Google reviews make up one way products and services can be rated by customers. PlayMichigan recently looked at how Michigan’s retail casinos rank based on their Google Reviews scores. The top casino in Michigan may surprise you.
Yes, Google reviews — like most online reviews — are not science. They can be influenced by sponsorship, paid reviews, bots and more. But if there are enough of them, they can provide one of many tools for rating a casino.
And, as of the first week of December, Michigan’s 25 retail casinos had 167,579 reviews, collectively.
The average scores ranged from a high of 4.3 to a low of 3.7.
Four Winds New Buffalo the top-rated casino in Michigan
Despite the fact Detroit has three world-class casinos, Four Winds New Buffalo actually scored the highest with an average Google review score of 4.3 out of 5 stars.
The facility located on the shores of Lake Michigan about an hour from Chicago, opened in August of 2007. It is home to:
- 124,000-square foot gaming area
- 2,200 slots
- 48 table games
- 415-room hotel
- four restaurants
Four Winds New Buffalo also had a respectable number of reviews. By that score, it ranked seventh with 9,821 Google reviews.
| Rank | Casino | Google Review Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Four Winds New Buffalo | 4.30 |
| T2. | MotorCity Casino | 4.20 |
| T2. | MGM Grand Detroit | 4.20 |
| T2. | Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort | 4.20 |
| T2. | FireKeepers Casino Hotel | 4.20 |
| T2. | Bay Mills Resort & Casino | 4.20 |
| T7. | Island Resort and Casino | 4.10 |
| T7. | Little River Casino Resort | 4.10 |
| T7. | Kewadin Hotel Hessel | 4.10 |
| T10. | Hollywood Casino at Greektown | 4.00 |
| T10. | Kewadin Casino, Hotel and Convention Center | 4.00 |
| T10. | Saganing Eagles Landing Casino | 4.00 |
| T13. | Four Winds Dowagiac | 3.90 |
| T13. | Odawa Casino | 3.90 |
| T13. | Four Winds Hartford | 3.90 |
| T13. | Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel | 3.90 |
| T13. | Gun Lake Casino | 3.90 |
| T13. | Kewadin Casinos - St. Ignace | 3.90 |
| T13. | Kewadin Casinos - Christmas | 3.90 |
| T20. | Dancing Eagles Hotel | 3.80 |
| T20. | Northern Waters Casino Resort | 3.80 |
| T20. | Leelanau Sands Casino & Lodge | 3.80 |
| T20. | Kewadin Casinos - Manistique | 3.80 |
| T24. | Ojibwa Casino Marquette | 3.70 |
| T24. | Ojibwas Casinos Baraga | 3.70 |
Two Detroit casinos, plus three others tied for second
Five Michigan casinos tied for second with an average Google review score of 4.2.
They are:
- MotorCity Casino in Detroit
- MGM Grand Detroit in Detroit
- Soaring Eagle in Mt. Pleasant
- FireKeepers in Battle Creek
- Bay Mills in Brimley
The Hollywood Casino at Greektown in Detroit did not fare as well. It ranked tied for 10th with a Google review score of 4.0.
In two other Google review categories, MotorCity was tops in Michigan. MotorCity had the most total reviews: 22,452.
| Ranking | Casino | Number of Google Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | MotorCity Casino | 22,452 |
| 2. | Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort | 22,340 |
| 3. | MGM Grand Detroit | 20,510 |
| 4. | FireKeepers Casino Hotel | 17,088 |
| 5. | Hollywood Casino at Greektown | 15,295 |
| 6. | Gun Lake Casino | 13,790 |
| 7. | Four Winds New Buffalo | 9,821 |
| 8. | Little River Casino Resort | 7,071 |
| 9. | Saganing Eagles Landing Casino | 5,873 |
| 10. | Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel | 5,277 |
| 11. | Island Resort and Casino | 4,677 |
| 12. | Odawa Casino | 4,413 |
| 13. | Kewadin Casino, Hotel and Convention Center | 3,146 |
| 14. | Kewadin Casinos - St. Ignace | 3,022 |
| 15. | Four Winds Hartford | 2,440 |
| 16. | Bay Mills Resort & Casino | 2,186 |
| 17. | Four Winds Dowagiac | 2,050 |
| 18. | Kewadin Casinos - Christmas | 1,399 |
| 19. | Northern Waters Casino Resort | 1,163 |
| 20. | Leelanau Sands Casino & Lodge | 1,098 |
| 21. | Ojibwa Casino Marquette | 952 |
| 22. | Kewadin Casinos - Manistique | 811 |
| 23. | Ojibwas Casinos Baraga | 397 |
| 24. | Kewadin Hotel Hessel | 172 |
| 25. | Dancing Eagles Hotel | 136 |
MotorCity tops by number of ‘thumbs up’ categories
MotorCity also had the most individual categories (20) that customers rated as being “thumbs up.” These are areas such as: nightlife, dining, wellness, cleanliness, location, etc.
Soaring Eagle was second in both total reviews (22,340) and “thumbs up” categories (19).
MGM Grand Detroit had the third most reviews (20,510) and tied with Little River Casino Resort for most “thumbs up” categories (18).
| Ranking | Casino | "Thumbs Up" Categories |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | MotorCity Casino | 20 |
| 2. | Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort | 19 |
| T3. | MGM Grand Detroit | 18 |
| T3. | Little River Casino Resort | 18 |
| 5. | Bay Mills Resort & Casino | 14 |
| 6. | Odawa Casino | 13 |
| 7. | Island Resort and Casino | 12 |
| 8. | Kewadin Casino, Hotel and Convention Center | 11 |
| 9. | Hollywood Casino at Greektown | 10 |
| T10. | Northern Waters Casino Resort | 9 |
| T10. | Leelanau Sands Casino & Lodge | 9 |
| 12. | Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel | 8 |
| 12. | Kewadin Casinos - St. Ignace | 8 |
| 14. | Dancing Eagles Hotel | 3 |
In terms of the casinos with the most “thumbs down” categories, the list was:
| Ranking | Casino | "Thumbs Down" Categories |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Kewadin Casino, Hotel and Convention Center | 6 |
| T2. | Hollywood Casino at Greektown | 5 |
| T2. | Island Resort and Casino | 5 |
| 4. | MotorCity Casino | 4 |
| T5. | MGM Grand Detroit | 3 |
| T5. | Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel | 3 |
| T5. | Kewadin Casinos - St. Ignace | 3 |
| T8. | Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort | 2 |
| T8. | Dancing Eagles Hotel | 2 |
| T8. | Northern Waters Casino Resort | 2 |
| T11. | Little River Casino Resort | 1 |
| T11. | Bay Mills Resort & Casino | 1 |
| T11. | Leelanau Sands Casino & Lodge | 1 |
| 14. | Odawa Casino | 0 |
