I have advised that you try the $20 trick for room upgrades at check in. However, I have never had one turn out quite the way things did last month at the Palazzo.
We asked if there were any upgrades at check-in, using our $20 bill as an eye catcher. We were told that “yes, actually, there is a $1600 a night suite that is available, for a mere $100.” This was a hospitality suite and it had a huge patio overlooking the golf course or pool. We’d be insane not to take it, right? So we did.
When we get to our room, we found it arranged in such a way that we could not even access the Murphy bed without moving a massive table and eight chairs. Then, the bed had no linens. There was no mini bar, as promised. And the room just looked as if it were still under construction. (Keep in mind that the Palazzo had been open for eight months and claims to be a 5 Diamond hotel.) Oh, and let’s not forget the patio. It was large, but that’s where the compliments end. It had no view other than a 15-foot high stucco wall. We called the front desk and were moved to a different hospitality suite. The second suite was just as bad as the first. There were no bed linens, the furniture was not arranged for habitation, and the patio was just as uninspiring. There was still no mini-bar, and there was even a broken chair. Frustrated, we called registration again. We asked to simply have a regular room, and get a refund on our “upgrade”.

Granted, we realize what the pupose of the hospitality suite is; parties, and meetings. All the same the decor and condition of the rooms were overseen by a blind, insomniac wrestler.

All of this had taken about an hour and a half.
Once we arrived at the regular room, which was a suite, we were greeted by hooks on the wall rather than Art. The room was definitely an improvement, but still felt and was unfinished. We had probably five locations in the room, where there were beautiful metal hooks on the wall, where presumably the Buonarotti and Caravaggio replicas were supposed to be. Once the previous check-in saga was over, however, the lack of Art seemed bearable. We told the housekeeping crew, but nothing ever got delivered.

At checkout we spoke with a manager who was extremely apologetic and encouraged us to contact a manager immediately when anything like this happens. He gave a decent chunk of food and beverage credit and allowed us to stay in the room till 6PM since we had a late flight out.

Overall, the Palazzo seems a nice enough place. I’d like to believe my crazy experience is a fluke. Though, I will not be putting them on my high-end recommended list. That honor belongs solely to the Wynn, with the Bellagio, Venetian, and Mandalay Bay close behind.

Saturday, January 19, 2008 was the official Grand opening of the Palazzo Hotel and Casino. It had been open before that, but the big names, Wayne Brady, Aretha Franklin, etc showed up for some Grand Opening hoopla. My husband and I were in town so we decided to check it out. Not surprisingly, it looks very much like the Venetian, but with less extravagance, like murals on the ceilings, and more simple elegance. The casino was nice, similar to the Venetian. There were only a few restaurants open while we were there, but I have heard that many more are forthcoming. Names such as Mario Batali, Wolfgang Puck, Charlie Trotter, and Emeril Lagasse will have restaurants there. Also, rapper Jay Z has his 40/40 Club there.

The most appealing elements were the lobby and atrium. The atrium is a grand area with beautiful, huge skylights, a waterfall, various potted greenery, and escalators to the shopping level.
The shopping level is sort of a mix of the Wynn’s Esplanade with their high end names, and the Venetian’s Grand Canal Shoppes, sans canal. It actually attaches to the Venetian Grand Canal, but the gondolas do not venture in to the Palazzo shops. The most remarkable store is certainly the beautiful Barney’s New York. The décor inside is similar to that of an art museum. It is almost completely white, open and has a beautiful spiral staircase in the center. As you would expect of Barney’s, there are various designer clothes and shoes to lust over. Don’t worry about your husband, there are many comfy chairs to sit in and play solitaire on his Blackberry.
The remaining shops include names such as Jimmy Choo, Coach, Chloe, Tory Burch, Christian Louboutin, Diane Von Furstenberg, Van Cleef & Arpels, Anya Hindmarch, Poleci, Lambertson Truex, Phillipe Charriol, Edidi, Piaget and Michael Kors, among many others. Less than half of the shops appeared to be open, with many displaying “Opening Spring 2008” signs on their windows.

As far as the suites, which I have only seen pictures of, they appear to be very similar to those at the Venetian’s Venezia Suites. That is to say, they are nice, but nothing we have not seen before. Even though it is being marketed as it’s own new hotel, it’s actually sort of like THE HOTEL at Mandalay Bay vs Mandalay Bay, it is really just an extension of the Venetian. They even share the same players card, called Club Grazie.
So if you are a fan of the Venetian, you might as well check it out. I’m glad I went, since it’s always nice to check out a new property, but I wasn’t wowed like I was the first time I saw the Wynn.

I always preach that you should try to eat, drink, and see shows at your own hotels and then charge them to your room. This helps you earn more comps because the casino can see how much you send at their facility. I just wanted to link to this site that I find useful. It has a map of every property of note in Las Vegas. It’s handy to see what is at each casino as well as to see exactly how big they are. http://www.lvcasinoinfo.com/propmap1.html

I wrote a previous article on comps. That article is more of a primer on comps and the benefits. This article will give you some more information and perspective on comps and how to start maximizing them. So once you have been to Las Vegas, and you are planning a return trip, this is when you should try a tactic to get more comps. The first thing you should do is to call Casino Marketing to book your room. You can find this phone number on the back of your Players card, which you should have signed up for on your last trip. This is usually an 800 number. When you call you can give them your players card number and the dates you hope to visit. They can then possibly give you a better rate based on your account activity. That means how much you gamble and spend when you visit one of their properties. This is why it is so important to get a players card and to use it. Using it means that you book your room through Casino Marketing or directly through the casino/hotel rather than a budget website.

I know I have backed budget websites such as www.kayak.com or www.lasvegas.com, but if you are looking for comps, you are better off booking through the hotel itself. If you are a one time or first time Vegas visitor, those budget sites are great.

You also need to make sure that when you eat at a restaurant you charge it to your room, which is linked to your account. Also, you can get show tickets right through the concierge or ticket office in the hotel. That also works if you are seeing a show at a sister property, you can charge that to your room as well. I know I have also backed discount, same-day, ticket brokers and I still do, especially if the show is not at one of hotels sister properties. Remember, this article is about how to maximize comps. If you would rather save the money because you are not spending much otherwise at your hotel, go ahead and use a discount ticket seller.

My husband and I go to Vegas frequently enough that we now try to patronize the hotel that we are staying at for all of our meals and entertainment. We also charge absolutely everything to the room, from shopping, to eating, to spas, to shows. We also have both of our players card linked to each other and always use our players cards at card tables and slot machines. Then the night before we check out, and when we’re pretty much done spending, we go to the players card desk and ask them to analyze our spending patterns. They in turn call the front desk so that when we check out the next morning, we will have some spending comped, usually in the form of food and beverage credit. That means they just deduct that amount off of our bill. We have to check out at the front desk, rather than using express checkout, but hey, it’s worth it.

Staying at the Wynn is definitely something that I would advise you to do. Often touted as the most luxurious hotel on the strip, staying there just might make you think that your normal life sucks. My husband and I stayed at the Wynn in August of 2007 because of a promotion that was mailed to us through the Red Card program, aka, casino marketing. The deal was a Resort Room (their basic room, hah! basic!) for $239 per night Friday and Saturday night. If you think that’s steep, you should know that the Resort Room we ended up with was going for $700 per night that weekend without the promotional price. While I ‘m not sure I could justify spending $1400 to stay there for two nights, I am delighted with what my $500 got me.

We began our experience by trying the “give the check-in person 20 bucks trick”. It worked. He glanced down at the $20 tucked between the credit card and the ID, and by the time we asked if any upgrades were available, he replied, “I’ve already taken care of it, you will have a great view of the fountain show.” Score. Our room was on the 29th floor (amazingly, they have 60 floors!) with a floor to ceiling plate glass window overlooking the Venetian and Treasure Island. The strip view is slightly blocked by the new Palazzo tower at the Venetian, but I am not complaining. We also looked down into the Water and Light show that the Wynn has. The funny thing about that show is that it is for guests only. You can’t enjoy it from the outside in general public areas. You actually have to be in the hotel or on their verandas to see it. I thought that was kind of nifty. Anyhow, the room was very spacious, with a very comfortable bed. There is a nice couch and footstool, a desk, a wet bar and mini-fridge, 3 phones, and even an electronic panel to open and close the curtains. It was, duh, very clean and nicely decorated. Bathrobes were provided as well as cute little complimentary slippers. The bathroom was great. There were dual sinks, a sit down vanity, deep single person jet tub, separate toilet room, and a large marble shower. The bathroom toiletries were awesome. My hair was like silk after using the shampoo. Another neat thing about the hotel is that when you get off the elevators and are walking to your room, you can sense the curvature of the hotel as you look down the hallway.

The pools are very nice. My husband and I ate breakfast overlooking the Tower Suites VIP pool from Tableau, a great restaurant. Then later on Saturday, we swam and sipped expensive alcoholic concoctions at the main pool. If you look at a map of the property, you can see that this pool is shaped like a long dumbbell. There were a lot of people in it, It is August in Vegas after all, but we didn’t feel too crowded. We stayed at the shady end of the dumbbell. The sunnier end, near the poolside cabana bar was much busier with young people seeing and being seen. It was a little bit tricky finding a lounge chair, since people that have left will leave their towels on the chairs and make them appear occupied. In my opinion, they should have cleaned the chairs off quicker, but that’s a pretty small complaint overall. For the most part, the service at this hotel is amazing.
For example, we went to the Terrace Point Café late Friday night after we arrived. It was something like 10:00pm. We were really hungry for fresh berries with crème fraiche and a smoked salmon plate that we usually order off of the breakfast menu. Even though it was not on the evening menu, we asked. The waitress said she would check, and sure enough, satisfied our cravings. That is the kind of thing that at many other places, you would hear “we don’t have that at night” and if you have a polite server, ”sorry”.

My husband and I used the concierge, via the telephone in our room, to reserve dinner at Okada and tickets to Spamalot. They were very helpful, and allowed us to pick up the tickets at the concierge desk rather than waiting in the box office line, which in my experience, is usually long. Okada is the Wynn’s Japanese restaurant and it was very good. I’ll write more in a future article. But let me say, if you like sushi, this place carries OhToro and ChuToro. It’s fatty tuna for you non-sushi-lovers, and it’s awesome. Spamalot was also a good show if you are suitably inebriated and a Monthy Python disciple. I’ll also write more about that in a future article.
So, if you feel like living the high life for a few days, check out the Wynn. Try on some Manolo Blahniks at one of the only two north American stores, shop for a Rolex, buy a $300 La Perla Bra, sip expensive drinks while floating in paradise, laugh at ultra cheesy songs in Spamalot, lay around in a divine hotel room all day, or shop for a Maserati, no a Ferrari. Oh, decisions…. Whatever it is you choose to do at the Wynn, I’m guessing you will enjoy it.

The MGM Grand is a great hotel to stay at while in Vegas. It is located mid-strip, and is really close to New York New York, Hooters, and Excalibur. I have stayed there twice; once in the Deluxe Tower, and once in the smaller, but awesome West Wing. The Deluxe Tower room was nice enough, similar to many rooms in Vegas. It reminded me a lot of the Paris Hotel in the way the tower is laid out in reference to the elevators and halls. Several strip hotels have this ‘Plus’ or ‘X’ configuration. The rooms are spacious, clean and comfortable. The beds were very soft, and in our room, which had two queen beds, we counted 8 pillows. It is a total art deco theme straight from the 20’s and the bathroom fixtures reflect the feel of new indoor plumbing with the elaborate silver styling. You can usually expect to pay anywhere from $200 - $350 per night on a Friday or a Saturday night.

The smaller and ultra modern West Wing is very near the West Wing Bar, sort of over by the Rainforest Café. There are only a few floors of rooms, and it is essentially one long hallway. When we first checked in to our room there, we got in sort of late on a Friday night, and were given room 2557 or 2559, I can’t remember… Anyhow, as soon as we walked in the room, there was an instant techno beat sound emanating from the walls, I called and had our room changed. Apparently, the rooms at the very end of the corridor butt up to the West Wing Bar. So, if you do stay in the West Wing, make sure your room number is not ending in _555, _557, and definitely not _559. The evens are on the other side of the hall, and I do not know if they have the same issue. Once we changed rooms, however, I could not have been more pleased. The room was small, but so modern. The headboard was a red vinyl, the lamps were tall tubular things, and even the wall art was a strange series of circles and polished wood. The bathroom was the best. There was a huge glass door and glass walls that surrounded and separated the toilet. It sort of looked like there were two showers, but one was the loo. The sink area was all glass and metal shelving. There was even a TV screen embedded behind the mirror. The one drawback was that there was really no view to speak of. Since the West Wing is not a tall part of the hotel, there are no views of the city nor the strip. If I had to go again, I would choose to stay in the West Wing, but the regular Tower rooms are nice as well.

The Casino is large, and the choice in restaurants is varied. There are many great, and expensive, choices for dinner, but not as many options for a nice breakfast or lunch. There is a food court on the Studio Walk that includes a Starbucks, (one of three on the property) Mc Donald’s, Nathan’s Hot Dogs, a Chinese place and a pizza place for fast food. If you walk further down the Studio Walk, there is a great sandwich place called ‘wichcraft, and a Mexican cantina. There are also a couple of really nice places to eat, one is Italian, and one Japanese, but they are mostly open for dinner as far as I could tell.
I will write more about the Casino and food choices in another article, but suffice it to say that you could very ell spend your entire weekend just hanging out in the MGM Grand. I have done it, and would do it again.

When going to Vegas, you usually have to stay in Vegas. If you are a first-timer or you don’t go very often, you should probably use a cheap internet site, like vegas.com, lasvegas.com, or my recent favorite kayak.com. I like Kayak because of the way it lets you sort the hotels after you have searched. I have also had luck with hotels.com and mobissimo.com. You have to be careful, though to select a hotel that is actually nice. Some of the hotels that are listed say they are just of the strip or on the strip, when they are actually way down at one end, or a long walk through a bad neighborhood. So if you see a room for $29 and it’s at Whiskey Pete’s, think again. You are looking for these names: Tropicana, Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Excalibur, New York New York, MGM Grand, Monte Carlo, Planet Hollywood (this used to be the Aladdin), Paris, Bally’s, Bellagio, Caesar’s Palace, Flamingo, Harrah’s, Mirage, Treasure Island, Venetian, or the Wynn. My favorites are in bold letters.

Excalibur needs a remodel; it’s beds are like rocks. Bally’s needs an update, has way too low ceilings and smells like smoke because of poor ventilation. Tropicana is also in need of an update. I have never been in a room there, but the lobby/casino doesn’t really make me want to. The Monte Carlo isn’t too bad, but the casino floor is small. Harrah’s is gaudy; I am not a fan of the carnival theme. This is a decent map of the strip. As you can see, the Rio, the Palms, Hooter’s, the Stratosphere, and others are off the central strip, but may still be of interest to you. You could also consider the Las Vegas Hilton if you are a Star Trek fan. The monorail that you see on the map is handy because you can ride it directly to the strip, but you have to pay for it, and wait for it.

Notice I did not list Stardust, or Barbary Coast (recently renamed to Bill’s Gambling Hall), and some others because I would not want to stay there.

Recently, a friend at work who had never been to Vegas and wanted to take her husband for his birthday asked me to recommend a hotel and I gave her the same description as above. I guess she considered these too expensive and chose to stay at a different hotel and for a much cheaper rate. I asked her later how the trip was and she lamented about getting a cheap, scuzzy hotel. Apparently it was advertised as being on the strip Las Vegas Blvd, but it was miles down the strip. She said it was so nasty they didn’t even want to sleep or shower there…. but hey, it was only $39 bucks a night. I didn’t even say “told ya so”. She felt bad enough.

When I first heard about the canal at the Venetian, it struck me as odd that someone would build a river on the 2nd floor of a building. Yes, really, the 2nd floor. A close second, was the thought that I would never pay to ride such a tourist trap. You guessed it, I did ride it. It is actually quite charming. Each boat has a little gondolier that steers the little boat along the canal and sings an Italian song as you drift past the shops. Their voices really carry well in the area, and a crowd often watches as your gondolier belts their tune. You see, the canal is the median area in the Grand Canal Shoppes, the Venetian’s indoor mall. Before riding it I always wondered if the gondoliers got tired after rowing a boat all day, but they actually have little motors on the boats. The gondolier just presses on a little hole, and it senses their foot, and goes. They do, however, use their big oar to steer. The motor is essentially silent, so it seems like they are actually rowing you down the stream. I rode the boat with my husband and his brother & wife. For the 4 of us, it was $60 total. It costs $15 per person and $7.50 for kids 12 and under. You can rent the whole boat for $60. (It seats 4). There is even a special wedding gondola. It is white & looks like some Cinderella version. You buy a ticket at the starting end, and it has a time on it. Then you just get in a line about 20 minutes before your marked time, and it’s first come first served at that point. The ride lasts about 15 minutes. You go down the indoor canal and back. There is also an outside canal that you can ride. They are not linked though. The outside one is a little cheaper at $12.50 for adults, but I like the ambiance of the canal shoppes, though outside you see the facade of the Venetian’s front. You can pay extra to purchase your picture, just like amusement park rides. We took our own photos. Oh, make sure you go with someone you like, apparently it is customary to smooch every time you go under a bridge. Just a tip so you can avoid an uncomfortable moment. The Venetian’s Gondola.