Traveling Around - Rising Sun, IN - Casino on the Ohio River in Ohio County, Indiana

The Rising Star Resort is nestled on the Indiana banks of the Ohio River in Rising Sun, IN. It’s about 45 minutes southwest of Cincinnati, OH, 90 minutes southeast of Indianapolis, IN, and 90 minutes northeast of Louisville, KY.

Walking in the main entrance to Rising Star Casino Resort in Rising Sun, IN, gives you entry into the atrium area. On Thursday through Sunday there is musical entertainment in a gazebo in the center of the atrium.

On the west side of the entertainment gazebo are restaurants. They include The River View Buffet, Queen City Market, Wellington's Steakhouse, and Big Vic's Pub & Grill. On a recent visit, the gourmet room (Wellington’s) had seafood specialties in the $25 range. The buffet (River View Buffet) has specialty nights and costs from $15 to $25 dependant upon the specialties. The food court (Queen City Market) serves Cincinnati foods: Graeter’s Ice Cream, LaRosa’s Pizza, and Skyline Chili. Big Vic’s Pub and Grub serves beverages and appetizers in a sports bar environment with tv screens and rounds out the selection. On this same side of the atrium is a hallway that leads to the Grand Theatre where 1100 patrons can enjoy name entertainment or that can be configured for private events for as few as 100 people. On the opposite side of the atrium is a gift shop.

The hotel in the main building has about 200 rooms in three story high wings that jut out into the Tim Liddy designed Scottish links-style golf course. Early morning sprinklers provide green grass and a fresh smell hovers in the air. Room rates start at $69.

In late 2013 Rising Star partnered with the city of Rising Sun. They built and opened the North Tower (picture below) which is across the parking lot from the main facility. It is a non smoking facility that has about 100 rooms with the same rate structure as the main hotel. A shuttle connects the two facilities.

To the east of the atrium is the original hotel. The valet parking station and what used to be the ticket sales office for entry onto the boat make a hallway from the atrium leading to the hotel registration counter. Just outside the valet station is where the shuttle to the North Tower stops on a regular basis.

There is a hallway between the lobby area and the hotel rooms that houses the indoor swimming pool, the exercise facility, and the spa. One section of hallway is adorned with fascinating pictures of the Rising Sun area from yesteryear. One of the hotel wings has a golf course view and the other has a river view.

From the atrium to the south is a ramp leading to the casino. The casino contains over 1300 slots and video poker machines as well as a wide variety of table games.

As with most of the Indiana casinos, the casino is on a boat on water and all of the other facilities are on land. There is an ability to adjust the entry level on the boat depending upon the water level in the river. There are four levels to the boat and normally the casino is entered on level two.

Immediately to the left of the entrance on level 2 is an area where live table games are located. The tables are arranged in on oval area in the middle of that room. There is blackjack, roulette, and craps. In addition to the live games there are multi station video gaming machines such as blackjack and roulette. A bar with bar top video poker is along one wall. The remainder of the floor is devoted to slot machines.

To the right of the main entrance is a large array of slot machines that is bounded on the outer edge by the Rising Star Rewards club where patrons are encouraged to register and take advantage of promotions that occur and a cashiers' area where winnings are collected in real money.

Directly in front of the entrance are escalators and elevators that are provided so patrons can move from floor to floor with ease. There is also a stairwell just inside the main entrance.

Downstairs to the first level finds a large non smoking area directly below the table game area and is bright and airy and smells good. The remainder of the floor is taken up with slot machines and video poker machines. There is penny, nickel, and dime video poker along with higher denomination games. Many of the slot machines are of the latest penny variety. When entering this level there is a bar along the far right wall that has progressive video poker on the bar top machines.

Level 3 contains more slot machines. There are about 500 machines scattered about this level. The denominations are from pennies to dollars and there is cacaphony of sounds as people watch the screens.

Level 4 is more sparsely furnished but contains the credit office and the casino host office. When the weather permits and players wish, there are table games in operation on the deck outdoors on level 4.

All of the playing levels offer riverside decks where players can take a break from the casino action. The view of the river and into Kentucky is startling in it's beauty. Heavy barges that work the river are often seen moving their loads on the water. Each playing level also has machines dispensing free soft drinks.

Rising Star is a self contained village on the edge of Rising Sun and on the river. There is no need to leave once the car is parked although the town of Rising Sun does offer unique restaurants and shopping.