Hollywood Casino & Hotel - Aurora, IL

The new land based Hollywood Casino & Hotel in Aurora, IL had their grand opening back on June 24, 2026.  The new property is replacing their riverboat casino  I decided to wait until today (July 7) to check out their new property to avoid the big crowds that often arrive during the first few weeks of a grand opening.

https://www.pennentertainment.com/hollywood-aurora

The Hollywood Casino is about 45 miles from my location and took about a 1hr 45 mins drive to get there.  I arrived at about 10:30 am.  There was some road construction along the way so it took longer than expected, since I also missed the turn off to I-88 due to re-routing of the highway lanes. LOL

When I arrived, there was only a few people scattered throughout the casino.  More people started to arrive as it got closer to noon and the place started getting busier.  Since I visit the M Resort in Las Vegas which is also a Penn Gaming property, I only needed to get a replacement players card.  Unfortunately, they weren't giving out any perks (e.g. freeplay, food credit, etc.) unless you were a new signup.  New signups could get $25 in food credit.  

Below is the entrance/exit from their parking garage...

Sorella By Giada is located to the right as you enter thorough the garage entrance.''

The entrance to the casino area is straight ahead.  The Boulevard Food Hall is further down and to the right...

Here are a few photos of the casino floor...

The casino area is very nice, but smaller than I had expected.  They had a lot of the newer slots/VP machines, as well as a few  older style reel slots.  The VP machines are grouped together in an area towards the back of the casino in a rather small area.  They also have bartop VP, but I tend to prefer playing on the main floor.  They had a good mix of table games, but I'm a VP/Slots player so I didn't check them out, as far as minimums, odds, etc.

I played a few different slots, but they weren't being very nice to me so I switched over to VP and started doing better.  Played for about 3 hrs on one triple play machine that kept hitting so I didn't have to keep feeding in benjamins. LOL  Although, this wasn't a winning trip.  A few times I was ahead by about $100 or so, but the machines won in the end.  Here are a few of the better hits...

For lunch, I checked out the Boulevard food hall.  They have a nice collection of dining options, although there are several venues squeezed into a rather small area.  I went early so there wasn't a big crowd.  I decided to get a slice of pepperoni pizza and a Diet Coke at Five50 Pizza which was $12.45.  Prices are a bit high, but their pizza is very good. 

I haven't given Penn Gaming very much play in the past, so I have to wait and see whether my play brings in any new comp offers.  

Blue Chip Casino Staycation: May 26-28

My birthday is May 27th so I decided to do a staycation at my local Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City, IN which is a Boyd Gaming property.  I live in Chicago and it's about a 75 miles drive to the casino which isn't too bad, unless there's a lot of traffic and/or an accident along the way.

Since I visit and gamble at the Blue Chip occasionally throughout the year, one of my comps is receiving 2 nights/month in a Premium King room. Although, I often just do day trips so I haven't stayed overnight in quite awhile.

Tuesday May 26

I arrived at the Blue Chip at around noon, but it was too early to check in so I was playing some VP/Slots. I received a text message that my room was ready at 1pm and received a Premium King room on the 15th floor of the Spa Tower. Below are some photos of the room and I also did a video tour.

Below is a video tour of my room. You can watch a full screen view by going to my YouTube channel.

In the 2 photos below, you can see a river behind the casino. The Blue Chip is actually a riverboat permanently docked on the Trail Creek which flows into Lake Michigan.       

Tuesday was cloudy and hazy in the distance, but on a clear day you can see part of Lake Michigan from my room, if you look on the horizon just above the tree line.

The only food option available on Tuesday is Infusion which serves hot/cold sandwiches, individual size pizzas, etc. It's sorta like a fast food venue. They're also open for breakfast daily. 

Lakeside Kitchen is also closed on Tuesday and Wednesday.  William B's Steakhouse is open for dinner on Wednesday to Sunday.  Their food venues tend to have crazy hours, not to mention the number of days they are open.  You really need to check the Blue Chip website to keep track of their operating hours. LOL

For dinner, I ordered some takeouts from Infusion. I tried their version of a Philly Cheese Steak sandwich combo which came with chips and a drink. It was okay, but nothing like a genuine Philly Cheese Steak sandwich. Total cost was $21.50 paid with my Boyd points.

Below are photos of some of my better wins. I was actually ahead by about $200 at the end of day 1.

Wednesday May 27 (My actutal birthday... LOL)

My breakfast plans didn’t go as planned. I was going to try a local restaurant that's not far from the Blue Chip. It has received some good reviews in the past, especially for breakfast.  Unfortunately, "The Lighthouse Restaurant" was closed for business, but I'm not sure if that’s permanent or not. I ended up stopping at good ole McDonald’s and had their hotcakes and sausage which is always good.

Below are a couple of photos I took from the windows at each end of the15th floor.  The first photo is the Trail Creek.  In the second photo, you can actually see the shores of Lake Michigan on the horizon, since Wednesday was clear and sunny.  

My birthday dinner was at William B's Steakhouse. I made reservation a couple of days in advance, since they have limited hours. I ordered their Steak Frittes.  Their version is an 8 oz Skirt Steak served with peppercorn sauce. I ordered the steak medium rare and it also came topped with garlic butter. It comes with duck fat truffle fries which are the best fries I've had in a long time.  They're way better than McDonalds fries too. LOL 

Their skirt steak is a prime cut, tender, and has a good beefy flavor with a nice char.  It was also seasoned very well. Also, the bread basket is included at no extra charge and came with 3 different spreads: butter, a tomato/spiced mix (I forgot what the server called it), and a garlic/olive oil mix.  All 3 were very good. The rolls were soft and warm. They served so may of them that I couldn't finish all of them. I was also too full to order dessert. The total price including a Diet Pepsi was $65 not including the tip. My Boyd points covered the cost. 

This was the worse day of gambling. The machines were acting like vacuum cleaners and sucking up my bankroll. LOL  I had a few decent hits, but was down by about $300 by the end of the day.

Thursday May 28 (Check-out Day)

The night before, I was considering having a breakfast sandwich at Infusion before checking out, but then I had a brilliant idea.  The Hard Rock Casino in Gary is just off of I-95 which is the route I take getting to/from the Blue Chip, so why not stop by for breakfast and play some VP/Slots too. LOL

Unfortunately, the Hard Rock Cafe wasn't open for breakfast so the lady at the bar recommended "Constant Grind Bistro".  I ordered their egg, cheese, and sausage breakfast sandwich and coffee which were both very good. Total cost was $17.33

Unlike the Blue Chip, the machines at the Hard Rock were being nice to me. LOL  I had a good few hours of play and ended up ahead by about $400 in the end.

As you probably noticed, I played more 3-play Ultimate X this trip.  I normally play single line VP, but wanted to try something different.  This was also the first time I played Wicked Wheel Panda and it's rather fun to play. I hit several good bonus rounds too.  

Overall, I had a fun few days at both the Blue Chip and Hard Rock, not to mention my fun week in Vegas at the beginning of May!