VegasChatter

Tags: Resort Fees / Circus Circus / Free WiFi / → All Tags

Circus Circus Has Upped Its Resort Fee By $1 (But Hasn't Updated the Website)

Those reflections look like a smiley face, but we're actually pulling a sad one right now

Go here for VegasChatter's Resort Fee List.

Should we blame ourselves for this? Having spent the last couple of months fawning over our new BCFF (Best Casino Friend Forever), Circus Circus, even deciding it was the best cheap hotel room in Vegas last week, we’ve had a little setback.

The resort fee has gone up to $6. Including taxes, it comes to $6.72, and it went up on 1 July.

more ›

Tags: Resort Fees / Tropicana / Free WiFi / → All Tags

Confirmed: Tropicana to Include Internet in Resort Fee on Aug 2.

Some great news this Friday! The Tropicana has made good on their promise to include internet access in the resort fee and the service will go into effect for stay from August 2nd and beyond. Woot! Previously, internet was an extra $12.99 a day.

Now, the other week we were keeping it cool about this news because typically when hotels roll internet into the resort fee, the fee jumps up quite a bit. But The Trop is only increasing the fee by $2 to $9.99 AND they are adding a few more perks. Here's exactly what the resort fee includes as listed on the The Trop's website:

High speed wireless internet, free access to the fitness center, pool & Jacuzzi areas, 2-for-1 signature cocktails in Bacio or Legends with your meal, 2-for-1 cocktails at our "Club Trop" Daily Happy Hour, free local calls, free faxes, free photo copies, free printing of boarding pass.

Awesome! We're still not in love with resort fees but we do love it when hotels make it easy for us. Best of all, the Trop has some of the nicest cheapest rooms on the Strip. Also of note? You can rent a refrigerator in your room for just $25 a day. Do with that what you will!

Tags: Holly Watch / Holly Madison / Sexy Ladies / Celebs in Vegas / Planet Hollywood / Resort Fees / → All Tags

It's Official: Holly Madison Hates Resort Fees

Live Holly action, courtesy of @PHVegas

Call it a psychic link, because right now, as we are writing this, little Holly Madison has nipped down to Planet Hollywood for a stunt to show how much money you spend on resort fees in Vegas. Seeing as we hate resort fees, we thoroughly approve of her latest campaign. Well done Madders!

In other news this week:

* OMG! WTF! She adopted a ferret! Whether that’s meant to be sexually suggestive, or indicative of the fact that she wants bubbies, we’re not sure.

* Wot, another Vegas Deluxe mention? Oh yes. Josh Strickland name-checked her all over the place in his guest column covering Robin Leach’s holiday.

more ›

Tags: Tropicana / Resort Fees / Free WiFi / → All Tags

Tropicana to Include WiFi in Resort Fee But Will The Price Go Up?

A few weeks ago we had our fingers crossed in hopes that The Tropicana would roll its internet access fee into its $7.99 resort fee. And it looks like The Trop is seriously going to do it.

Their latest Tweet about it yesterday teased:

It's looking like our WiFi incl. in Resort Fee dreams may be coming true sooner than I thought! Keep y'all posted as we get closer!

We've already pestered them for a more specific timeframe of when we can expect this--By Labor Day? Next week?--but we have to assume that the resort fee will increase ever so slightly if they roll in the internet fee.

more ›

Tags: Free WiFi / Resort Fees / Tropicana / News / → All Tags

Fingers Crossed: Looks Like the Trop Will Ditch its WiFi Fee

If there’s one thing we loathe in Las Vegas, it’s resort fees - closely followed by charges for WiFi.

So although we heart the Tropicana’s new rooms, our adoration is slightly tempered by the $7.99 resort fee and the $12.99 charge for internet. Or at least, it is for now. Because it looks like pretty soon, WiFi will be included in the resort fee.

According to their Facebook page, the Trop has just done a deal with Cox to provide

free-to-guest cable television, video-on-demand services and wireless Internet connectivity to 1658 guest rooms.

Free WiFi? We’re waiting for the peeps at the Trop to confirm the good news officially, but from what we hear, that’s the plan. And given that it already has a solid Twitter and Facebook presence, it’d only be fitting that they recognized the importance of internet connection.

Now if they could only work on bringing down the resort fee (under a fiver would work for us), our love would grow a little bit more.

Tags: Resort Fees / Wynn / Encore / News / WTF / → All Tags

Wynn Launches a $20 Resort Fee Today, Who Will Be Next?

Go here for VegasChatter's Resort Fee List.

Only the day before yesterday, we were extolling the virtues of the Wynncore for its lack of resort fees. Did we tempt fate? Because this afternoon, Vegas Tripping is reporting that Wynn is introducing a $20 resort fee, to cover access to the fitness center, in-room internet, free local, domestic long distance and toll free calls, and boarding pass printing,

The only problem is, that although the staff on the reservations line are informing customers about the resort fee (we just tried), there’s no sign that we can see of it on the reservations page of the website. Can anyone say Buffet of Buffet debacle?

more ›

Tags: Resort Fees / MGM Grand / MGM Mirage / Aria / → All Tags

MGM Grand to Charge $10 Resort Fee, Will Aria Be Next?

Go here for VegasChatter's Resort Fee List.

It was inevitable. MGM Mirage could only go so long without charging a resort fee at its namesake property, the MGM Grand. But that time has come to an end. Dutiful Twitterer, @Rex_Imperator tells us the hotel will now charge a $10 resort fee, effective July 5.

That fee will include the following: complimentary internet (yay!), a $15 beverage credit (ok!), daily USA Today newspaper, local and toll-free numbered calls and limited business center services such as outgoing faxes, copies, notary, and boarding pass printing. Hmm...the only one we'd really use out of the biz center is the boarding pass printing but the internet is definitely a perk and even the beverage credit is nice. (Although we can always get free drinks on the casino floor.)

more ›

Tags: Snapshot / Free WiFi / Circus Circus / Resort Fees / Cheap Vegas / → All Tags

Nice Decor, Free WiFi: This Room May Surprise You

This may look like a boring picture of a computer in a hotel room, but actually, friends, it is highly significant. Firstly, this is our computer, this morning, connected to the free wireless internet in our hotel room.

And secondly, that room looks pretty nice, doesn’t it? Marble desk, less fugly than normal curtains, a color scheme that, whatever you think of orange, definitely isn’t bland.

Where is this little slice of Eden? Circus Circus, people, Circus Circus, in a room which we booked for the princely sum of $27.16. We know – we too were so shocked when we got in the room yesterday that we thought maybe our $1 night at Sahara had induced cruel hallucinations. But no, it’s real, and this has shot to the top area of our Biggest Hotel Surprises Ever list.

more ›

Tags: Resort Fees / News / Treasure Island / Survival Strategies / → All Tags

A Good Guy Fought a Resort Fee And the Good Guy Won

Our top dislike about staying in Vegas? Resort fees. We hate ‘em, we’ll never stop hating ‘em, and we won’t stop calling places out when they “adjust” (read: increase) them without adjusting what’s included.

So we did a little air punching (different from fist-pumping, honest) when we read this story over at East Coast Gambler, about a TI guest who fought the resort fee, and won.

The full story is here at Elliott.org, but in a nutshell, the guy – one George Lilley - booked over the phone, and wasn’t informed of the fee until checking in. When he pointed out that he was unlikely to avail himself of the notary services and weekday admission to Christian Audiger nightclub included in the $20 daily charge, he was basically told to go swivel.

So instead of arguing with the hotel, he took it up with American Express, who have credited is account because:

The merchant has not yet provided the information necessary to resolve your claim.

more ›

Tags: Resort Fees / Mandalay Bay / Venetian / Palazzo / → All Tags

Come May 15, Mandalay Bay to Charge Resort Fee While Others Hike Them Up

Go Here for VegasChatter's Resort Fee List

The Resort Fees trend in Vegas is here to stay. Not only are more and more hotels instituting them, but existing hotels with resort fees have been upping theirs ever so slightly. We've updated our running list Hotels with Resort Fees but we'll pull out a few "highlights" for you right now. Here's what's changed since January:

· Mandalay Bay and THEhotel at Mandalay Bay have started to implement a $15 resort fee that includes in-room internet, fitness center access and some other frivolous things.
· Venetian and Palazzo have upped their resort fee from $15 to $17.
· Hard Rock has gone from $7 to $15 and it still includes basically nothing.
· Monte Carlo has gone from $9.50 to $12.95 by adding in-room internet. Wethinks they are just charging more because they are next-door to CityCenter
· Ditto for New York, New York which has gone from $8.99 to $12.95.
· Stratosphere has gone from $7.50 to $11.99, possibly because of extreme bungee jumping?

more ›

Tags: Resort Fees / Westin Casuarina / MGM Mirage / Harrah's / Wynn / Encore / Survival Strategies / → All Tags

Hotel Resort Fees: A Disturbing and Annoying Upward Trend in Las Vegas

We were pleased to see that the M Resort has finally done away with the $25 resort fee. However, it's a different story over at MGM Mirage properties which either introduced new fees at properties or bumped them up.

In fact, resort fees are now common on the Strip thanks to MGM's bold move. So much so that Harrahs properties (Caesars Palace, Rio's, Paris) are trying to distinguish themselves from the rest by calling out "No Resort Fees!" under their hotel listings on Expedia.

So we figured it was time to update our resort fee list from last Summer. These resort fees listed are per night and do not include taxes. Yup, that's right. You gotta pay taxes on those fees.

Inherently, resort fees are rip-offs but the Vegas ones seem egregious like charging you for incoming faxes and local phone calls. Hello, when was the last time you needed to receive a fax in your hotel room? Also, you have a cell phone. You're not making local phone calls.

Some fees are tolerable, especially when they include internet and the use of the fitness center which a la carte would cost more than the resort fee. Yet while that's convenient for business travelers, folks coming to party on the weekends are still getting screwed.

Sigh. This is just another reminder that it's the casino's world and we're just living in it. If you're averse to paying resort fees, avoid these hotels below.

Our complete list of hotels with resort fee on The Strip in Las Vegas is after the jump.

more ›

Tags: Resort Fees / The Mirage / MGM Mirage / → All Tags

The Mirage To Charge a $15 Resort Fee Starting October 1st

These pretty rooms at The Mirage now cost $15 more (plus tax) to enjoy.

Resort fees are akin to checked baggage fees in the travel world but in Las Vegas resort fees aren't that prevalent. Sure, the Excalibur, The Hard Rock, Planet Hollywood and The Signature at MGM Grand have charged resort fees for quite some time, we were still shocked when we heard that The Mirage would begin charging a $15 resort fee per night, starting October 1st.

But it might not be all that bad. The resort fee includes admission for two to the Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat, access to the Cardio Center, daily newspapers, two bottled waters delivered daily to your room, bathrobes in the room, complimentary printing of your boarding passes, unlimited local and toll-free calls and randomly, complimentary notary service at the Business Center. Also, the resort fee is taxed so expect it to be a touch higher than $15 each night.

more ›