Looking for a family getaway that is close enough for a road trip and also has something for the entire family? Look no further than the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino! Located along the Gulf Coast in Biloxi, Mississippi, the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino is less than a 6-hour drive from Atlanta and is the perfect destination for kids!
Now you may be thinking to yourself, doesn’t the name include the word casino? Yep, it does, but don’t let that deter you from packing your bags and heading down to Biloxi! The Beau Rivage Resort & Casino is a kid’s paradise.
Table of Contents
Here are the top 5 reasons why kids love the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino!
The Swimming Pool
The pool at the Beau Rivage is perfect for kids of all ages! The maximum depth is 4 feet, which allowed for me to be able to breathe, knowing Roo wouldn’t unexpectedly venture into a drop off in the pool. The sprawling pool deck is filled with comfortable lounge chairs and umbrellas for optimal relaxability (yep, I just made that word up). The kids loved alternating between splashing around in the pool and lounging by the pool jamming to the hits that were playing. This gives the feel of a pool party while also providing guests who want peace and quiet a separate area to lounge in with a view of the Gulf.
If you get snack-ish while relaxing, never fear, there is a pool bar and poolside café! Even better, servers are circling the pool deck to take your order. The girls loved ordering, “fancy drinks” (strawberry daiquiris) to cool down after swimming! Be mindful, however, that the pool bar and café are only open until 4 pm, so be sure to get your snack fix before then as outside food and beverages are not permitted.
*Mom tip: If you are looking to upgrade your pool experience, I highly recommend that you reserve a cabana! The poolside cabanas come with everything that you could think of to lounge by the pool the whole day. Aside from the cabana itself, the cabana rental also includes access to reserved lounge chairs with an umbrella outside of the cabana, a couch within the cabana, a stocked refrigerator with water and soft drinks, a fruit platter, a ceiling fan, and a flat-screen TV with cable access!
The Arcade
Want to see your child’s eye light up like the 4th of July and yell with delight, “Can we go there, please Mommy please?!?!” Then venture down the shopping promenade and into the on-site 3,00 square foot arcade! If you can’t find at least one game that everyone in the family will like, then you may want to have your fun meter serviced. There is a combination of new gaming technology and even some oldies but goodies. There is nothing like challenging your child to an ice hockey match (and getting beat, btw) and then hopping onto a roller coaster simulator, all while earning tickets to redeem prizes. The ticket redemptions are pretty generous, and I like that they have easy to read signage and point values for the prizes to make it easier for the most indecisive children.
*Roo tip: Try the bowling game, it is like a simulator version of bowling but uses a real ball, which is cool. Also, try out the Mrs. Pac-man game and see how many ghosts you can gobble up before they get you!
The Room
Have you ever said to yourself, “the room doesn’t matter, we’re just sleeping in it,” when planning a vacation? Good me neither! But seriously, there are times when you go on vacation and the last thing you consider is the room, and then when you arrive you curse under your breath because the room is terrible. The Beau Rivage Resort & Casino does not have this problem AT ALL. It was one of the first things that Roo mentioned when I asked her what she liked about the resort. We stayed in a Deluxe Ocean View Room that came with two queen beds and was fully equipped. Our view gave us a beautiful view of the Gulf as well as a bird’s eye view of the pool deck. The girls loved sitting in the window watching the boats traverse past the hotel!
When booking vacations for the family, the two important factors for us is space and the bathroom. Yes, I know the bathroom is a weird criterion for a hotel room, but hear me out. The bathroom is a key location for a family. There has to be enough space for us to be able to maneuver around each other when getting dressed, and bathing children in an actual tub makes life so much easier. The Beau Rivage met both of those requirements with their walk-in shower and separate soaking tub which allowed for both girls to be bathed at the same time, and was large enough for multiple people to be in the bathroom without running into each other!
Although we are not big on watching TV while on vacation, the girls did appreciate being able to watch kids programming while waiting for me to get dressed. I was thankful for the easy distraction.
*Mom tip: There is an in-room Keurig which was very pleasant and welcomed surprise! This allowed me to have a cup of coffee as I looked out over the gulf to start the morning.
The World-Class Entertainment Options
If you have visited other “gambling cities” you may have found that the vast majority of show offerings are not suitable for children. The Beau Rivage makes sure to offer family-friendly entertainment options throughout the year! During our stay, we were lucky enough to catch the LUNARO cirque-style show and it was incredible!
The LUNARO show featured hair raising acts of acrobatic excellence. The show was just long enough for a toddler’s waning attention span and was so entertaining that Lightning Bug twirled in circles chanting, “that was AMAZING” as she left the auditorium! Be sure to purchase your tickets ahead of time, but if you forget there was a small kiosk set up in the foyer of the resort that you could learn more information and purchase tickets.
*Mom tip: If your children need popcorn to keep their attention, like Lightning Bug does, the Beau Rivage has you covered with some of the most buttery popcorn I have ever tasted. I am not talking about that fake butter that you get when you go to the movies, this is premium quality popcorn that was so tasty I found my hands scraping the bottom of the bucket well before the halfway point of the show.
Family Dining Options
Buffet
If you are casino regular, then you will know that casinos are often synonymous with buffets and the Beau Rivage Buffet did not let us down! Both of the girls are extremely picky eaters, and Lightning Bug is at the stage in life where she will blatantly spit things out if she doesn’t like, much to my horror. Thankfully, there were so many options at the buffet we didn’t even have to worry about this.
If you happen to sleep in (haha, yeah right) and miss breakfast don’t worry the Beau Rivage Buffet features a fusion of breakfast and lunch (yeah I know that is actually called Brunch). We ate at the brunch buffet on our second morning and was pleased to discover that they had plentiful breakfast items available as well as a pasta station and a meats station, in addition, to a large variety of other food options.
The buffet conveniently serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Every meal features an extensive dessert selection, which, of course, was the girls’ favorite part of the entire meal.
Stalla
Looking for a yummy Italian meal before going to LUNARO or another Beau Rivage show? Make reservations at Stalla where they feature dishes such as spaghetti, fettucini, lobster ravioli, pizza and even a twist on shrimp & grits. Don’t worry that the kids will be out of place in this Italian restaurant, they are fully prepared for the kids!
The kids’ menu comes on a “fancy” leather case just like the adults, but the difference is that it also doubles as a coloring page to keep them busy. The service at Stalla was quick, friendly, and efficient, and every dish that we ordered was well seasoned and delicious.
Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream Shop
Are your kids looking to satisfy their sweet tooth because it has been 2 hours since they gorged on cake and ice cream at the buffet? Don’t worry, there is a Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream Shop on the shopping promenade at the Beau Rivage! You can indulge your sweet well-mannered children or sneak off after they have gone to bed to enjoy a Mom-only treat of ice cream, frozen yogurt, milkshake, or a banana split!
The full-service Ice Cream shop has every decadent flavor you can think of and has a vast array of toppings to choose from. The best part is that they are open late so you can make it a late-night snack after hitting the arcade!
Room Service
I told you the girls loved the view from the room. They loved it so much that I could not pry them away from boat watching the morning of check-out, so I decided to just order room service for breakfast.
Now let me warn you that this is quite the splurge. There is a great buffet right downstairs so ordering items ala carte can get a little pricey. But I have to admit that it was worth it seeing them watch the boats and sharing a meal like tiny adults. You can even order ahead to have your meal arrive around the time that you little humans wake up so you can get right to the fun after breakfast!
Overall, the Beau Rivage Resort & Hotel is what I like to call, a “set it and forget” destination. We parked our car and didn’t move it once because everything that we needed was right on-site! There was so much to do at Beau Rivage that a weekend wasn’t enough for us to experience everything. The girls loved the resort so much that they both protested profusely when it was time to check-out. We all loved our stay at the Beau Rivage and are looking forward to coming back again soon!
How to plan your own Beau Rivage Getaway:
Getting There:
The Beau Rivage Resort & Casino is served by the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport (GPT airport code) and the major carriers are Delta, United, and American Airlines. If you are driving from Atlanta, the easiest route is to take Hwy 85 through Alabama (stopping in Montgomery if you need to break the trip up), and then I-10 to Biloxi. If you are coming from the panhandle in Florida, the Beau Rivage is an easy drive west on I-10 to Biloxi.
Tips:
- When checking in ask for the “We Care about Children” brochure that will give you all of the rules and guidelines for children. Because it is a casino children have to be escorted through the casino. Don’t be alarmed when security asks you where you are going when heading towards the casino floor, it is a regulation from the Mississippi gaming board that they take very seriously.
- If you have little ones bring your stroller to the resort. Because it is a sprawling resort we found our stroller incredibly helpful carting items back and forth in the basket (especially to the pool), but also so that Lightning Bug could be transported easily.
- Bring sunscreen and apply it liberally while at the pool. While the pool deck does offer umbrellas, the pool itself is not covered and the sun mixed with pool time and no sunscreen is a recipe for a sunburnt disaster.
- If you forgot anything there is an inexpensive $10 (more or less) store at the end of the shopping promenade.
Beau Rivage Resort & Casino is located at 875 Beach Boulevard, Biloxi, Mississippi 39530. Check out special offers and book your stay by visiting their website or calling (888) 750-7111
Disclosure: We were the guests of the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino. Our stay was comped, but I was not provided any monetary compensation for this review.
