Expat Chronicles a new advertiser, Rockefeller Casino in Bogota’s Zona Rosa, which is run by American Dan Kaiser, who’s been in Bogota since 2006. He recently found my site and reached out.

Hotel placed in the heart of Zona Rosa which is a super fun LGBTQ+ friendly party neighborhood. It matches the best practices of old school hotels. The window is turned to the inner garden which is beautiful and super calm, rooftop with a pool provides a great option for rest and work. Visiting Zona Rosa in Colonia Juarez. Zona Rosa is a historic neighborhood known for its ample dining options and fantastic nightlife. You might plan a visit to Biblioteca Benjamin Franklin while you're in town. Zona Rosa has 32 hotels and other accommodations that make it a great home base for venturing out into the greater Colonia Juarez area.

Zona Rosa Mexico Restaurants

More than being happy to have a new advertiser, I was thrilled to have one who likes my content. I’ve had several advertisers now – hostels, rehab centers, dating sites, hotels, health insurance – but Dan is the first one who believes in this site. He doesn’t see it as a number of pageviews, or unique visitors in Bogota, but as great content that he wants his brand to sponsor. That’s a higher compliment than the dollars he gives me.

While thinking about how to help his business, I had an idea. How about we throw a Super Bowl party at his casino? I can bring some people through – provided they drink free – and in exchange I’ll write an article about the party, giving extra publicity to Rockefeller casino. Dan agreed.

The party was great and we had a blast. DC didn’t knock anybody out, Mark didn’t threaten to shit blood in any of the girls’ faces, Joey didn’t fish-hook his girl, Daniel didn’t try to get us to a vallenato bar, Paul didn’t OD, and I didn’t do anything dumb, so there isn’t much to tell from the party. The Giants won. Eli Manning achieved for the second time what his brother Peyton hasn’t – beat Tom Brady’s Patriots in a Super Bowl.

Because there wasn’t much of a party story, I decided to write about Rockefeller. I asked Dan what’s different about his casino. His reply:

Client Attention. I like to think we have excellent client attention. A waitress is never too far away. We offer free drinks. Corona is always 2000 pesos. Free food for bigger players.

Atmosphere. We have a friendly atmosphere. Many Bogota casinos have very aggressive, ugly atmospheres.

Blackjack. Our rules are player-friendly. Including the option to double-down on any number of cards – always.

Dan is clearly not in the content business. He’s a nice guy, not trying to court scandal. But not me, not here. I had to pry him for more. I need something interesting enough to write about.

But more important, I knew there was more. Something more compelling, specifically about his Colombian competitors. His original banner ad included the words, “Owned by Americans.” If you’ve been in Latin America for a while – especially Colombia – this means something. Of all the things to put in a 468×60 pixel ad, why did he choose to include that?

I know why. All expats know why. It’s why, talking to Joey about a English institute in Bogota run by a gringo, he said it’s the best one to work for. Why? “Because he’s not Colombian.” It’s something in Latin business culture – most extreme in Colombia – that I’d been contemplating how to describe. Ever since getting to know paisa culture, and specifically my paisa buddy Gustavo, I’ve noticed stinginess and haggling and miserable behavior more and more.

Without getting away from the scope of this article, suffice it to say Colombians are cheap. Miserly. I wanted Dan to give me something along those lines in relation to casinos. So I told him this is great, but I need more. I prodded him: I know you have strong opinions about your Colombian competitors. Why did you put “Owned by Americans” in the ad? Because they’re stingy, miserable bastards and everybody who lives here knows it. But tell me HOW. I need details. Here’s an example, and I don’t even go to casinos:

One day I was passing through Zona Rosa with some buddies on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. We were already drinking. One of these fellas handing out flyers for 20,000 pesos a day gives us a coupon for a free beer at [Zona Rosa casino unworthy of mention]. We thought, why not? And headed a few blocks out of our way to the casino. We presented our free beer coupons and were told to wait. 5 minutes or so passed and some security dickhead told us the free beer doesn’t start until 5 pm. But we can have the 1500 pesos in slot machine credits. They weren’t even the simple slots where you pull the crank and images line up. There were lots of buttons and different things to read and figure out. I just slapped at them until my credit ran down a little. I left the machine before spending all my money. We were all a little pissed at the waste of time.

My big question: WHY THE FUCK DO YOU SEND THE FLYER GUY OUT WITH FREE BEER COUPONS BEFORE THE FREE BEER TIME? Are you trying to piss people off? Because that’s what you achieved you goddamn monkeys.

That email was enough for Dan to open up. Some examples from his reply:

In [the same Zona Rosa casino not worth mentioning] you can lose $1,000,000 in Blackjack and have to ask the dealer for a complimentary beer. They don’t have the power to authorize it, but will call a supervisor who may or may not have to call someone upstairs to authorize a free beer. If you order directly from the waitress, you will be charged. And that is if you can find a waitress.

At Rockefeller if you sit down at Blackjack, you are getting free drinks. Period.

Another example, we have a client who plays $10,000,000 – $15,000,000 a month. He used to play at another casino. He was once given a $300,000 bonus there. With us, he gets $1,000,000 – $3,000,000 every month.

We recently had a great client who had to go do Washington DC for business. He let us know he was hoping to go to the U2 concert in Baltimore. We gave him a front row seat.

With poker, we use internationally recognized rules. The competition appears to invent them on the fly from God knows where. This not only causes problems for Colombians, but confuses the hell out of foreigners.

This is a sharp gringo’s casino business in Colombia, Rockefeller Casino. It’s posh, it’s upscale, it’s fair, and it’s generous. Dan’s offering a special bonus for Expat Chronicles readers. Go to Rockefeller in the heart of Zona Rosa and mention Expat Chronicles to claim it.

See Rockefeller Casino’s reviews on TripAdvisor.
Rockefeller Casino on FB.

Support what Expat Chronicles is all about. Leave a tip to keep the laughs coming (and the news, insight and other stuff too).

Liverpool 152 Col Juarez,06600Mexico City

Centrally located in the Zona Rosa District and three blocks away from the US Embassy, this hotel offers convenient facilities and amenities just 2 blocks from a metro station and 5.6 mi from Mexico City's International Airport.

Hotel Century Zona Rosa features guestrooms with private balconies, marble baths and roman tubs. Go for a swim in the swimming pool, then have dinner in the on-site restaurant.

Surrounded by elegant boutiques, international restaurants, art galleries and more, Hotel Century Zona Rosa offers a prime location. Major financial and business centers are also located nearby.

Rooms: 6

Facilities of Hotel Century Zona Rosa

General

• WiFi in all areas

Food & Drink

• Restaurant
• Room service

• Bar

• Kid-friendly buffet

Pool and Spa

• Pool/Beach towels

Front Desk Services

• 24-hour front desk
• Newspapers
• Currency exchange

• Tour desk
• Baggage storage

• Concierge

Common Areas

• Terrace

• Sun deck

Cleaning Services

• Laundry
• Dry cleaning

• Ironing service

• Daily housekeeping

Business Facilities

• Meeting/Banquet facilities

• Business center

Zona Rosa Dallas

Miscellaneous

• Non-smoking rooms
• Family rooms

• Elevator

• Smoke-free property
• Air conditioning

Safety & security

• 24-hour security
• Security alarm
• Smoke alarms

• CCTV in common areas
• CCTV outside property

• Fire extinguishers

Safety features

• Staff follow all safety protocols as directed by local authorities
• Shared stationery (e.g. printed menus, magazines, pens, paper) removed
• Hand sanitizer in guest accommodation and common areas

• Process in place to check health of guests
• First aid kits available

• Face masks for guests available

Physical distancing

• Contactless check-in/out
• Cashless payment available

• Physical distancing rules followed

Zona Rosa Stores List

• Screens or physical barriers between staff and guests in appropriate areas

Cleanliness & disinfection

• Use of cleaning chemicals that are effective against coronavirus
• Linens, towels, and laundry washed in accordance with local authority guidelines
• Guest accommodation disinfected between stays

• Guest accommodation sealed after cleaning
• Property cleaned by professional cleaning companies

• Guests have the option to cancel any cleaning services for their accommodation during their stay

Food & drink safety

• Physical distancing in dining areas
• Food can be delivered to guest accommodation

• All plates, cutlery, glasses, and other tableware sanitized

• Delivered food covered securely

Internet

WiFi is available in all areas and is free of charge.

Parking

Private parking is available at a location nearby (reservation is not needed) and charges apply.

Policies of Hotel Century Zona Rosa

These are general hotel policies for Hotel Century Zona Rosa. As they may vary per room type, please also check the room conditions.

Check-in

15:00 - 00:00 hours

Check-out

00:00 - 13:00 hours

Cancellation / Prepayment

Cancellation and prepayment policies vary according to property type.

Children and Extra Beds

Free!Up to two children under 12 years stay free of charge when using existing beds.

One older child or adult is charged MXN 300 per night in an extra bed.

The maximum number of extra beds in a room is 1.

The maximum number of total guests in a room is 10.

There is no capacity for cribs in the room.

Any type of extra bed or crib is upon request and needs to be confirmed by management.

Additional fees are not calculated automatically in the total cost and will have to be paid for separately during your stay.

Pets

Pets are not allowed.

Groups

When booking more than 10 rooms, different policies and additional supplements may apply.

Accepted credit cards

• Mastercard
• Visa
• American Express

The property reserves the right to pre-authorize credit cards prior to arrival.

Food & beverage

Visit the on-site Los Murales Restaurant.

Casino Zona Rosa Laguna

Important Information

Please note that the pool and gym are out of service until further notice per instructions from the Government of Mexico City due to COVID-19
Please note that property offers American breakfast and It is not include for children.
Due to safety reasons, if you want to place any decoration in the room, you must request this directly with hotel management.
Upon check-in photo identification and credit card is required. All special requests are subject to availability upon check-in. Special requests cannot be guaranteed and may incur additional charges.
All the national calls are included in the rate.

Casino Life Zona Rosa