Your first impression of this site isn’t necessarily all that encouraging, with a squadron of punters smoking outside the entrance and generally looking mildly shifty. It improves within, however, with a friendly (albeit glacially slow) reception team enforcing the membership policy. You’d expect a pretty solid level of service, mind, given that it’s no more than 100 yards away from the Genting site – bound to keep them on their toes.
Those receptionists were helpful enough, although I could have done with knowing that all the gaming’s upstairs – I wandered along the ground floor corridor into what seemed to be the bar / restaurant area, complete with some sort of charity sale / bazaar gubbins going on, not really what I was after. Once I’d figured out where the action was, I headed that way to see what goes on. I’ll say one thing for the site, it holds one record – the squarest casino in the UK. I thought Grosvenor Hull was pretty square, and Grosvenor Huddersfield is a whacking great big box, but this site is as simple as they come.
It’s not that big, either, and has quite an old school feel about it. It’s all beautiful wood panelling, deep, rich colours and an air of quality. While I was there they were getting upgraded Electronic Roulette terminals – the shiny Sabre terminals that vibrate slightly when you place a bet – swanky.
The site also has the smallest bar you could possibly imagine upstairs, and really seems like one of those sites that’s designed for serious gamers rather than folks looking for a casual night out with their partner. You’d think that with that in mind it would be geared up for proper cash action, yet the ATM I used seemed to have a maximum withdrawal of £200, hardly breaking the bank in Monte Carlo stuff. It also asked twice if I was happy with the fee they were charging, which seemed almost apologetic.
As hard gaming casinos go it’s got a lot of character, not to mention a very friendly and chatty manager, always a welcome addition. Make sure you get the pronunciation right for the street it’s on, mind – Sauchiehall Street. In fact I don’t think I’ll even give you a hint, it’s more amusing to imagine you mangling it in front of the locals and making a fool of yourself …
