Pala Casino Resort & Spa

When an influencer event invites you to an amazing getaway in Temecula with other content creators to participate in slot machine tournaments, taste fine dining seafood options, and stay overnight at their beautiful resort, can life get any better than this? Oh yes it can, when you unexpectedly win $400 at the slot machines - but I'll get to that story later ;)

PC: Sharon Litz (@sharonlitz)

Just a one-hour drive away from my OC neighborhood, Pala Casino Spa & Resort is a gambler's paradise tucked away among acres of farmland and cattle. Sharon and I experienced a smooth morning drive together, checking in around 10:30AM on a Thursday morning. After dropping off our bags, we celebrated our arrival with two glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice at The Cave Lounge as we waited for other influencers to arrive to the scene. Before we knew it, the room quickly began to fill up and we were all served delicious pineapple-infused appetizers and beverages to start off the day's festivities.

Soon after, we were led by Pala staff towards the casino area for an exciting activity - SLOT MACHINE TOURNAMENT! The objective of the game included furiously tapping on a slot machine screen, looking for certain icons that popped up that carried the most points. At one point, I remember seeing "first place" pop up on my screen, but that status soon disappeared within seconds by another competitive influencer. The fight to hold first place until the timer reached 0:00 was real, but we all made sure to have fun while doing our very best. This game was jam-packed with finger tapping and craziness - you could literally see everybody's competitive edge come to life within these two minutes. After two rounds, I swear our arms were going to fall off, but I would have played 10 more rounds if we had the extra time, haha. Three winners received prizes for earning the highest scores before we moved on to the next activity.

By now, it was approximately 3:00 PM and we were divided into two groups - Group A for the Wine Cave and Group B for the Oak Room. After an hour, the two groups would swap activities. Starting off with the Oak Room, we were served a delicious course of decadently prepared seafood options and alcoholic beverages (specifically wine and champagne) from Temecula. We met the talented chef behind these creations and thanked him for such a wonderful meal before heading to the Wine Cave.

I'll be honest - I'm not a heavy or frequent drinker, so I don't have too much to say about the wine. However, I will say that the Wine Room was a hidden gem located downstairs from the concert venue and had an aesthetic, spacious interior that could host over 50 people. While the other influencers sipped on their drinks, Sharon and I headed out to create content for Instagram and the blog (aka photoshoot time!). We then headed over to the spa demo around 5PM, where we learned about hotel luxury products by Coola and Babor. 

By 7:00PM, the hotel resort was packed due to the UB40 concert that was held on their grand lawn vicinity. While a few people rocked out hard on the concert floor outdoors, Sharon and I decided to watch from the comfort of our hotel room. If you saw the hotel room for yourself, you wouldn't want to leave either ;) Our room included two queen beds and a very spacious bathroom - a very comfortable room if you ask me. It was pretty amazing that we could watch the concert from our hotel room window, and same with everybody else who stayed at Pala Casino - you can't say every hotel offers this kind of luxury. While the concert continued, Sharon and I decided to grab some Chinese food before hunting for ice cream because our stomachs are bottomless pits that crave sweets and calories.

So do you know anybody who holds an ice cream cone in one hand while clicking the "spin" button with the other? If not, at least you can say you know Sharon and Michelle do! We browsed around for a fun slot machine to play on, and Sharon selected a dragon machine while I sat down at the "China Shores" slot machine with a cute panda on it. Near the beginning of our playtime, Sharon won $12 and I started getting excited for her, as I only won six cents on my first round. Talk about making it rain! Surprisingly after three pathetic rounds, I clicked a few more buttons and I ended up winning $433 in total! This prize stunned me silly, as I did not expect to win such a grand sum of money after losing my brand new Free People top and earning six cents. It was definitely a memorable night, and Sharon and I had so much fun showing our crazy gambling sides off to the Instastory world. We ended the night with a really deep talk about various life topics, and I truly appreciate any friend who can talk with me about such intellectual topics.

The morning arrived faster than we wanted it to, but we lugged our asses to breakfast anyways because who can say no to food? Pala Casino reserved one of their private Sycamore Rooms for the influencer event, and we chowed down on savory bakery items, eggs, bacon, sausage, and french toast. May I add that they even had a DIY yogurt bar with fruits and granola?! Too cute! Shortly after, we all said our goodbyes to each other and I couldn't have experienced a better getaway with such genuine and friendly influencers.

Literally, I am writing this post as soon as I arrived home from the event because my experience at the Pala Casino Spa & Resort was that phenomenal. I wanted to thank the Pala Casino staff for going above & beyond with everything - from creating a vegetarian menu just for Sharon at the Oak Room to locating my lost Free People top by the end of the event. Not to mention, you can feel the positive vibes from each Pala Casino employee who helped us out, as they were all enthusiastic to be there. I am forever grateful to the experiences I shared at this resort, as well as the employees who made this all happen. Pala Casino Spa & Resort, I truly thank you from the bottom of my heart for such a wonderful experience.

Much Love,