Upfront Room Comp -- Play Required?

Hello,

My wife and I will be headed to Vegas in October for our 10th anniversary. We've got the first night (a Saturday) comped at Monte Carlo and the final 4 nights comped at Caesars Palace. The comp at Monte Carlo was the result of an e-mail sent to a host there, explaining that it was our 10th anniversary and giving an idea of how much I usually bet. I originally sent an e-mail to her before I was able to get the other 4 nights comped at Caesars, so I asked her at the time if there was anything she could do for us upfront for the entire 5 nights of our trip. She replied that she could comp the first night, but could only get us casino rate on the other 4 nights before reviewing our play after our stay. When the final 4 nights of our trip suddenly showed comped at Caesars, I e-mailed her back asking if she could still comp that Saturday for us if we only stayed the one night. She readily agreed and booked the room.

Will there be an expectation of play to maintain this comp, or is an upfront comp like this in stone? Also, any idea if I will need to pay the resort fee in a situation like this? The expertise of the board would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.....

 

Resort fee should not be charged on a room comp booked through a host. There is an expectation (from the host) that you will play, but not a requirement. You will not be charged for the room, regardless of play.

Once you take a room comp from a host and give little or no play, you are jeopardising the chances of getting future comps from that property or elsewhere in the group. How big an impact depends on how much play you give and your overall profile.

 

And if you had a relationship with this host in the past you can kiss that goodbye if you low/no play them. I know the hosts at MGM have been given orders to tighten up their up front comps. So the host will have some explaining to do to their supervisor if you dont play on par with what they think you should based on the comp.

So no you wont get into trouble, its still free to you. But yes the host might get in trouble if you low-no play them.

Corporate offers you can get away with this. Its just a faceless generic offer the casino sends out. If you low-no play that your next batch of offers will probably be shit, but no one gets hurt.

 

Thanks Tubbs...that's what I was hoping to hear. To be honest, I've never stayed in an MLife property before and probably won't again. There's a Horseshoe about a half-hour from my house, so CET gets the vast majority of my play. I was simply trying to find someone who would comp that Saturday, and she was willing to do that. I will still give them some play; it just might not be as I inferred in my e-mail.

Based on your countdown timer, it looks like you and I will both be checking into Caesars on the same day -- Sunday 10/14? Can't wait!!

 

Expectation?...yes. You told her you plan to play $XXX amount. If you indicated a number for all 5 nights, then divide by 5, but most hosts work off your Avg Daily Theoretical.

If you don't play at all, will you be charged for the room?...no. Good luck getting future offers via the host though. This is also why its important not to BS a host. Don't say you're going to play $500/hand for 4 hrs and then show up and play $25/hand for 30 minutes. Once you have a book of play, you won't have to worry about the "One night upfront and we'll see about the rest" type of lukewarm offers.

 

Have you called and asked CET if they will add the other night? Might be worth a try?

As to earlier posts. There is an expectation, but no requirement to play.

 

A couple points about Monte Carlo that may help. First, they absolutely don't charge you a resort fee on a comped room.

Second, depending on what type of room you've got, the play isn't exhorbitant to cover it. For a standard room they've told me they're okay with four hours at $75 average bet. More for a suite.

 

Thanks for the replies. I want to be clear that it was never my intention to try to pull a fast one on this host by low/no playing them. Due to the fact that we will be checking in later in the afternoon and then checking out the next morning, it will be a little tougher to squeeze in the hours of play that I had originally planned. My average bet though will be in line with what I told her.

 

the host will understand that your time is limited on a short stay like that, so as long as you play a couple of hours you'll be fine. but as long as your avg bet is decent, it should mean next trip you get a more generous offer.

 

I spoke with a host two days ago and was told they are now expecting $100 a day play over 4 hours of time to cover one day's stay. This is for their standard room, not a suite. I also asked about $10,000 to $12,000 in up front money, since I never stayed there before, and it made no difference for a up front comp. This was on a 5 day stay. She kind of implied this was in keeping with their new policy changes coming up. I was looking at a mid-October date.

 

The last MC comp I booked a few months ago was booked online and I absolutely got charged the resort fee. It was a 3nt $150 play comp.

 

Weird. I've been comped there twice and not had a resort fee.

Regarding them saying $100 for four hours for a standard room...I've never made $100 average bet for any of my stays there, and they've comped me suites twice and Hotel 32 on my trip coming up this weekend. So what they say and what they practice seem to be a bit different.

 

Please clarify. Was it a DISCOUNTED room, and COMP/FREE room?

 

Both times I stayed at MC on comped rooms (no host involved) I was charged the resort fee. And they were hardasses about it. I find them to be the least flexible resort I have stayed at.

 

Mine were through a host. Perhaps that's the difference. I also had VIP check-in, so maybe that's it. The worst I've seen about the resort fee is NYNY. In fact, that's the only time I've ever been charged one. And I went to the host's office at the end of my stay and asked them to take it off. They did (although I had definitely outplayed my comp, which was only a standard room.)

 

It was comped. I asked the lady when I checked in and she told me that I would be charged the resort fee and sure enough, I was. Granted, this was my 1st actual Mlife comp so maybe that had something to do with it? Honestly, I don't give them much play so I was surprised to have even gotten that offer. This was back in the beginning of May.

 

My experiences at MGM props have lead me to conclude that the higher end MGM properties as MGM, MB, Mirage, and Bellagio have a policy of not charging resort fees on comped rooms.

The lower end ones as Luxor, Excalibur, NYNY, and Monte Carlo (I know some here would disagree that MC as a lower tier MGM prop) charges resort fees even on comped rooms, unless there are special actions taken--as check in clerk removing it, host, etc.

 

LAV....are the comped rooms you're referring to descretionary comps by a host (as mine is) or an MLife marketing offer? Reading through these posts, it looks like that makes a difference.

 

I completely agree. Neither Aria nor Mirage charged me resort fees but MC did. I absolutely consider Monte Carlo lower tier.

 

I've stayed at MC (suites) twice in the past year with MLife comped rooms. I've been charged a resort fee but honestly it doesn't bother me. It's like a couple of tips to the waitress or other incidental charge--it just doesn't register enough to make a big deal about. Maybe I'm a sucker...