Hinckley, Minnesota is famous for being 1/2-way between Minneapolis and Duluth; having Tobies restaurant with its renown cinnamon rolls; and for the Grand Casino.

And, I can tell you that I had a very enjoyable stay at the Grand Casino in Hinckley, Minnesota (the sister hotel to Grand Casino Mill Lacs, MN).

I am a digital nomad, so I stay in hotels quite a bit. Therefore, I quite enjoy a hotel like the Grand Casino that has restaurants, a coffee shop, gift shops, and entertainment. It is like having a big party just downstairs - at all times.

And, the hotel prices were good. I was there in May, and I was able to get an exceptional rate of $25 for two nights in a row via a promotion they were having. Otherwise, during the week, the price was $39/night. However, the rooms got pretty expensive during the weekend (over $100 a night) - especially if they had good shows booked. In fact, the rooms can easily be sold out on the weekends - so, book early.

The biggest caveat is that you must like to smoke – or at least tolerate it. For, there is really no place you can go without smoke. Yes, there is a separate gaming section for non-smokers – but it is tough to get to it without going through smoke. In fact, just sitting outside the coffee shop means that you're in the middle of tables with smokers. There are hotel rooms, though, that are non-smoking.

Tips:

• Be sure you call to make your reservations. For the most part, you will get much lower rates compared to what you see on their website.
• Get the players card – even if you don't gamble. That helps you get promotions at the hotel, food buffet, and restaurants. And, of course, if you gamble a lot, you can get comps with the card.
• Watch for promotions on their website. One great thing I did was to spend an extra $10 to get the promotion where I got $30 in food and $10 in playing money. I was able to use the $30 for an excellent dinner of roast beef tips, a flight of wine, plus incredible bread and salad at their steak house.

Overall

Pros:

• My room was very nice. It was spacious – the hotel has a rating of  three stars, so there is plenty of room for the two queen beds plus a table. If you're traveling alone or as a couple, the king bed would probably even be even better – although the king bedrooms were not available when I was booking a room.
• The TV has plenty of stations.
• The restaurants are plentiful. There is a great coffee shop with incredible pastries. The buffet had a great special for $5 per day on the weekdays with plentiful food which was pretty darn good considering it was a casino buffet. 
• Free internet. In the room, it had a fairly decent speed.
• For the traveling nomad - there are some public areas with outlets where you can work.
• Great hotel prices during the weekdays.
• Great food and fun!

Cons:

• The internet was very slow in the public areas, such as near the coffee shop. In fact, I was getting zero Mbps in the lobby and, when I called the support line, they said "yup - this happens because everybody is getting on the WiFi right now."
• It was smoky.The hotel can get expensive during the weekends -  especially if they have entertainment.

Bottom line - go there for great fun at a reasonable price. Just be sure to check the hotel prices before you go if you are on a budget.