Leaving Town
For gamblers only: L'Auberge du Lac Casino Resort forces one to suspenddisbelief
L’Auberge du Lac Casino Resort's glamour almost looks out of place along LakeCharles.
L’Auberge du Lac Casino Resort's rooms are offered in sizes ranging from buddinggambler to high roller.
The minimum bets are high at the blackjack tables.
But there are a tons of slots all around the casino floor.
With its gold-tinted windows sheathing 26-floors of high-end accommodation, L’Auberge du Lac Casino Resort can’t help but look a little out of place. Beautiful as the Louisiana bayou can be, Lake Charles is no Monte Carlo, and its casinos share the waterfront with industrial barges and petroleum storage tanks the size of Sugar Land track mansions.
Frankly, the area reminds me of the Houston Ship Channel, only less interesting. But that doesn’t matter. Gambling itself requires some degree of suspended disbelief, and once Bayou City bettors lose themselves inside L’Auberge du Lac’s outsized amenities, they’ll likely find this dignified resort is well worth the 2-and-1/2-hour drive from Houston that puts one just across the Texas border.
Should any federal agents happen to stop by, the gaming floor itself technically qualifies as a riverboat because its section of the complex floats in the lake. But unless you’re at the side entrance and happen to notice the accordion-like joints that connect the “boat” to the hotel, you’d be hard pressed to find any big differences between the casino and its land-locked counterparts in Las Vegas.
The main entrance opens to a comfortable lobby framed by two imposing stone fireplaces and inviting mission-style furniture.The burnt tans, wood accents and paintings of the outdoors lend it the feel of a millionaire’s hunting lodge, or at very least, a well-though-out Cabela’s. The desk staff dispatched the line of new guests quickly and responded warmly when I asked about rates.
Rooms range from $130 queens to 1,400-square-foot suites with private terraces and butler service. Book in advance or, like me, you’ll likely find the place full on the weekend.
The gaming area is bright, clean and vast. Having spent my college years in Missouri, I’ve loitered in my share of crowded riverboat casinos that seem always coated in a thin layer of senior-citizen sweat and tar from generic cigarettes. Not so here. Smoking is allowed, but somehow doesn’t overtake the ventilation.
A cocktail waitress in a short skirt and employer-issued maroon panties stopped by my corner of the slots to take complimentary drink orders after about I’d been playing for about 20 minutes. All in all, the atmosphere was indistinguishable from the mid-to-upper range casinos I’ve visited in Vegas.
Of course the tradeoff that comes with classier betting parlors is that it costs more to play. The minimum bet at the cheapest blackjack table I found, for example, was $25 a hand. Still, rows of penny, nickel and quarter slots occupy a good chunk of floor space, and gamblers more skilled than I will enjoy the sizable poker area.
Like most casinos these days, L’Auberge du Lac seems to rake in a good deal of cash from its side bets outside the casino: Shopping, entertainment and food. You can buy lingerie, truffles, jewelry and high-priced handbags without leaving the resort.
A lazy river in the outdoor pool sweeps bathers past a swim-up bar and rental cabanas. Meanwhile, the spa offers the usual assortment of massages, facials and wraps, one of which involves the topical application of champagne and caviar. There’s also an 18-hole, Tom-Fazio-designed golf course and a theater marquee that rotates between of B-list acts and drive-worthy performers like Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard.
I found the variety at the resort’s five restaurants worth noting, with its Snake River Grill offering Idaho trout with Florida rock shrimp for $25, and the over-marketed Jack Daniels Grill selling turkey burgers for $9. I opted for something in between at Le Café, dining on a generous portion of lobster mac and cheese for the side-dish price of $10. Try “Louisiana’s Smallest Sundae.” It’s worth the 99 cents.
All in all, L’Auberge du Lac delivers the standard casino-resort experience it advertises. No more. No less. Houstonians can find better food, spas and activities for the kids in town, so I wouldn’t recommend it to people who don’t plan to spend at least some of their weekend gambling.
While predictable, the resort still struck me as a satisfying place to check in, zone out and spend a few days ensconced in the kind of softly lit comforts you’d never guess existed in the marsh of western Louisiana.
