Ok. I read it online over a year ago. Found the article. It appears like at some point there may of been a fire. See below Playboy Casino in Cancun catches fire | Demotix.com Playboy Casino in Cancun catches fire | Cancun Information
Thanks for the correction, I genuinely hadn't heard of this before. It does seem a strange coincidence - closed for breaking Fire Regs in August 2011, then there is an actual fire 3 months later at an adjacent warehouse. It's not clear from the reports whether the casino had re-opened or was still closed. The military response was undoubtedly due to the events in Monterrey a few months prior.
Let me preface this by saying cancun is as safe, if not safer, than most American cities but the reason I am familiar with this incident is I found it fascinating how shady the place was when I visited in early 2011. And then when they shut it down late summer there were articles on the Internet saying there was a fear of reprisals as the casino owners/backers were some how either the same or were rivals of the people that backed the other casino. Those articles seemed to disappear a couple months later and then it was presented as shut down for fire code violations and then there actually was a fire. The pics show the actual casino building, that is for sure. And all of this is stuff I read on the Internet. Who knows what is made up and what is real. End result is there is enough question that even though it has opened back up, I assume recently, I will not be going back. Every city has a place that is less safe than most others in the city and I think this place qualifies. Just my opinion. Our trips away from TTR will be the Boobs Cruise, Walmart and a downtown club or two. Can't wait to get back!
It's funny how no matter how many times I have seen the term "cigar lounge" in this thread I still read it as cougar lounge. Never been to either but the latter one sounds fun!
For sure there's a lot of 'shady shit' that goes on here. Who knows what the real story is? Not me for sure. Staying away from shady places is my number one piece of advice to both tourists and expats alike. I've never been there myself, more because I'm not into gambling than any other reason though.
