Should you be in the mood for kicking back, take advantage of the pool complex, or retire to your room. The resort also houses a variety of relaxing activities away from the casino floor, such as the beautiful golf course and the 25,000-square-foot spa, which offers everything from facials to full-body massages. But according to recent guests, that's not the only reason to make the trek to Pechanga. But the bottom line is - the games are fun, the drinks are okay, the customer service is great, and there are a bunch of restaurants to choose from.Located in Temecula, California - about 60 miles north of San Diego - the Pechanga Resort & Casino draws visitors with its primary feature: 200,000 square feet of gaming space and a wide variety of ways to test Lady Luck. I always joke that this is just be getting back some of the donations I've made in the past and will continue to make in the future. I got lucky and got a nice payoff, netting about $225. But in the end, we played on familiar games. We don't go to casinos all that often, but we're always looking to see what the newest thing is and it was pretty obvious that there are some new ones out there. We didn't go up to the poker room this time as we felt a bit rusty, not having played in awhile and we were drinking (responsibly!), so we can't speak to this, but the slots are varied and fun. They have a nice section that is non-smoking (near the food court, so that's a plus), and yes, you can bring your paid drink with you as you sit at the slots or table games.

But even with that small detail, we enjoy Pechanga. The Indian casinos we've been to have all been in California. We've never gotten that at Indian casinos and we weren't sure why they didn't offer free drinks, although that may, in fact, be a state law, not a casino issue. In general, we prefer to play at Vegas casinos if for no other reason than as you play in Vegas, you're allowed to get free drinks and the casinos want you to get the freebies (usually they are half sized cocktails and smaller glasses of beer, etc.) so you'll gamble more. We've been to Pechanga before several times.

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