For as little as $42 a night, anyone with an instinct for gambling can satisfy his itch in comfort, if not quite in style, at Don Laughlin's Resort and Casino in Laughlin, NV. Like most other gambling resorts in Nevada, Laughlin's Riverside features acres of casino floor - well, at 80,000 square feet, nearly two acres - with the usual poker games, slot machines like Wheel of Fortune, and a huge sports book room. It's got restaurants galore, including its Gourmet Room & Lounge where a guest can get a "French gourmet dining experience'' from a "classic renaissance menu'' - all moderately priced. In Laughlin's Prime Rib Room the meat is carved tableside. In his Riverview Restaurant a man can eat "Giant'' hamburgers and "Giant'' ham, steak, and eggs. At his recently remodeled buffet, the hungry gambler can line up at "action cooking stations'' and dig into a "multinational menu ... with choices from around the world.'' A Mexican restaurant with a 10-page menu does business in Don Laughlin's self-erected monument to himself, as does a Chinese restaurant called the Rice Garden. For cocktails you can check out the oddly named Loser's Lounge, or sing Karaoke in The Dance Club. Even boat tours of the Colorado River are not unusual in Southern Nevada.
But the resort's owner, Don Laughlin, a Minnesota boy who got kicked out of the eighth grade for running slot machines and other gambling services, and who wound up starting a town and naming it after himself, doesn't stop with mere gambling and restaurants.
He's got a 34-lane bowling alley complete with a full-service pro-shop and professional fitting and drilling. He's got a classic car collection with 80-something vintage vehicles, including one of Steve McQueen's favorite motorcycles. One room alone, billed as "fully climatic,'' covers 30,000 square feet and has views of the Colorado River through what is called a "glass curtain wall.''
He runs an arcade with the "top 15 arcade games in the nation,'' including Ballistics, 18 Wheeler, Wave Runner 2, Imon Simulator, Fast and Furious 1, and Fast and Furious Drift and Club Car.
Kids are accommodated by Laughlin at Don's Kid Kastle, with a play center offering recreation for children from 3 months to 12 years: a soft play area; a skilled play area; a movie theater area; a Nintendo game area; and a snack bar.
Laughlin will even marry you, with deals ranging from "The Chapel Package'' at $175 (with one bottle of Chateau Laughlin Champagne and two glasses), to "The Occasion'' at $600, which comes with a banquet room for 50 guests, 5 bottles of the Chateau Laughlin, a three-tiered cake, Swedish meatballs, and much, much more. A minister costs extra.
Indeed, despite some people's grousing about not getting the room they thought they'd reserved, or feeling that the "food could use an update,'' most of the guests who return to Laughlin's town will book a few more nights at Laughlin's spacious resort.
