Stay & Play
River Rock Resort Really Rocks
by Susan Campbell
I first noticed River Rock Resort on my way to Vancouver airport via the SkyTrain the Bridgeport Skytrain Station from the downtown port a few years back. It caught my eye since it was directly attached to the tracks, and the sign also said ‘casino’, so that piqued my interest, too. So, we decided to stay there a night on the way back home from a family trip to Victoria. And though the stay was very brief, we packed a lot into the hours we did have and intend to plan a longer return visit to enjoy all this very cool resort has to offer another time.
Passing from the SkyTrain, it appears like one modern tower hotel, but there’s a whole lot more than meets the eye. It’s an entire accommodation oasis, a multi-faceted entertainment complex, and a massive meeting, convention, and reception venue, plus a huge 24/7 casino. There are two stand alone tower wings separated by a driveway yet connected by a skybridge. The tower directly attached to the SkyTrain is called The Hotel and it has 193 standard contemporary rooms with a choice of king or two queen beds, its own reception, and a standalone classy Chinese food emporium the Sea Harbour Restaurant featuring authentic Cantonese specialties. (Don’t miss the dim sum there.) Across the street is the larger complex with the casino attached called The Resort. It is an all-suite hotel of 203 rooms cresting a marina on the Fraser River with a massive, landscaped lawn spilling down to the water, that is where we stayed. Though our suite was spacious and comfortable facing the marina, and the plush bedding was divine, if you really want to go upscale, book their Presidential Suite which has its own fireplace and a games room with a pool table, too!
Food and beverage options abound, though we did not partake of their comprehensive buffet which is heavy on fresh seafood offerings at night, we did enjoy some delicious tapas and cocktails in the outdoor part of their Curves lobby restaurant and some great snacks in the casino’s “food court” which offers choices of brick oven pizza, Asian noodles, and monster burgers. There is also a Starbucks in the lobby and a well stocked mini mart with snacks to go. There is also a Show Theatre but there was nothing on that night, we preferred to stake out the casino anyway, a seemingly endless labyrinth of modern slot machines, we did not win any jackpots, but did have a great time.
Sadly, I did not have enough time to experience their piece de resistance, a glorious glassed-in tropical pool with a hot tub and a 70 ft. waterslide, or their on-site Spa, but that is top of the list for next trip. They also have a complimentary fitness centre on top of the pool with a great marina, view, too. We hopped the Skytrain directly from the hotel the next day, the trip to the airport was 7 minutes. Handy, indeed!
River Rock Resort is part of the I-Prefer rewards program, so sign up for free and rack up your points to get all kinds of cool upgrades and extras.
