ruby scope

if at_place 
    @reward = place.rewards.cellar_door.active.first
else
    @reward = place.rewards.regular.active.first
end

I would suggest that either Place or Reward needs a method to pick the right reward based on whatever conditions it likes.

Assuming there is in some sort of user class that defines in_place

def reward_for(user)
  if user.at_place
    self.rewards.cellar_door.active.first
  else
    self.rewards.regular.active.first
  end
end

This wraps up the ugly and you can call it like:

@reward = place.reward_for(user)

All depends on your context though. :)