Reviewed By: Bobo
"I've worked in a customer service or technical support capacity for most of my professional life. Throughout my career, I've easily been through a total of 20 weeks of training just centered around providing world-class customer service and support. I know what great customer service is. I know what it means to provide great customer service when I'm working, and I know what it feels like to receive great customer service when I'm not working. The reason I bring up my background is so that you may consider me a credible and reliable source. When it comes to customer service, I feel that I am an EXPERT and I hope that you will take that into consideration when reading my review of the L'Auberge du Lac Hotel and Casino.
"The following quotation is taken directly from the L'Auberge dul Lac's website:
THE PERFECT CASINO RESORT.
How do you describe L'Auberge du Lac? Take a hotel and casino that holds its own against Las Vegas's best. Infuse it with the spirit and relaxed elegance of the Texas Hill Country. Then set it in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Now you're starting to get the picture.
"Being a Vegas veteran, I think I'm a little spoiled. The following is a typical Vegas trip for me:
"I'll spend $250 to $300 and I get to fly to Vegas and stay in an excellent hotel/casino for a few days. When I'm there, I'll eat great food, I'll gamble, I'll be entertained in numerous different and exciting ways. I'll also be treated with respect, I'll be catered to and all of my needs will be met. It's an excellent value. Of course that $250-$300 for airfare and hotel doesn't cover the gambling and the entertainment, but I know this before I get there and I am prepared to lose a pre-determined amount of money.
"I go to Vegas to get away from my everyday routine and to escape the stress and anxiety of work. I want to be catered to. I pay for it, I expect it, and I deserve it. In Vegas, it is the norm. You can pretty much bet on that.
"It was NOT the norm however in Lake Charles, Louisiana this weekend.
"A friend of the bobostonepony.com site is getting married soon, so we planned a quick trip to Lake Charles for the bachelor party. Bobostonepony.com's very own Spadebeats took the reigns and made transportation and hotel arrangements. We chose Lake Charles because we heard of the brand new L'Auberge du Lac Hotel and Casino. We all like to gamble and Lake Charles is the closest town to Austin that has a casino/resort. We chose the L'Auberge du Lac over Harrah's and the Isle of Capri because it was brand new and the TV commercials and website looked very impressive. After all, their website states 'a hotel and casino that holds its own against Las Vegas's best.'
"To our disappointment, we found out the day before we were to arrive that the L'Auburge du Lac does not have a poker room. Imagine that! A brand new casino that does not have a poker room! We didn't let that bother us too much because we knew that Harrah's and The Isle of Capri (both just a few minutes away) had poker rooms.
Day 1.
"Upon arriving at the LdL (L'Auberge dul Lac ) we noticed that the golf course and the pool were not open yet and are in fact still under construction. Ok, there's 2 more activities we can mark off the list. Apparently the pool will be ready in July and the golf course will be ready in September.
"We first realized that things are a little bit different in Lake Charles as compared to Vegas when we attempted to call the front desk for some info. Since there wasn't a poker room in this brand new casino, we decided to give Harrah's a try since they were having a WSOP satellite tournament. Spadebeats tried to give the consierge a call for info on how to get to Harrah's or how far it was (something of that nature). No answer. He tried again. No answer. He then called the front desk for the info. The conversation went something like this:
LDL - 'L'Auberge dul Lac'
Spadebeats - 'Hi, I was wondering if you could tell me how long it takes to get over to Harrah's from here?'
LDL - 'This isn't Harrah's.'
Spadebeats - 'Ya, I know, I'm in room 837. I'm a guest here and you don't have a poker room. We'd like to go over to Harrah's and play some poker. Can you tell us about how long it takes to get there and some directions?'
LDL - 'There's a phone book in your room. Call them yourself.'"
