We spent a night at adjacent hotel and stopped by the casino. In our opinion Horseshoe has done less for COVID prevention than other casinos in Iowa that we have visited. Masks are required and available and sanitizer seemed readily available. The big issue is that except for a very small room way out of the way, the entire casino allows smoking. Almost every machine we sat at had dirty ashtrays. Cleaning and serious wiping down of machines seemed almost non existent. Also, unlike other casinos in the area, temperatures were not checked at the door. Smokers were regularly pulling their masks down, touching their mouths and then touching the machines. In contrast the three Native American owned casinos along I29 are all fully non smoking. In addition the state’s biggest casino, Prairie Meadows in Altoona IA is non smoking currently. These other casinos seem to also do a much more thorough job cleaning and doing it more frequently. I talked to one cleaning worker at Horseshoe and she cleaned a machine before I sat down at my request. When questioned she admitted she hears complaints from non smokers especially and said she had asthma and wished she could avoid the smoke but otherwise liked management and job.
