe serves traditional American breakfast, lunch and dinner in a Western-themed setting and is also located in the Red Garter.
Red Garter is normally home to Italia Ristorante, an Italian restaurant, as you could have probably guessed…but it has not reopened since Covid-19. If it is going to reopen, then we would expect it to do so by Spring or Summer of 2022.
Okay, so this is the place that we would recommend mainly for Video Poker players and people who want to stay at a casino, but don’t want to spend too much on their overnight accommodations, on weekends. As far as weekday rates go, they’re about the same as anywhere else.
Wendover Nugget
Wendover Nugget is the next Maverick Gaming owned location in Wendover, so in the city, you have five total casinos owned between two companies.
The Wendover Nugget is a sizable property home to 47,500 square feet of gaming space and opened for business in 2004. The property is home to a total of 490 guestrooms and suites. The casino at this physical property was originally known as Stateline Casino, followed by Stateline Nugget, then it was purchased by Maverick Gaming, updated and given its current name.
Room rates here are basically the same as Red Garter, so you’ll save a few bucks on rooms compared to the Peppermill owned properties. That said, the rooms at Wendover Nugget, though clean enough, are extremely dated. Of the two and assuming the same price, guests will probably slightly prefer staying at Red Garter.
Wendover Nugget is home to a seasonal outdoor pool, so keep that in mind if that matters to you. The property also offers guests wireless internet access and has parking for as many as 18 RV’s, so that’s where you’re going to want to stay if traveling by RV.
The property is home to 600 combined slot, video poker and video keno machines with denominations ranging from pennies to Bennies ($100/credit). According to VPFree2, they have a half dozen video poker paytables that return more than 99% with optimal strategy as well as any number returning 98%+, so for Video Poker enthusiasts, you’ll probably want to be staying either here or at Red Garter. One thing to keep in mind is that the denominations for the paytables at Red Garter start at $1 and $5 here.
The property is home to a modest William Hill Race and Sportsbook location.
Table Games featured are Baccarat (only Baccarat in Wendover), Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Three Card Poker, Let it Ride, Pai Gow Poker and something called La Paire Poker…according to their website.
Wendover Nugget is home to a nine table poker room called Ace’s Poker and deals Texas Hold ‘Em pretty much exclusively.
Finally, Wendover Nugget features the only Live Keno Lounge in all of Wendover, so this would be the best place to stay if that’s your preferred game.
Wendover Nugget had a buffet, but it is, “Temporarily Closed,” according to their website. If it does come back online, we would expect it to do so by Spring or Summer of 2022, so keep checking back on their website if that is when you are reading this.
The Golden Harvest Cafe is a Casual American Restaurant located at Wendover Nugget that is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The property is also home to a Starbucks location.
The property is home to one fine dining establishment, Nugget Steakhouse, which is open for dinner service on weekend evenings as of the time of this writing.
In of gambling offerings and hotel price, we would give the edge to Red Garter and Wendover Nugget and recommend either of those (probably Red Garter) for any budget-conscious travelers out there. For the rest of you, nothing in West Wendover is going to be any kind of a true resort experience…so you have to decide whether slightly nicer rooms and slightly more modern aesthetics are enough to justify the difference in price and slightly less gambling offerings at one of the Peppermill owned casinos.
